2012 Ruth Anderson 50K

Finishing Strong! Photo Courtesy of Joe Swenson

This Saturday I had the pleasure of running in the Ruth Anderson 50K in San Francisco. This is a race I am quite familiar with -- having run it myself a number of times, and having also served  a short stint as co-race director (together with my wife Amy) before the current RD, Rajeev Patel, stepped up and graciously took over.

My previous best time at Ruth Anderson 50K, which was coincidentally also my 50K PR, was a sub 4 hour effort (3:59:37) that I ran in 2009 together with Quicksilver teammate Andy Benkert.

This year I wasn't sure what to expect. My training and fitness were both better than in 2009, but unfortunately I was just coming off of three weeks of inactivity due to a bad bout with type A influenza and a secondary sinus infection. My coach Caitlin Smith had given my the OK to run, but with the caveat that I should take it easy for the first 25 miles and then hammer the last 10K.

As we lined up for the start of the race I was feeling somewhat lackluster and apprehensive. My coach had given me a pep talk recently, reminding me that much of running is mental and ensuring me that I probably hadn't lost much fitness during my illness; and that if anything the time off was probably good for my body. I wanted to believe her, of course! Though I was still a little worried. I guess it must have showed on my face because fellow runner Charles Blakeney turned around and said, "John, wake up!".

The gun went off! And while my mind was still hemming and hawing, trying to figure out what it wanted to do, my legs showed no hesitation, quickly pulling me up to the front of the pack with the race leaders Jean Pommier, Victor Ballesteros, and Toshi Hosaka.

Toshi and John Working Together. Photo courtesy of Joe Swenson

Ruth Anderson is actually a unique race in that there are three separate races (50K, 50M, and 100K) all being run simultaneously with the option for a runner to choose which distance they want to run and any point in the race. When a runner reaches the 50K finish, the runner can either stop at 50k or decide to continue on to 50M; after crossing the 50M finish line the runner can similarly stop at 50M, or decide to proceed on to 100K.

I knew from talking to the runners before the race that Victor and Toshi were aiming to run the 100K and Jean was targeting the 50M. So while I found myself trading back and forth with Toshi for third place in the early miles, in the back of my head I realized that I was potentially in 1st place for the 50K (assuming that Jean and Victor, who were ahead of me, would continue on past the 50K finish).

To be honest, I was a bit intimidated to be running so far up in the front of the pack. And it didn't help when I looked down at my watch I saw that I was cranking off 7:15 miles (while I had averaged 7:45 pace in my 3:59:37 PR in 2009). On the otherhand, I was feeling great. If anything I felt that I was perhaps holding back too much. So I made a snap decision to turn off the pace/mileage/time function on my watch and only look at my current and average heart rate. My new goal was to keep my heart rate under 150, which is a pace I can comfortably hold during long training runs.

The miles quickly clicked by and found myself running past the 26.2 mile mark in 3:09 (3 minutes faster than my marathon PR of 3:12). Here I was jogging a new marathon PR! I remembered my coach's orders about trying to hammer the last 10K if I was feeling good, so I picked up the pace a bit. But due to the heat (it was warming up each hour as the day progressed) I was feeling the slightest twinges of cramping in my legs. So I decided not to drop the hammer completely and to just maintain a nice tempo pace for the last few miles.

Finish Line Celebration! Photo courtesy of Joe Swenson

I crossed the finish line with a winning time of 3:47:06, shattering my old 50K PR of 3:59:37 by over 12 and a half minutes! What a great day!


Here's a link to the Garmin stats:

A Tale of Two 10K's

It's been over a month and half since my last "Running John" blog update. And quite a lot has happened since then! I wish I could honestly say that I've just been way to busy to post anything, but I think it has more to do with the fact that I'm getting old and absent minded and completely forgot that I have a blog.

Anyway, here's an interesting tale of two 10K's, both of which I happened to win! Full disclosure: they were both small, low-key local races without highly competitive fields. Nonetheless, a win is a win. And one of them I ran with the flu (which by the way, in case you were wondering, is probably a really bad idea).

