2009; a year of acronyms and more!

And so in time honored tradition this is the reflection post! At face value 2009 was a year of two halves…well that’s kind of obvious I suppose…maybe two halves of the spectrum would be a better description! Put more succinctly it was a year of acronyms, a year of DNS, PR, DNF and R&R. Either way it was not really the year of racing that I envisaged this time last year.

It all stared with my original ‘A’ race; Twin Peaks 100k in February, being cancelled due to winter storms, I switched and upped the ante with my registration for September’s Angeles Crest 100!

I had successes at a shorter distance; early in the year. I was able to reduce my 50K PR down by a total of 34 minutes with my fastest finish of 5:49:53 at PCTR Sycamore Canyon in March. April saw me return to Leona Divide to run my qualifying 50 miler for AC100, best described as a bad day in the hills, GI issues messed up the second half the race, I finished in unspectacular fashion, but I finished and that was what I needed.

Training for AC100 took me through the heat of the SoCal summer, I completed some of the longest training runs I have ever done on some of the hottest days of the summer, most went well, some not so, with me bailing out in temperatures in excess of 110f. Good friends agreed to crew and pace for AC100 and even flirting with overuse injuries I was approaching readiness as race date neared.

With three weeks to go the announcement of AC100s cancellation hit hard. I scrambled to find an alternative, and a trip to Oregon followed at the end of September to race 100 in the Hood, online friends rallied to my aid stepping up as crew and pacers travelling from Portland and Washington state. I had a superb day apart from…well you know the rest!

Two months off followed as I transitioned from crutches to air brace to ace bandage. My R&R forced me into the pool…a lot, in fact more than ever and I found myself getting faster and going further although by most standards I am still slow and short.

I was back in my runners at the end of November along with training to re-acclimate with going a bit faster than the 10-12 minute miles; a speed which months on the trail had left me with. And now I am moving, at increased speed towards my 2010 goals.

2009 was also the year of more. Looking back at my training log, this has been a big year; even with 2 months off I managed over 3000 miles in a combination of swim, bike and run. I blogged more, started a podcast which by way of a miracle aired on average every other week and I hosted the Runners Round Table several times. I made more friends both real and virtual. I took more photos…lots more! I reviewed more stuff, I was accepted as a Sugoi Product Champion and developed a great relationship with the Wilderness Running Company. New for 2010 I’ll be writing product reviews for feedthehabit.com. Finally I was selected by everymantris.com Endurance Blog for 2009; thanks to everyone who voted.

A bunch of stuff happened on the personal front as well, I don't usual write about those things; house rules, but we moved house, our eldest started a new school, started new jobs and even managed a vacation!

And so with 2010 up and running, as per my profile, let’s see if I can get a bit closer to the horizon, may this be the year that you reach your goals!

Station Fire Update

The Station Fire continues to march on, as of this evening it is 49% contained and it has consumed 156,000 acres. 4800 firefighters are assigned to it and over 200 building have been damaged or destroyed.

There are many images that are available on the web but the following is of specific interest, it’s a mash-up on Google Earth of the fire’s perimeter and the AC100 course, you can see the second half of the route is significantly impacted, however this pales when compared to the impact on Mt Disappointment which, with a the exception of the absolute summit of Mount Wilson, has fallen completely within the perimeter, (see point A, B and Josephine Summit as the basic line of the race in the map) only time will tell what impact that has on the race but based on the Santa Barbara fires of last year and the Malibu Canyon fire of 2007 it will take at least two years before it can sustain a large amount of foot traffic.

The course is marked with map pins, the fire is the circle on the left, click to enlarge

With the exception of a hire car I am all booked in for 100 in the Hood; 3 weeks to go.

Angeles Crest 100 canceled!

I am getting a distinct sense of deja vu! Twice this year my 'A' race for the year has been cancelled! First Twin Peaks 100k in January and now AC100. I am, to be perfectly honest full of mixed emotions; disappointment; obviously, frustration at potentially three months training and basically a summer away from my family; even my eldest has asked will I stop running after my race? Thankful; for the firefighters, literally risking their lives; two died yesterday, and to be honest a little relieved; how hot and punishing a race was it going to be really, a point only reinforced after blowing up on yesterday’s run in where the temperature was 110f and while I still had water I found myself dry heaving for the last 5 miles…isn’t this supposed to be fun?

