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:


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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.

"Running John" is Dead. Long live "Cycling Johnny"

We are gathered here today to celebrate the memory of our friend "Running John" who is no longer with us. May he rest in piece.

Running John was last seen on October 28, 2011 at the Morgan Hill half marathon. According to eye witness reports his right calf muscle gave out around mile 4 of the race with a loud pop and a fiery explosion. Several bystanders were taken the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Unable to run for the past month due to his lingering calf injury, Running John has taken up cycling to stay fit and have fun. In fact, word in the Peloton is that he has even joined a bike racing team (San Jose Cycling Club developmental squad) and plans to focus on bike racing next year.

Already this offseason Cycling Johnny has found some success with club races that involve lots of short climbs. While not the lightest rider (probably due to his love of German wheat beer) he isn't able to hang with the waifs on the long mountain climbs. However, on shorter climbs of a mile or less he is surprisingly sometimes able to ride away from the field.

In fact, recently Cycling Johnny became to the fastest person to have EVER ridden the Alamden Dam Climb in a time of 2:21, over 12 seconds quicker than the previous record holder. Must be all the glycogen from that German Dunkelweizen beer.

Campbell Oktoberfest 5K

Those of you who have known me since college can attest to the fact that there's two things I have always been good at: drinking beer and running (from the authorities). Of course, now that I am older, wiser, and slower I have wised up and renounced... Oh who I am kidding. I still love beer. And I still run every chance I get (whether from the authorities or just the local mountain lions and bobcats).

Last Saturday, October 15, I decided to sign up for a local 5K to find out just how slow I have gotten since my high school cross country days. I was never that fast at the shorter stuff in the first place (I'm more suited to the ultra-marathon distances), so I knew that this was going to be ugly. But, I figured that with some local law enforcement loitering around (eating all of the post-race food and hitting on any women who walked by) I should get that little added boost of adrenaline.

I knew I wouldn't have any chance to win (some of these 13 year old girls and 50+ year old men looked like they might be surprisingly fast). And of course, I probably looked like an idiot myself decked out in my Ed Hardy board shorts and my Vibram Five Fingers.

The starting gun went off and everyone started sprinting across the grass toward the paved bike trail. I felt like I was standing still. Everyone was passing me: little kids in basketball shorts, overweight walkers, pregnant women pushing double strollers. I quickly found myself in about 30 place. A quick glance down at my watch showed that we were running 5:45 pace, which was a bit too fast for my game plan of running 6:00 miles. Time to slow down!

Thankfully at about the .5 mile mark people started slowing down dramatically and I reeled in most of the little kids and pregnant stroller moms. But there three 50+ year old guys ahead of me (only one of which I would eventually catch).

I felt like I ran a pretty even paced race, though my Garmin stats tell a different story, with each of the three miles getting slower than the previous. Nonetheless I was reasonably satisfied with my time of 19:07 and my 9th place overall finish. Maybe I will actually do a little training (ugh, speed work) for the next local 5K in February.