I'm the worst blogger EVER!

So it appears that blogging is way too much work for me. I just don't have the time to keep up with this blog, and if you don't keep up with it; then what's the point. So, when I do have something to blog about (race reports, cool new gear, trails I like, etc) I will be doing so on my wife Tara's blog, family of five.

Tara's blog is far more legit anyway.

One of my favorite places to run

Yesterday I ran 10 miles in one my favorite places, Auburn State Recreation Area. Best part is it's just a few minutes down the road. Ok, more like 30 minutes, but who cares. I ran Quarry Trail, up Browns Bar, up Goat Hill, then around back down to Quarry Trail. A great run with the exception of the overgrowth of Star Thistle at the top of Goat Hill.

If Oprah can run a marathon, I can review a book or two.

So I just finished reading both Running with the Buffalos: A Season Inside with Mark Wetmore, Adam Goucher, and the University of Colorado Men's Cross-Country Team, by Chris Lear and Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen” by Christopher McDougall. It was strange reading both of these books at the same time, because they couldn’t be more different. Both books are obviously about running and were well written in my opinion (Disclaimer: I think classified ads are well written), but that’s where their similarities end.

Running with the Buffalos details the 1998 Cross Country season of the University of Colorado Men’s team. Anyone who has ever competed in XC can appreciate the ridiculousness of the workouts, times, races and trials the athletes faced. No one can argue about Coach Mark Wetmore’s success in regards to both his teams and athletes. But by the end of the book, the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. It wasn’t any one thing that Wetmore or his athletes did; it was the whole business that is competitive/college running. I started reflecting on my brief college running career, which could be described in one word, dreadful. I probably had a typical college career, filled with unfulfilled expectations and of course injuries. Reading about Colorado’s workouts, mileage, races, and competition for a few slots reminded me how for the first time I actually hated running while I was in college. Colorado’s team really hammer themselves and a lot of them ended up injured. In the Afterwards I read that a lot of the runners continued to struggle with their injuries after leaving U of C. This seems to be the case with a lot of “elite” high school and college programs. The worst thing is when some of these athletes leave running for good. The team had a tremendous amount of camaraderie with each other, which was developed by the trials of the workouts and life. These guys really cared about each other, it was pretty cool to read about. Overall the book was an interesting read. Nothing like reading about guys that “cruise” through long runs at 5:30 pace.

Now to the book Born to Run; it was awesome. I don’t have the writing ability to do this book justice by describing it in detail. This was one my favorite books of all time. It focuses on the lifestyle of running, the incredible Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s Copper Canyon, barefoot running and the “myth” of the running shoe companies and how we were born to run. The book is filled with wild true stories about various super legit ultra-marathoners, ridiculously insane trail ultra marathons, and as the title states “the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.” My favorite quote of the book was in reference to the Leadville 100 mile run "You don't have to be fast; but you had better be fearless." I would recommend this book to anyone I know, both runners and non-runners.

Ok, enough with the book reviews. My running is starting to pick up and I was able to complete my longest run today (9 miles) since my IT Band injury. Next up for me is to solidify a race schedule for the upcoming year.

We joined a new running club

Today I ran further than I have run since April; 7.3 miles. It went pretty good, I was able to hold 7:23 mile pace and I had a few sub 7 minute miles in there. I ran from my house down to a really cool crushed granite trail, which I followed to the Cal State Sacramento Aquatic Center. There I met up with my family who were meeting one of the Buffalo Chips Running Club’s youth cross-country coaches.

My kids have decided they want to run cross-country and track this year as opposed to playing soccer. So after some research we decided to all join the Buffalo Chips Running Club as a family. The girls went for a run today with Tara and I in tow. Cassie ran 3 miles and Maya and Annie ran 2. I still can’t believe Maya ran 2 MILES!

We are totally excited to see them run.

Note to self: follow lessons learned from Kindergarten; if I can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all. Even better, I probably shouldn’t “talk” about running much with them, especially giving advice.

The Buffalo Chips RC appear to have several different running groups with different focuses and different abilities. There also appears to be several Ultra Marathoners on the club; several of which beat me pretty bad at WTC. Hopefully Tara and I can find a few training partners (although I have a few already..shout out to Anthony, Eric and maybe soon Derek).

I can’t believe I’m stoked about an 18 mile week

I was able to run four times this week, with today being the longest at 5.1 miles. Knock on wood, the pain in my knee seems to be mostly gone. Normally I would go out and hammer it in celebration, not this time. I’m going to ease my way back in with 4 to 5 days a week and no long runs for the next two weeks. If all goes well, I will start some long runs and a little tempo work.

I took two full weeks off without any running what so ever. I rode my mountain bike, did some core work and started a flexibility/strengthening routine (which I need to continue). I’ve been focusing on the area surrounding my knee by doing some IT Band stretches, foam roller, quad stretches, one legged squats, lunges and the “plank.”

I really need to learn my lesson one of these days. First, TAKE TIME OFF after a long race!

From now on:

Marathon/50K= 1 week no running, 1 week light running

50 Mile= 10-12 days no running, 1 week light running

100k= 2 weeks no running, 1 week light running

100 mile= 3 weeks to a month no running

I always seem to get injured after a long race when I do not allow myself enough recovery time. I know there are plenty of runners that can run two or more ultra’s in a month; I’m not one of them.

Second lesson I need to learn. When I determine I’m injured IMMEDIATELY stop running and attack the injury with ice, anti-inflammatory meds and most importantly exercises designed to increase the flexibility and strength of the area around the injury. I always try and lower my mileage when I get injured and this just prolongs my recovery.

Well hopefully I can proceed on my quest to get into WS100.

Socal Trip and Mark's Tahoe Rim Race Report

This last week I was able to get down to Southern California for my sister-in law’s wedding. While there I was able to run on a couple of trails. The first was Zuma Ridge Loop. The trail head is located in a neighborhood, just off of Hwy 1. We only ran four miles, but that was plenty for me that day. It was extremely hot and the trail had very little tree cover. It was sandy in parts and had some very steep climbs. The consolation was the view from on top of the ridge. It was an awesome view of the Pacific Ocean. The problem was my knee was bugging me throughout the run. Once I recover I intend to return to this trail and complete the 10 mile loop.

The next day we ran to the top of “Space Mountain” which is located in the Santa Monica Mountains, in Thousand Oaks, CA. It was again an easy 4-5 miler with a nice climb. After the run I definitely could feel my knee aching. It was a fun run, but I need to be able to start running four plus miles without pain in my knee. So my plan now is to take some serious time off. I’m going to try and mountain bike and aqua run to keep as much fitness as possible. I’m also going to continue a core strength/foam roller/stretching routine.

Now to my buddy Mark’s race report from Tahoe Rim. Unfortunately he was pulled from the race by the mile 50 aid station captain, after running 52 miles. How you ask? Well he left the aid station at 50 miles, but then developed a couple of nasty blisters on the back of his heels. So Mark turned around and went back to the 50 mile aid station for help with them. The captain pulled Mark from the race for returning to the aid station and being injured. Note to self; never return to an aid station you have already left! Mark said it was a great race and extremely beautiful. He also said it was a very difficult race.

Finally a little trail action

So yesterday I was finally able to get on some single track, even if it was on my mountain bike. I rode a local trail known as Salmon Falls with my friends Jeremy and Tuven. I haven’t ridden it some time and have only ridden maybe eight total times in the last two years; it definitely showed. Overall it was a good ride and it will suffice until I can start running more.

On a side note, my friend Mark is training in the Sequoia National Forest at 7000ft.; he should be ready for Tahoe Rim.