2008 Year in Review

What I learned about myself:
5. I can do endurance events. Lots of running friends said I wasn't built for endurance. You can do anything if you really want to.
4. I really enjoy the triathlon and I love to train.
3. I need more carbs, hydration and electrolytes than anyone I know.
2. Anything less than 2.5 hrs. does not feel like a workout anymore.
1. I can go farther and faster.

Two dissapointments:
2. Suffered a severe bonk at Way Too Cool. Needed an IV at the finish line, and gave my friends a real scare.
1. Did not PR at 5K, 10K, 1/2 marathon, marathon...but came very close.

Five biggest accomplishments:
5. My swim around the Santa Cruz pier at the Sentinel Tri. I took nearly 10 mins. off last year's time.
4. Winning my division at the Sandman Tri. It may never happen again.
3. Vineman 70.3 -- my first half ironman, but also felt good for having found a way to finish the race after two flat tires.
2. 3 ultras, including American River 50 -- that's 50 miles, people. I even qualified for Western States 100!
1. Easily my proudest moment as my 7-yr. old son Cayman won the 7 - 8 age group in his very first triathlon.

2009 Transrockies Run

Last week, my training partner Kevin and I signed up for the 2009 Transrockies Run - 125 miles over 6 days in the Colorado Rockies. What were we thinking?

At this month's meeting of our running club, Kevin asked if anyone else was interested in running across the Rocky Mountains next summer. I wasn't there, but I imagined most people didn't quite understand what he was proposing, and our club treasurer simply replied, "what the hell?!"

When I considered this event many months ago, I felt a bit out of my league. Any athletic endeavor spanning six days and rewarded with $20,000 in prize money should be restricted to well-trained athletes who don't have real jobs. I pictured myself lining up at the start line with other adventure racers, fast packers and ultra marathoners, all entering the event not just to complete it, but to race and win. I could imagine the looks as they sized me up and wondered, "what the hell is he doing here?"

Then I made the mistake of checking out the web site. Suddenly, the event seemed manageable, and enticing. Fully catered meals, massage service, and a staff who tears down and sets up camp for you each day. I checked out the elevation maps for each day. It is designed carefully to let you acclimate to running long distances...with very litte oxygen. I fear we have woefully underestimated the hardship of actually running at an elevation of 8,000 - 12,000 feet.

But there comes a point when deciding on any event where you just know if you're going to do it. For me, it is not normally a series of logical choices that lead to the decision. I often back into it by removing the impediments. Float it out to my wife a couple times very innocuously to test the waters. Make sure I can do it with my work schedule. Fill the race schedule with other events that lead up to the main event. Make the decision, figure out later how to train for it. I always ask myself, "if you don't do it, will you wish you did?" Consider the people you will meet, the scenery you will take in, the experience you will always remember.

Today, I flew over the Rocky Mountains on a flight from Chicago. Talk about delusional. From 39,000 feet, anything seems possible. So, what were we thinking when we signed up? An epic adventure.

PCT Stinson Beach 30K

I have run many of the Pacific Coast Trail runs. None of them are easy. All of them are held in places with breathtaking scenery. Stinson Beach on Nov. 15 was no exception.

I wasn't expecting the winding mountain road that leads from Hwy. 101 to the coast. But consider early in the 19th century the area was accessible only by sailing schooner from San Francisco, by horseback to San Rafael, or on foot over the Dipsea Trail. It's still a sleepy resort community.

The drive made me a bit car sick, and even after arriving 30 mins. before the race, it took me 45 mins. into the race to shed the effects of the disorienting drive. The first five miles of the run is nearly all uphill. I wasn't out to run hard so I chose to walk in many places and enjoy the cooling effects of the riparian ecosystem. The early going was some of the most beautiful, running along a creek bed, through redwood forest, and climbing the "Ladder" to scale a part of the trail.

The middle section is the easiest trail running anywhere. From the summit of the first peak, it was a 45-min. downhill run through sweeping vistas of the Bay Area. I could see Tiburon and Belvedere, Angel Island and San Francisco, and a panoramic view of the cliffs along the Pacific Ocean.

I was very mindful that we were running portions of the famous Dipsea Trail and the Miwok Trail, both known as very challenging courses. And I proved to be entirely out of trail shape for the second climb of the 30K. I walked for 45 mins. but didn't mind at all. I was also surprised with the number of fallen trees across the trail. In a couple places, it looked like the entire mountain side had collapsed, leaving many trees bent over or completely uprooted. It added an additional measure of maneuvering to the already technical terrain.

The smartest thing I did was take two salt tablets in the latter half of the run. I knew it was going to be warm and I had regretted not taking salt tablets at the Silicon Valley Marathon. This time I was more prepared for the heat, but I underestimated how long it would take to finish. I was thinking 3 hrs., 15 mins. I finished in just over four hours.

About four miles from the finish as a group of us were running the single-track, I heard someone take a hard fall behind me. I stopped to see a woman who had taken a deep cut to her knee. I let her have my bandana which she used to wrap her wound. Two passing hikers offered to walk her down to the finish. I'm hoping she made it. She clearly needed stitches but the last two miles were very technical with steep steps.

I would have been happy just doing the 20K, but Stinson Beach was a great training run to kick off the ultra season. I need to decide how many trail runs I really want to do. Anything over 30K is a full day commitment, but there's no place I'd rather run than a good trail.

