Wow, it's been a long time since I've been on here. I'm not really sure what happened. I was posting updates quite often while I was getting ready for my 10th running of the Headlands 100, and then somehow I just stopped writing on here. I did finish my 10th consecutive Headlands 100, and after a long time I finally finished the video. This years Headlands 100 has been pushed back to November 21st, and I'm really looking forward to it.
I recently went out to the Headlands 100 course last weekend and tried to pull off 150 miles, but I had to stop before making my goal.
I have the video done from my 10th run at the Headlands 100 and I plan on posting it along with a short blog recap of the race later this week. I also plan on posting about the failed attempt I made at the 150 miler at Headlands.
I'm hoping to make it a point to post on here at least once a week and make it a regular thing again.
I've been really bad about doing the weekly video updates for my training progress for Headlands 100. I've been even worse about posting the video after I make it. This video was from a couple days ago. My progress is slow going, but it's going. I'm running once a week, and that's all I really have time for with my schedule. Cool Moon 100 is about 6 weeks away. Hopefully I'll be ready. This will be my first ultra and first 100 miler since I ran Headlands 100 last year.
Since I'm not very good at doing video updates, I think I'll just go old school and start doing regular blog posts after my training runs. Hopefully I'll get my shit together.
Another week down of training. It's all slowly coming together, and it's coming together slowly. I went on a 5.25 mile run a few days ago, did a 30 min training session at 9Round (where I work a few days a week) and I then ran back home. It was super hot out that day, and the run back home was very difficult.
I was planning on running a 50k last Saturday, but I wasn't able to get out to the race. I've tried to run the Shadow Of The Giants 50k several times in the past, but I have always had something get in the way of me making it out to the race. I accidentally messed up requesting the day off and was scheduled to work. I honestly feel like I wasn't suppose to run this race on this weekend, and that as much as I wanted to run, it wasn't suppose to happen.
At the end of 2018 I was playing around with the idea of going back and running the Cool Moon 100 miler this year. I honestly dropped the idea after not having my Achilles tendon recovery take longer than I expected. I started thinking about this race again on Saturday, and this race started making more sense to me. I contacted my friend that is the Race Director, and after messaging him a few times, I've decided to run the Cool Moon 100 Miler on August 10th. That gives me 2 months to be ready to a 100 mile adventure.
This race is really difficult. It's hot, exposed, has a good amount of climbing, and it's also 100 miles. I'm really looking forward to giving this event everything I have in 2 months.
This last week of training has felt way more productive. I'm starting to run again, and my cross training has been going very well. If all goes right I'll run a 50k this weekend, even though I know that I don't have the mileage in my training to run it very well. I'm hoping I can use it more as a "time on feet" training run.
I still need to work on my daily meditation practice since it is totally absent right now.
I'm hoping to figure out a way to increase my mileage safely so that I don't aggravate my injury and make things worse. I also have very limited time in my schedule, so I need to figure out when I can even make time to go running.
I have a feeling this next week will go the way I need it to and I'm doing my best to stay positive about everything. I'm looking forward to this coming September, and I'm feeling very focused right now.
I didn't make a video last week, and I almost didn't make one this week, but I decided I needed to. My training has not been what I was expecting over the last 2 weeks. My injury is still keeping me from running at the volume of miles that I need to. My longest run over the last 2 weeks was 5.5 miles last week, and then a 4 mile power walk yesterday.
I haven't been taking care of my injury in the manner that I need to. I've been neglecting my nightly massage, ice treatment, not taking anything to help with the inflammation in my tendon... I've just been tired of dealing with this.
This week I need to turn everything around. I need to start meditating again, taking care of my mental and physical health, and getting back into training mode. I know how much a 100 mile event will take out of me, and if I don't get my shit together this race is going to really suck. I really want my 10th time at Headlands 100 to be enjoyable.
Sometimes it's hard to get motivated when you have be absent from something for so long. I really need to find the motivation to get ready for this coming September.
I haven't written anything on here in a long time. I've been dealing with an injury for the last several months and haven't ran much at all. Headlands 100 is only 4 months away from today, so I need to start getting ready for it. I know that my training will have to be very different this year compared to previous years.
