13 day left

I forgot to charge my Garmin last night.  I really wanted to go on a 4 hour training run today, but those plans are now getting changed.

Now my Garmin is sitting on the charger and I'm going to jump rope for an hour. After that my Garmin should be charged enough to get me through a 13.1 mile training run.

I'm really annoyed with myself right now.  This is my last chance for a long run before AR50 and I totally blew it.

I really want to run a strong race this year since it's more than likely my last year running it.  Right now I'm honestly feeling like my training just isn't there to run a good race.

There's not much I more I can do with the race only being 13 days away.  All I can really do is maintain the fitness level I'm currently at (and not 100% happy with) and try to keep a clean diet.

Oh well, I guess I just need to roll with the punches.

Until next time...

Keep Running!!!!

Race Judicata... My New PR!!

It's been my goal for quite sometime now to run a sub 18 min 5k. I haven't really tried for this goal in about 2 years. It's constantly been put on the back burner. I've decided that 2013 would be the year that I finally make an honest effort and go for sub 18.

 Last weekend was the fist local 5k of the year. I kept trying to get in speed work, but it was hard most of January to just get in a run. My total mileage for January 2013 was somewhere around 60 miles.

With the 5k coming up soon, I knew that there was one thing I needed to work on along with speed work... that one thing was getting my weight down. I was about 190 pounds and I prefer to be more in the 175-180 pound range, especially when I'm trying to run fast.

For 3 weeks before the race I cleaned up my diet. No soda, no fast food, the only meat I ate was fish, and I used portion control for every meal.

 On race day I was back down to 183 pounds. As much as I want to run sub 18, I knew today wasn't going to be that day. My 5k PR was 19:01 going into the race. My last three 5k races where I aimed for sub 18 all ended the same way. I'm on pace up to mile 2.5, then I just fall apart.

I decided today was going to be different. I was going to start this year with a confidence boost and just shoot for a PR.

The race started and I hit the first mile at my planned 6:15 pace. I had that pace dialed in and held it until the 2.5 mile marker. I was feeling really good and I was able to kick out the last .6 miles left.

I came up to the finish line and saw the clock in the distance... 18:45

I ran to the finish line as fast as I could. My goal for a PR was accomplished. I came in at 18:57 and placed 2nd in my age group.

Earlier that day my son ran the kids ¼ mile race and came in 3rd place for his age.

My son loves running and it's awesome to see him constantly improving and running faster.

There's another local 5k in May. My goal is to put in a lot of hard work and run the race finishing somewhere around 18:30, and then at the Susan Komen 5k this October I will shoot for a sub 18 finishing time.


Until next time...

KEEP RUNNING!!!

San Bruno 50 Miler

Watch "San Bruno Mountains 50 Mile 02-24-2013" on YouTube

On February 24, 2013 I ran my first ultra marathon on this year, the San Bruno Mountains 50 Miler. My goal was to use this race as a "training run" of sorts for the American River Run 50 mile race that I will be participating in this April for the 4th year in a row.

The night before the race I only managed to get about 3 hours of sleep. This is normal for me the night before a race. I tend to get really anxious and have a difficult time sleeping.

I got up early the morning of the race and drove from Fresno to San Bruno with my wife Lori, my mom, and my running buddies Rudy and Lupe.

We arrived to the event with about 30 mins before the official race start time. The 50 mile event started at 6:00am, before the sun came up.

The course consisted of five 10 mile loops.

There was one pretty tricky part of the course somewhere between mile 4.5 until mile 6. We went on a fairly steep downhill and then turned around and went right back up.

The first two times I ran this section I didn't realize how difficult this part of the trail was, but when I hit it on the 3rd loop it began to become much more difficult as my legs grew more and more tired.

Mile 8.5 to mile 10 of the loop was very forgiving, and very fast. I was able to run this section pretty well. It contained mostly a rolling downhill section that was very fun to run.

Somewhere around mile 22ish I did something that I haven't done in a few years. I tripped and fell really hard on the trail. Luckily I decided to use a water bottle instead of a hydration pack for this run. When I fell I went down pretty hard and luckily fell with most my weight in my hand that was holding my water bottle.

 Overall I had a good time at the event. The course was pretty tough, but most of it was very runnable. I hope to go back to this event again next year. Having a cool belt buckle as a finishing award is also pretty nice too.

I can honestly say I didn't train very well for this event. My longest training run was only 20 miles, and that was only a week before the race.

I feel like this race really helped me get back on track with my training for AR50. My training right now is very on point. I've been sticking to my schedule of running, weights, Jiu-Jitsu, and eating healthy. I foresee good things happening at AR50. I'm really looking forward to my next race!!