Base Camp 10K, Mar 18th (Orlando, Florida)

I generally travel to Orlando at least two (and sometimes three) times a year for work conferences. I always bring my running shoes with me and sneak in a few workouts between presentations with other hardcore running nuts like my buddy Bill Pritchett from Dow Corning. This year, since I had to arrive on the weekend in order to present at a "jumpstart" session on Sunday afternoon, I thought I would check Active.com to see if there were any 10K or 1/2 marathon races going on that weekend.

As luck would have it, there was a nice little local 5K/10K race being held not too far away. The 10K course was basically two laps around on a paved bike path around a scenic little lake (Lake Baldwin).

I made sure to get to the starting line extra early so that I could familiarize myself with the course and get a little warm up in before the race. Imagine my surprise when, being one of the first people to arrive, I found the port-o-potties already overflowing and the street covered with empty plastic cups? Was I late? Had the race already been run? No, as it turns out, St. Patrick's day was the night before and the race start line was located directly next to an Irish Pub. LOL.

As I stood on the starting line sizing up the competition, I only saw one serious-looking competitor who seemed like he might be able to give me a run for my money. He was a young, local triathlete named Jaelin Funk from nearby Celebration, Florida. As soon as the gun went out, he charged out into the lead at sub 6:00 pace. I had to quickly decide whether to let him go, or whether to try and stay with him. Instictively I sprinted up to and tucked in behind his shoulder.

Thankfully he slowed down a bit after the first few hundred yards and we hit the first mile in a comfortable 6:03 pace, followed by 6:09 for the second mile. I noticed that Jaelin was starting to let off the gas (and was breathing considerably harder than me) so I decided to attack. I put in a slight surge and immediately got some separation. From that point on, I ran comfortably in the lead by myself with only the lead bicyle as company. After running 6:07 for the third mile, I shut things down a bit and jogged a 6:16 and a 6:18 for miles four and five, before finally picking it up a bit with a 6:07 last mile.

My winning time of 37:57 (6:07 average page) was a new PR and the first time I had ever run under 39 minutes! Needless to say, I was stoked!


Asha 10K, Mar 25th (Sunnyvale, California)

Just one week after my 10K win and PR in Florida, still high on victory, I decided to race another 10K. This was a race where I finished 2nd overall the prior year, so I figured that with my new found fitness level, I should have a reasonable shot to win, or at least to make the podium.

Unfortunately, the Burton household had just come down with the flu the day before the race. I toe'd the starting line with a bit of body ache and a slight fever thinking that while I wasn't going to be running a PR, I should at least be able to tough out 6 miles and hopefully fight for the win.

Asha is a pretty small low-key event where both the 5K and 10K runners start at the same time and run the first 1.55 miles together (before the 5K runners turn aound). So it can make it a bit confusing at the start of the race as you are never sure who is running which distance. And the start is always a bit of a madhouse as they have quite a few young kids running the 5K who invaribly go out hard at 6:00 pace for the first 200 meters (then abruptly slow to 10:00 pace for the rest of the race).

The first half mile (and last half mile) of the race was on a muddy single track.So to avoid the clutter and confusion I decided to go out hard and take the lead. That way, if anyone passed me, I could try to at least ask them if they were doing the 5K or the 10K.

After holding the lead through the muddly first half mile, I eased up a bit when we hit the paved road and let two runners pass me. One was a rather serious (and fast) gentleman who was thankfully only running the 5K. The other runner as a highschool kid wearing soccer shorts who looked like he was probably going to blow up and slow down by the end of the first mile.

Predictably, the soccer-runner abruptly slowed down and was never seen or heard from again. I jumped in behind the 5K guy and drafted as he did the work and pulled us to the 5K turnaround. After that I was on my own for the rest of the race, trying to keep the lead pace bicycle in sight. I ended up finishing with a winning time of 38:27, which was 30 seconds slower than my PR the previous weekend (though not bad considering that I would spend the next 3 hours laying on the couch at home wrapped up in a blanket with a fever).