I'm going to try to do weekly updates on my training and progress. I'm basically starting from zero right now. I ran 6 miles today, and the last mile really sucked. I'm very far from being able to run 100 miles again, but I know what I need to do to get there again.
On September 8th of 2018 I ran my 9th consecutive Headlands 100 miler. I went into the race under trained and injured, and as much as I had hoped to run a new personal best time at this event, I was going to have to settle with just trying my best to finish.
I had my usual support crew at the race, my parents (they have been at every Headlands 100 that I've ran), my buddy Chris (I think this was his 8th time at this event), and my friend Scott who was out there with me for his first time helping me out.
Loop #1
I went into the event optimistic, but knowing that it would more than likely be a really long day. I have had some issues with my Achilles tendon since April of 2017 and the damage I had done from running and jiu jitsu was starting to catch up to me. I was hoping to run each loop in around 6 hours and 30 mins, but I wasn't sure if that was realistic. At the beginning of the first loop I was feeling good. The uphills at the beginning felt slightly uncomfortable, but the few flat areas and the downhills felt pretty good. I was losing time on the uphills, but able to make up the time on the flat and downhills sections.
As the miles went on, the discomfort started to come, and it was getting difficult to find enjoyment in running this event. I ran most of the first loop by myself, but from time-to-time I would find someone to burn a few miles with. I was able to muscle through the first loop, and I finished the first loop in just a little bit over 6 hours.
Loop #2
I was trying to get out of the aid station and headed out on my 2nd loop as fast as I could. At about 6 hours and 24 mins into the event I was heading out on my 2nd loop. The long climb that started the 2nd loop was really starting to really cause discomfort on my Achilles tendon. As I climbed out of the section that took me out from the Golden Gate Bridge I was starting to think that "running" this event might not be a good idea. I could handle the discomfort on the flat sections and the downhills, but the uphill running/walking was really getting to me. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the discomfort that I was feeling.
Around mile 35 I started running with another runner that I seemed to be running the same pace with. Dani and I ran the rest second loop together. It was nice to have someone to run with and talk to. Our conversations took my mind off of the trouble I was having with my Achilles tendon.
Around mile 45 Dani's crew brought both of us Slurpee's, and they tasted amazing.
Loop #3 Dani and I parted ways, and we both picked up our pacers at mile 50. My friend Scott came out to crew and pace the 3rd loop. This was the first time Scott and I had ever ran together. I was looking forward to running with Scott and getting to know him a little more over the next 25 mile loop.
This loop was by far the hardest. I was tired, and starting to really hurt. My pace was dropping tremendously, and for the first time ever at this event, I was getting worried about not making the time cutoffs at the aid stations. I also realized that I had forgotten my usb power supply that I was going to use to charge up my Garmin on the third loop. The battery life on the watch would not last the entire event, so I needed to charge it up during the third loop. This caused me a little more stress to an already stress filled day. I knew that my pace was dropping, and that there was no way that my Garmin would make it to the end of the 3rd loop.
Every aid station we got to I would ask what the cutoff time was for me to get to the next aid station. I was always assured that I was way a head of schedule, but I was still starting to panic because the pain was starting to settle in a little bit more, and I was slowing down quite a bit.
As Scott and I left the Golden Gate aid station I started to really wonder if I was going to be able to finish my 9th Headlands 100 miler. The reality of a DNF (Did Not Finish) was starting to sink in. I kept trying to figure out the math in my head... "Am I slowing down too much? Am I even going to have enough time to finish a 4th 25 mile loop?"
Scott was doing his best to keep me moving and motivated, but I was slipping into a dark place. I was giving up, and I was starting to accept that today might not be my day.
Then, just as I had hit mile 68.72 my watch died. This was something I was going to have to deal with. I'm very use to having my Garmin, and always being able to know my time and distance. Not having this available was super stressful, especially since I felt like I was running low on time.
At mile 72 I really though I was done with the event. I came to accept the fact that maybe I just needed to stop and call it a day. I started walking and trying to get back into a better mindset but I wasn't able to find one. Scott kept trying to motivate me, but I wasn't having it. I felt like I was mentally done, and I didn't want to go on anymore.