Until next time...

Keep Running!!!!

Backup Plan

I woke up at 5:15am today to do my typical Tuesday early morning hill repeats at the park.

My Monday night workout left me a little more drained than normal.  I'm training for a 5k that's coming up soon.  I'm going to try to PR so my training has shifted from long traing runs, to short faster runs.

Currently my Monday workout is consisting of 10 mins of jumping rope, a hard 2 mile run, jumping rope for another 10 mins, another hard 2 mile run, and then finishing with 10 more mins of jumping rope.

After all that I head over to Jiu-Jitsu and train for 90 mins, and once that is over I drive across town to teach a cardio boxing class at the gym I work at here in Fresno.

Then I head home and lift weights before I go to bed.

So... when I woke up today to go do my hill repeats, I was really tired.  I headed out the door, got on my car and headed to the park.   Halfway to the park I realized something very important... my Garmin watch.

This wasn't a problem because I normally have a backup watch on my glove box.  But, when I opened my glove box I realized that my backup watch wasn't in the glove box of my car because I took it out the other day to use it at the gym. 

This was a major problem because I needed to be home by 7:00am to get my son ready for school.  My run was about to become very short.  Then I remembered that I had my cellphone fully charged and I have a running app installed on it.

So, when my backup plan failed, I was able to find a backup for my backup.  I really don't like running with my cellphone, especially when my running shorts don't have pockets, but it's better than nothing. 
I generally try to keep backup supplies in my car.  You never know when you might forget something.  I generally keep a running outfit, a pair of shoes and socks, a few bottles of water, a headlamp, and an extra watch in my car.  You never know when you might need to replace something.

I also like keeping all that stuff in my car because you never know when you might be driving around town a think to yourself, "I should totally go for a run right now!!"  It's nice to have the means to go for an unplanned last second run.

Until next time...

KEEP RUNNING!!!!

I'm Not Just A Runner

Before I was a runner I spent my free time practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  Running was my cross training.  It was something I did to make sure I made weight for tournaments, and I honestly wasn't really into running but I knew it was something I needed to do to stay fit.  The more I competed the more I ran.  Eventually my sister would convince me to run a 5k, and then eventually a half marathon.

Before I knew it, I was running and doing Jiu-Jitsu and not much else.  I was competing in Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, running half marathons, and I was in pretty good physical shape.

Then my life took an expected turn.  Jiu-Jitsu took a back seat because of some personal life struggles I was going through, but running ended up taking a front seat and before I knew it running was dominating my life.

Running became my outlet.  I was able to head out to the park for a couple hours, burn off some energy, and most importantly have time to gather my thoughts. 

After awhile Jiu-Jitsu became something that I use to do.  After I did my first marathon I dove into running ultra marathons very quickly and running ultras pretty much consumed all my time.

Jiu-Jitsu would always randomly pop back into my life.  I would have old friends randomly ask me to train with them, and I would, but I could never seem to get back into training. 

When I stopped training Jiu-Jitsu it was a very complex time in my life.  I think that deep down I constantly associated Jiu-Jitsu with that part of my life and that's why it was so hard for me to want to train again. 

Then one day I got a call from my old friend Steve RedLion.  He was getting ready to open up a Jiu-Jitsu school and wanted me to start training again.  I reluctantly went to class from time to time because I still had old feelings of frustration that I associated with that part of my life.

After a year of training off and on (more "off" than "on") I just stopped training altogether. 

I once again gave up on training...

Then one day Steve called me and asked me why I wasn't showing up to class.  I slightly remember giving him some bull shit excuses and Steve wasn't taking any of them.  I remember our phone conversation ended with Steve telling me that he expected me to be in class and that I better be there.

Steve isn't the type of person I can easily say no to, so I unpacked my Jiu-Jitsu gi, got my blue belt, and went to class that night.

I figured I should give it one more shot.  Steve obviously felt I should, and I always trusted his opinion.

My work and family schedule is very busy. I have two kids, I work full time, have a part time job, train for ultra marathons, and I'm recently remarried.  I have to balance work, family, and training... and sometimes it seems impossible.

Well, one thing that Steve told me was this, "I know you're very busy, but you get in here, train hard, and we will get you your purple belt."

I had my blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu for a very long time.  With my "on again off again" training that was almost expected.  I honestly never thought I'd make it to the next belt ranking of purple belt.