What Happens in Vegas...

Two words. "Vegas, baby!"

I got totally hammered this weekend in Las Vegas. But before you get the wrong idea, I'm not talking about binge drinking, pill popping, or staying up all night with Elvis impersonators. No, I am referring to the Red Rock Canyon 1/2 marathon race that I ran this Saturday just outside of Las Vegas in Red Rock National Park.

The course was brutal, at least as far as road races go. The course had about 1,500 ft of elevation gain, including some nasty climbs in the first few miles. The race started out at 3,700 and gradually climbed to over 4,770 by mile 5.

I hadn't planned on running hard. I assumed that it was just going to be a casual local event with a small field -- perfect for a comfortable Saturday morning tempo run. Imagine my surprise when a pack of about 10 runners took off from the gun at sub 6:00 pace.

I let the lead pack go, hoping I would be able to reel some of them in later after the hills and elevation took their toll. And things did take their toll -- on me. Somewhere around mile 5 as I struggled up a nasty hill at 9:00 per mile pace, I started seriously thinking about walking.

Thankfully everyone else seemed to be suffering as well. Finally we reached the turnaround point and finally got some nice downhill running. Somewhere just after mile 10 my mother drove by in her car and waved, giving me just enough of a mental boost to pass the lead woman and her male pacer who I had been slowly reeling in. Luckily my two brothers, Marcus and Erik, were stuck on a slow-moving scenic bus tour and never got a chance to witness just how badly I was suffering.

I ended up finishing 10th overall, and second in my age group. Here are the official results. The times listed on the website appear to be a couple of minutes faster than what I recorded on my Garmin. I think I actually ran 1:35:47, which is about 7:15 pace. Not as fast as I would have liked, but hopefully I can run faster next month at the much flatter Santa Cruz 1/2 marathon -- which will thankfully be at sea level rather than the high desert.

Anyway, here are the Garmin stats:

Wow, I Finally Ran a Decent Race Without (Completely) Falling Apart

"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength." -- Arnold Schwarzenegger

Well, when I was studying English literature at the University of Michigan I would have never guessed that I would one day be quoting "The Terminator" in a blog. But what the hell, it works. Let me explain (eventually, a bit later in the blog).

But to get us started... This past Saturday I had the pleasure of running 31 miles in the mountains of Pacifica, California on a beautiful sunny day. The weather was perfect. The ocean-cliff views were breath taking (or maybe it was the 7,000 feet of uphill running that took my breath away). And the camaraderie was surprising, and quite enjoyable.

Usually in this type of small, local 50K trail race I find myself running alone for most, if not all of the race. However this weekend was unique in that I ran the first 20-something miles in a pack of four runners including The North Face sponsored runner Leigh Schmitt as well as Dan Rhodes from Half Moon Bay and Jason Perez from Brentwood. It was a lot of fun running together and chatting. It definitely helped pass the time. And it definitely helped me run faster than I would have otherwise run on my own.

My previous personal best on this particular course was 4:48:22 (4th place finish), but I'd also run a 5:08 (1st place) last year on a very cold, windy, rainy, muddy day. My goal going into today was to win the race, and if possible to improve on my previous time.

I didn't win.

But I exceeded my most ambitious "best case scenario". I held on to finish 2nd, just 3 or 4 minutes behind Leigh Schmitt -- a guy who has a 98.1% ranking on UltraSignUp.com, and who finished 7th at Western States in 2009 and who has won dozens of races including Vermont 100. And I took over 21 minutes off my personal best on this course, finishing in 4:27:10. That's an 8:37 per mile pace over a tough course that has over 7,000 feet of elevation gain.