I started thinking about all the years that I've done this race... and all miles... all the time training... all the different life changing events that have taken place over the years between this race every year... all the lessons I've learned since I first did this race...
I started thinking about my goal of finishing this event 10 years in a row, and how shitty I would feel to let the 9th finish just slip away. I was becoming more and more emotional with every thought of failing that come into my head. I started to feel angry... angry that all the years I spent doing this were about to end. I knew that if I didn't finish this race that I was not going to return the next year.
I thought about what I was going to feel like to have to stop... to have to write a blog about my 9th Headlands 100, and how I couldn't pull it off...
An injury is no excuse... there is no excuse out here. This is "My Race!!"
I stopped for a brief second and got really angry. Scott asked me what was going on and I couldn't even think of anything to tell him. I stood there in the middle of an emotional breakdown and finally told myself, "This is not how 'This' ends. This doesn't end this way!!! I've faced harder obstacles than this in life, I can do this. I've come way to far for this to end now!! This is not how 'This' ends!!!"
At this point I took off running. Scott was right behind me telling me our pace, distance, time... and that I was doing good. As we got closer to the end of the third loop I told Scott what we needed to do. I said to Scott, "We need to charge my Garmin, get a bottle of Dr Pepper ready for me when I leave the aid station... and after I take a 15 min nap, don't let me stop for anything on this last loop. It's going to hurt... it's going to suck... but I'm not going home with a DNF today."
We finished the 3rd lap, and I ran to a bench and closed my eyes. Scott was done pacing, and now it was time for Chris to run with me. While I slept for a few mins Scott and Chris discussed what was going on, and what they needed to do to get me to finish.
Loop #4
Chris and I headed out for my last 25 miles. I was beyond tired. I was mentally drained, and physically exhausted. I was still questioning if I would be able to finish. I called my parents and told them how everything was going and that I wasn't having a good race. I told them to go ahead and just head home after they checked out of their hotel room, because it was going to be a log day and I wasn't sure when I would finish. They told me that was a ridiculous idea, and that they would see me at Tennessee Valley in a few hours.
My parents have been at every Headlands 100 that I have ran, and have only not attended 2 of the 100 miles races that I have ran, and they were not going to just leave.
We made our way to the aid station at the Golden Gate Bridge and left as fast as we could. At this point I just wanted to be done, and I knew if I stayed at the aid stations for too long, I might not ever leave. As we made our was from the Golden Gate aid station to the Tennessee Valley aid station we ran into Dani. She looked very tired. We gave each other a big hug and she told me she wasn't feeling very good. I offered her some words of encouragement, and then we parted ways. I would find out later that she had to drop from the event soon after I saw her.
We got to Tennessee Valley and I saw my parents. My mom and dad could tell that I was tired. They told me to keep pushing on, and I know it wasn't easy for them to encourage me because they knew how much I was hurting. I was under trained, injured, and not mentally healthy...
We left Tennessee Valley and headed to Muir Beach. I told my parents I would see them soon and that I loved them. I thanked them for staying and supporting me, and then Chris and I headed out.
We made it to Muir Beach with no problem, and then back to Tennessee Valley. When we go back to Tennessee Valley I went to my drop bag and pulled out a note that Alisha had left for me. She had left several notes in my drop bags with each of them labeled which mile to open them. There were times that the only thing that got me to each aid station was the fact that I knew I had some words of encouragement to read from her.
We left Tennessee Valley for the last time, and I headed to the finish line, just a short 4.5ish miles away. This felt like forever.
With the help of Chris and Scott, my parents, Alisha's love, and the support of all my family and friends I finished my 9th consecutive Headlands 100 in 31 hours and 15 mins and 23 seconds... but who's counting...
Now That It's Over
This race has always meant a lot to me. It was the very first 100 mile event that I ever did, back in 2010, and I've been lucky enough to run it every year since then. I have not been running lately and my Achilles tendon if finally getting the recovery time that it has been needing. I cant wait to go back to the Marin Headlands this coming summer and go for finish number 10!!