I trained when I could, usually only one day a week, but I would randomly have weeks where I could train 3 times a week.  I quickly started telling myself "quality over quantity."  I knew with my schedule I wasn't going to be able to train as much as some of the other guys, but I really needed to make those days that I could train count.

After about 9 months of Steve patiently working with me, cleaning up my Jiu-Jitsu technique, and changing the way I fight... on January 12th, 2013 I was awarded my purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu. 

I've had a lot of people in this sport help me along the way.  But no none of them have helped me along the way like Steve has.  He's been an amazing teacher, mentor, friend, buddy... and when I was married last June of 2012 Steve stood right next to me in my corner as I exchanged wedding vows with my wife Lori.

Now comes the next stage in my Jiu-Jitsu life... going for my brown belt.

I feel a renewed love for the sport of Jiu-Jitsu.  I'm excited to take my Jiu-Jitsu game to the next level.  For the first time in a long time I'm excited about training.  The balance of family, work, ultra running, Jiu-Jitsu, and friendships all seem to be getting in sync.

I have many 50 mile and 100 mile races planed for 2013, but I know if I want to get my brown belt in Jiu-Jitsu I know I'll have to step up my Jiu-Jitsu game, and I'll also need to start competing again... and hopefully I'll step back into competition by the end of this year.

I have to admit, the thought of competing again makes me a little nervous.  My last tournament was back in 2008.

I look forward to the challenge ahead of me.  I also know that with Steve, and the other many awesome training partners I have, any challenge put in front of me will be overcome.

One important lesson I've learned from Jiu-Jitsu and ultra marathon running is this... sometimes believing in yourself isn't enough.  You need people in your corner reminding you from time to time that you need to keep pushing through all the barricades that life puts in front of you.  The people who love you will help keep you well grounded and humble when you're at the top, and they'll help pick you up when your at the bottom.

If it wasn't for Steve, I might never achieved my goal of getting my purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu.  I also know that he doesn't expect me to stop progressing from there.  I know he expects me to eventually get my brown belt.

Well, that's it for this blog entry.  I hope it wasn't too long and boring for you guys.

...to all my running friends,

KEEP RUNNING!!!!

...and to all my Jiu-Jitsu buddies,

I'll see you on the mat, and keep rolling!!!

Plans For 2013

It's that time of year again where I sit down and plan out my races.  So far I have a list of 50 mile and 100 mile events that I plan on running.  Many of these races I've ran before, but a couple will be first time races for me.

Here's my list so far for 2013...

February 24th San Bruno 50 mile

April 6th American River 50 mile

April 27th Leona Divide 50 mile

June 8th San Diego 100 mile

August 4th Cool Moon 100 mile

September 14th Headlands 100 mile

I'm sure this schedule will change a little.  I also plan on doing a couple half marathons and a marathon here in my home town of Fresno California.  Hopefully I'll also run a few fast 5k races this year. 

I'm also working on a fundraiser with some friends to benefit The Central Valley Ronald McDonald House.  We plan on raising money by running from the Bakersfield Ronald McDonald house to the Fresno Ronald McDonald house.  Right now we're guessing the run will be somewhere around 130ish miles.  There should be a group of 5 of us running the entire distance together in November of this year.  It should be an awesome adventure.

Until next time...

KEEP RUNNING!!!!  

2065 Miles

I had a very eventful year in 2012.  I ran my 3rd consecutive AR50 and also set a 50 mile PR while doing it.  I received my first DNF while running the San Diego 100 after accidentally going off trail and getting lost.  Going off trail led to me missing the time cutoff around mile 31.

The night before my wedding I held a fundraiser for The Central Valley Ronald McDonald House where myself and other runners raised over $2500.00 running around a local high school track.  I ended up running 12 hours (9:00pm to 9:00am) and accomplished 54 miles.

I ran my first 100 miler in under 24 hours, ran my furthest race ever (125 miles), and I was once again privileged to crew for my friend Oswald Lopez at the 2012 Badwater Ultra Marathon.

My total mileage goal for 2012 was 2000 miles.  I hit that number in the middle of December.  All the extra miles after that were a bonus.  On December 31st I drove about 2 hours to San Martin to run with my ultra running friend Leigh.  She arrived to our running location about an hour before me and got a jump on her miles for the last day of 2012.  When our run was over she had run a 50k (31 miles) and I had ran a marathon (26.2 miles).

My total mileage for 2012 ended up being 2065 miles.  It felt good to run 65 miles over my goal, especially since I was very behind on my mileage the first half of the year and had to play "catch up" the second half of the year.

2012 was a good year of running, and I can't to see what will 2013 will bring.

Until next time...

KEEP RUNNING!!!!