Granted it was a perfect day for running. And I had some great company out on the course. And my wife Amy was there cheering me on! But what I am really proud of is that: a) I ran hard the whole race, 2) I didn't do anything stupid, and 3) I didn't ever "quit" on the race, even after Leigh opened up a nice lead and had things pretty well wrapped up.

In the past I would have likely just shut things down and coasted to the finish, content to hang on to second place. But I didn't quit, and I didn't coast. I kept running (OK, it was probably more "shuffling" than running as I lumbered up the last 2 miles of mountain switchbacks) and I didn't stop fighting until I crossed the finish line. Sure, I felt like I was going to vomit. And yes, I collapsed at the finish and had to be revived with a cold beer. But hey, I raced like I meant it.

And that brings me back to the above quotation about strength not coming from victory, but from struggle. Say what you will about his acting skills, or his fiscal policy as California Governor. But clearly the guy knows what he is talking about when it comes to strength. So hopefully the next time a race isn't going the way I hoped, I will resist the urge to DNF and remember that strength comes from resisting the urge to surrender.

Here's a link to the race results. And here is the Garmin GPS data and stats:


.

My First Bike Race this Sunday!

This Sunday I will be racing in my first ever real bicycle race, the Pine Flat Road Race (62 miles) down in Fresno. And I'm terrified. But I'm not worried about the usual stuff like getting a flat tire or being attacked my an army of rival ninjas. No, mainly I'm just scared that I will do something incredibly foolish and impetuous like attacking in the first mile.

Ideally, if I can keep my ego and excitement in check, I hope to stay relaxed and conserve my energy until the last 9 miles of the race where the big mountain climbs start. And then I'm gonna go all "Andy Schleck" on their asses.

I don't want to sound (too) over confident, but I've been training like a deranged nut job. And I'm not driving 8 hours to race for second place. So if someone wants to beat me, they better be willing to suffer for 3 hours and they better also have one heck of a finishing sprint.

And now if you will excuse me, I have to get some work done. I do also have a day job after all. And my "work" I don't actually mean that I'm just going to sit here and watch this youtube video of Andy Schleck over and over again all day.

Kicking Ass and Giving Thanks

Something very disturbing has been happening lately. I've actually been running fast. Very fast. Suspiciously fast! I'm surprised that the authorities haven't showed up outside my door demanding that I take a blood test. It's gotten to the point where my wife rolls her eyes and mumbles, "Oh, did you run another PR today" every time I come back from a workout with a goofy smile on my face. 

I'm not sure what's going on exactly, but obviously I'm doing something right with my training. In the past month I've crushed two personal records, including one that I set in 2008 and hadn't even come close to in the past 4 years.

Basically I have two "benchmark" runs that I run regularly to gauge my current fitness level. They are both 4 mile hill climbs. One is at Sierra Azul, from the Kennedy trail head entrance up to the top of the mountain at the intersection of Priest Rock. My personal best was 38:15, set back in 2008. And generally I am happy to run it in around 41 minutes. However, earlier this month and I went out and ran a 37:46, taking nearly 30 seconds off my best time!

My other regular "benchmark" climb is at Quicksilver park, from the MacAbee entrance to the top of Bull Run. My personal best was 37:09, which I set in April 2011. Aside from a couple of hard efforts in the 38 minute range, I usually run this course in around 39 or 40 minutes. Imagine my surprise when I ran this course in 36:44 earlier this month, going 25 seconds under my previous best. And then imagine my even greater surprise when I took another 2 minutes of that time and ran a blazing 34:55 this week!

Comparison of Bull Run PRs

I've looked at my split times and tried to make sure that the park rangers hadn't made the course any shorter or flattened any of the hills. But no, it's all still there. It appears that somehow I've just gotten much faster.

I suppose I could spend a lot of time trying to put a finger on it. Maybe my faster running times as a "cross over" result of all the intense training I've been doing on the bike since I've taken up cycling again? Or maybe the faster run times are a result of the pounds I've dropped since officially renouncing my trademark beer-and-ice-cream diet?

