Pacing at the SD Rock and Roll Marathon

Ultrarunning

I have been asked by a journalist to define what does endurance running or ultra running mean? At that moment I didn't know how to explain it. I had to take the time to reflect back to the moments that I was running. This is what I came up with.

Endurance running or ultra running for me is like a mini simulations of real life. On every journey, I experience a wide range of emotions such as exhilaration, disappointment, frustration, fear, pride, relief, etc. Due to its challenging nature there are lots of ups and downs (both literally and figuratively). At times, there's support (at designated stations, of course). Other times, I'm all by myself engrossed in vast wilderness. There's lot of quiet time to reflect, mediate, or even better yet, zone out. These lonely times prove difficult and compromise my mental and emotional strengths at times. Fortunately, difficult times bring people together, creating some memorable moments and life-time friendships.

Just like in real life, it's this balance of both good and bad experiences that make me feel alive and really push me to just keep moving forward, simply placing one foot in front of the other. Every endurance run trains me to live my best life. It shows me that there are no limits in this short life and that the longer the race, the better!

50 Miles of fun

Carlsbad 5000

“The fastest 5K in the world”

The Carlsbad 5000 claims itself to be “The fastest 5K in the world.” For some this may be true, but for me it was my slowest. With a time of 18:52, it was the slowest out of the four 5Ks I have ran so far. Hence, I have come to the conclusion that my body is not built to run short distances. It’s just too much pain in such a short time. It requires a burst of cardiovascular strength which I realize I do not possess. And by the time I warm up, the race is over. I’m slow to start, but I like to go the distance. That’s why I think I’ll just stick with the long distance races for now. I can run at my own pace and not worry about the time.

Ryan Hall: "The Future and the present American runner"

Ryan Hall was with the leaders on world record pace (1:02:13) at the half way point. After falling off the pace a little after 25k at the London Marathon 2008, Hall caught back up rejoined the leaders on the 21st mile before being dropped again. He held on to run 2:06:17, the 3rd fastest time ever by an American, to finish 6th and earn a $50,000 bonus.

Ryan said his training coming into London went great. He noted, "I like to escape up in the mountains and just train. That's what I did before the (Olympic Marathon) Trials and it worked out really well form me. I get a lot of confidence from my training. I find it is really hard to compete well at a high level when doing marathon training, so I find it very effective to just disappear for a while and come down fit."

He said, "I find that I love the training for it (the marathon). I love doing the long runs. I've always been doing high mileage ever since I was little. My very first run was 15 miles around the lake.
The longer I get the stronger I get ... I really enjoy the training, the racing, I love competing against the guys ... I'm glad I found that out at a young age."

Winning clearly is on Ryan's mind. "I've never stepped on the start of race and thought I had no shot of winning the race," he said.

Ryan enjoys competing against the best and said, "You learn more than about your competitors, you learn about yourself and how you can push yourself and when you can push yourself and (you learn) your own limits. That's what I'm trying to see how fast can I go, how hard can I go, how do I stack up against these guys?"

Don't forget that Ryan's marathon career is only 2 races old and that he hung with the leaders in London in his first marathon ever (he was behind the main pack at points in the race, but bridged the gap as the pace was a bit slow for London, and then he hung with the leaders until the final miles, even taking the lead).

Have you run Boney Mountain?

Jeff, Gerard and I finally ran this tough course. Our goal was just to finish the half marathon under Two hours, and?? We did it.

Every event has its own personality and character. The Boney Mountain Half Marathon is a trail running classic, with superb single track trails, fantastic views, grueling climbs, and fast, fast downhills. The longer climbs are on the single track sections of the course, and the descents generally on roads or old road beds. This results in a challenging course with 2600' of elevation gain/loss, that -- for the fleet-footed -- can be very fast.

Jeff fineshed just on time.
There are two significant climbs. The big one starts in earnest around mile 6.8 on the Old Boney Trail. This is a little less than a mile past the Danielson aid station. From the low point on the course (295') in Big Sycamore Canyon at mile 5.5 to the high point of the course (1820') at mile 9.75, there is a gain of about 1700' and loss of about 175' in elevation.


The Old Boney climb is tough, no doubt. But you have to be careful not to overlook the nearly 700' of climb (and a little downhill) between mile 1.8 and mile 4. Early in the race, full of energy and charged with endorphins and adrenalin, it's easy to push this section too hard. Runners tend to be more tightly grouped, and a dynamic develops that pushes the pace.
We managed to avoid that trap, and other than slipping at the first creek crossing and almost diving for mud snails, my race went reasonably well.

The weather was about as good as it gets for a race -- cool and clear and without much wind. The trail was still damp from heavy rain earlier in the month, but there was almost no mud.