2009 Race Schedule

01/24 Mission 10 San Juan Bautista
02/01 San Francisco Half Marathon
03/01 Napa Valley Marathon
04/18 Tierra Bella 100K
04/25 Pat's Run
04/26 Skyline to Sea 50K
05/02 Wildflower Triathlon (70.3)
05/17 Uvas Triathlon
05/30 Shadow of the Giants 54K
06/21 Silicon Valley Olympic Triathlon
06/20 PCT Pacifica 50K
07/xx Sandman Triathlon
07/18 PCT Sequoia 50K
08/01 Vineman Ironman
08/23 - 28 Transrockies Run
09/xx Triathlon at Pacific Grove
09/19 Tahoe Big Blue Adventure Race
10/04 San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon
10/xx Bizz Johnson Marathon (qualify for Boston)

Silicon Valley Marathon

Check out my cool medal! Today I ran my first marathon of the year. I started out a few months ago thinking I would try to qualify for Boston, but after two months of visits to my physical therapist, an emergency family trip to Michigan, and all the other things that conspire to ruin a good training plan, I scaled back my 3:30 idea to maybe just running a PR. My best marathon time was my very first marathon last year in San Francisco. I had to beat 3:47 so I wore a 3:45 pace band.

The first half went exactly as planned, running a very consistent 8:35 pace. The weather was cool, I was comfortable and the course was flat. At the halfway point we ran around the Los Gatos High School track where the half marathon ended. I was only 30 seconds behind plan at the halfway point and figured I could make it with a good second half. I took fluids at every single aid station, knowing the heat would be an issue late in the race. I felt good at 18 miles, and even at 20 miles I thought I could still stick my 3:45 goal. But the legs would not respond. I finished in 3:51, six minutes off my goal.

I had forgotten to bring a couple salt tablets which would have helped keep me loose and avoid the stiffness that sets in during the final miles. As it turned out, I had real difficulty recovering after the race. I was hydrated, but had lost electrolytes, and I needed sodium. It wasn't until a few hours later at home that I finally started feeling better.

My finish time convinced me not to try and qualify for Boston at CIM in December. 21 minutes is too much to cut in seven weeks. I will probably run the Big Sur half marathon on Nov. 9, then turn my attention to ultra training or off season triathlon training. I was reminded again today that the marathon is way harder than a 50K. Always respect the marathon.

Paso Robles Splash N Dash

This weekend I entered one of the smallest races I have ever done while visiting my in-laws in Paso Robles. Just a week before the Silicon Valley Marathon, I was tapering and thought a 500m swim and a 5K run was just the right combination of aerobic effort and speed work.

There must have been less than 20 people signed up for the event. No age groups, no race bibs, just a few people of all ages gathered for some friendly competition at the Kennedy Fitness Center. They have a really nice 50m lap pool which I had swam in before. I was in the first wave with a high school girl who I was told was crazy fast, a woman who swam for UCLA in her college days, and a couple of guys clearly older than me.

I was the last one out of the pool in my heat. It was a great reminder that despite the huge improvements I had made this year in my swim times, I have a long way to go to be competitive in the swim. I was so far behind that when I started the run, I could only see one person ahead of me on a long stretch of road. I didn't realize the first half of the run was uphill. I passed one guy who was clearly suffering but there wasn't another runner anywhere near me, so I decided to just make it a decent tempo run.

I have no idea where I finished in the standings, and I don't care. I didn't even get my final time. I just love to compete and enjoy doing different events. This was my 19th or 20th race of the year. The variety of events and the different locations have made it very fun and interesting. I'm not sure I'll do another Splash N Dash anytime soon, but it was great to do a race just for pure enjoyment.

My History Setting Record

At first, I thought this story had nothing to do with the triathlon, but then I realized it has everything to do with it. The other day my parents told me they had chatted with my high school track coach, Keith Spraugh. He told them my conference pole vault record of 13' 1" set in 1980 will never be broken. That's because the conference has just been disbanded.

First, I didn't know my record was 13'1". I was sure I jumped 13'6" at regionals my senior year so I don't know where they got 13"1". But I won that meet with that jump to go on to the state finals. It's easily my biggest sports moment in high school. I placed a disappointing 9th at state that year. I had started the year with the goal of winning the state championship. I even dropped varsity basketball that year as starting point guard to train the entire year for the pole vault.

Second, I knew I had the school record but assumed someone had beaten it by now. And I had no idea it has been the league record for the past 28 years! 13 feet is really not very impressive. But I attended a small private parochial Class C school, so the competition was not that great. My twin brother and I were the only two kids that could jump over 12 feet in our league and we were unbeaten our junior and senior year.

The sad story is that my high school in a Detroit suburb closed its doors a few years ago, a sure sign of troubled times in Michigan. Now to hear the entire conference has ended is a real reflection of a depressed economy in Michigan.

But just to put my accomplishment in perspective, the national high school record is 18'3". Top high school kids today regularly vault over 17 feet. In 1980, my senior year, the world record was 18"11 1/2". The world record is still held by Sergey Bubka of Ukraine with a vault of 20 feet 1 3/4 inches. Bubka entered the world stage the year after I graduated from high school, and went on to break the world record an unbelievable 35 times.

So what does this have to do with the tri? I realized I've had a work ethic since high school. I've never been an exceptional athlete. I just work harder than most people, and triathlon is just a ton of work. Except for the decathlon, the pole vault requires more cross-training than any other event. So it comes as no surprise to me after all these years that I decided to do the tri.

Still, I'm amazed I've held a record for 28 years and didn't know it. And it will never be broken. That's kind of cool.