But instead of wasting my time asking why, I'm just going to be grateful and give thanks. There are so many blessing in my life, and sometimes I have to remind myself that anytime I can even get out the door and go for a run in the mountains is a good day.

So with that in mind, I'd like to acknowledge and thank some of the people who have contributed to my running over the years.

• My dad, for letting me tag along on his Detroit marathon training runs when I was 5 years old. I'm sure my 12 minute miles were not what his training program called for. Without him, I very well might have never found the joy of running.
• My mother, who over the years always brought me back to running whenever I strayed too far into other sports or passions.
• My wife Amy, who introduced me to this strange "ultra running" thing that she was training for at the time we met (at a trail half marathon in Woodside). If she and I hadn't met I might still be out floundering around in the ocean doing silly triathlons.
• My training partner Dr. Joeseph Bistrain with whom I've been running and cycling on a weekly basis  for nearly 5 years since we met in April, 2007. He dropped me that day. Though he has since slowed down quite a bit in his old age. Just kidding Joe ;)
• SAP lunchtime running colleagues Satit Nuchitsiripattara, Hermann Lueckhoff, Armando Chavez, Leo Flores, Octavian Iancu, Michael Kuehn
• Silicon Valley Triathlon Club friends Craig Petersen, Gordy Haupt, Nick Daugherty, Eduard Korat;
• My work-conference buddy Bill Pritchett who always reminds me to bring my running shoes to Las Vegas and Orlando when we travel to CRM conferences
• And of course, the Quicksilver Ultra Racing team including Coach Greg Lanctot and teammates Sean Lang, Adam Blum, Pierre Couteau, Jean Pommier, Mark Tanaka, Bree Lambert, Toshi, and everyone else!

Thank you to everyone. I'm grateful and indebted. But I'm still going to kick your ass!

I'm Back. Sorta. I Guess.

I received a lot of hate mail after my last post, "Running John is Dead. Long Live Cycling Johnny", mostly from my family and running buddies who missed Running John. It probably didn't help that Cycling Johnny didn't really endear himself to anyone with his phony European accent and his tendency to openly mock recreational cyclists riding stock assembly line bicycles, genetically inferior to his über expensive hand-made, custom, carbon fiber racing machine. Ah, but I digress.

So I'm happy to report that after 8 weeks of calf-related injury and rehab, Running John returned to the trails today, finishing his first 50k race since August. It was a perfect day for racing in Woodside, California with cool temperatures and sunny skies. I, Running John (Ed: switching over to first person narrative now?) resisted the urge to go out hard with the race leaders which included a stacked field of ultra marathon rockstar Phil Shaw, local speedster Will Gotthardt, and several other accomplished runners, opting for a more conservative pace.

I ended up finishing 6th with a time of 4 hours and 32 minutes, which is about 10 minutes slower than the 4:22:08 personal record I ran on this same course last year. But after I got over the initial disappointment of of finishing outside the top 5 and being 10 minutes slower than last year, I realized in retrospect that today was actually my 2nd fastest trail 50K of all time! Not too shabby I guess.

I must say, I felt that I ran pretty smart. I stayed on top of my calories (forcing myself to eat an energy gel every 30 minutes). I carried two water bottles to avoid ever running out of fluids. And, perhaps most importantly, after careful consideration I abandoned the pre-race strategy I momentarily considered of throwing in a 6 minute mile at the start of the race to try and "psyche out" the race favorites. That would have ended very badly (for me).

Anyway, it was a great day out on the trails. The weather was perfect. And I was in great company with lots of familiar faces including Will Gotthardt, Lisa Donchak (a fellow "ninja" of sorts), and Quicksilver racing teammates Adona Ramos, Larry Liu and Keith Lubliner.

As shown in the above elevation profile, it was a relatively hilly course, though all very runnable (I managed to run the whole thing without doing any hiking). Overall a great way to spend a Saturday morning enjoying some beautiful singletracks in the Santa Cruz mountains.