Right now what’s next is unsure, some internet research some talking at home, some figuring stuff out, at the outset this was not meant to be my 100 mile debut year maybe that’s how it will finish?

The Station Fire stated Thursday, in four days it has consumed over 105,000 acres of Angeles National Forest, an acre is roughly the size of a soccer pitch or 168 square miles. It has a fire-line that is estimated to be somewhere around 20 miles long, much of it in inaccessible canyons which have not burnt for over four decades and are full of dry fuel. 3600 firefighters are on the line, over 20 aircraft are water dropping during daylight hours, 84 homes have been burnt and as I write this 5 people are trapped; they refused to heed the mandatory evacuation order Friday. Mt Wilson is under siege from three sides, it contains multiple TV and radio antenna for nearly all the stations that cover Los Angeles as well as for the CIA, FBI and Secret Service, additionally it is the site of the Mt Wilson Observatory. The smoke and water vapor is creating a mushroom cloud that is over 30,000’ high, it is so large it is generating its own weather pattern. The fire is currently 5% contained, best estimates are that it will take another week, it could reach 500,000 acres by then.

Fire is part of nature’s regeneration but like the smallest of flame it can cause a lot of pain.

Chantry Flats 74.55 – Finish Line 100.2

Saturday night was my first opportunity to run on the AC100 course and I joined 35 or so other runners in Alta Dena for this practice run. The route would cover the last quarter of the course of which some of it may be covered during the night. We all stood looking at the hills trying to second guess the weather. That day at my house some 45 miles away had gone from 50 degrees at dawn to rain to clear blue skies and 75 degrees in the afternoon. I had tried to pack for every eventuality but in the end went with CW-X ¾ tights, my Go-Run in SC shirt from Robin and my Running with Scissors arm sleeves. A bandana as I was wearing a head-torch for most of the run was the choice of headwear…I actually looked like a cross between a ballerina and a pirate! Two handhelds and my Nathan Race Vest completed my ensemble!

After some shuffling about we were broken out into cars who would drive us to the start point, we couldn’t do it ourselves as they lock the gate at the bottom of the hill! We got a short brief and without any fuss we were off. The speed demons took off and those that knew the course were asked to mark it, they did an excellent job and I didn’t loose my way once.

The first three or four miles were in rapidly dwindling sunlight, the cloud as low and it was going to get foggy as the sun set and we climbed higher. My Forerunner decided to play up and would not lock on for the first 48 minutes which left me just over three miles short in measurement, but hey; what’ev! By the time we reached the first summit we were in full on head and hand torch mode, spirits were high and we all getting to know each other. We started the run down Mt Wilson Toll Road, road is used very liberally as it is strewn with rocks, I paired up with another brit and we wild the time away chatting for the next four miles or so, we almost missed the turn back onto the single track and it was here that he ran on, he was just faster than me and then I fell over, no damage just a stupid trip! From this point we dropped lower into the canyon and the temperature got cooler as we hit the bottom and crossed a few shallow streams. Then onto the next climb I noticed that my pace was dropping off a little, the downside of being on my own and I think this is where a pacer will really help (Billy/Rachel!). I started to recognize the trail as this was where I had done my trail maintenance two weeks ago and so with the knowledge that there was probably another 2-2.5 miles of climbing to go, I set my chin and just dug in. The low cloud was being a real pain at this point and was just reflecting the light I was trying to use so I turned off my brighter hand held torch and just used my head-torch which seemed to work okay.

I popped out at the top and was greeted by the two organizers, one of which is a Park Service Officer, he had opened the gate at the bottom and made the long drive up with cookies and Mountain Dew, not wanting to be unappreciative of his efforts I partook of both, refilled one bottle with water and set off. I had about 10 miles to go and had been told it was mostly downhill.

And downhill it was, the problem was was the steps, switchbacks, and rocks so you struggled to really get into a groove and not wanting to do anything silly like roll my ankle I gingerly made my way down, I caught up with someone who was marking the trail and we ran/walked together for a couple of miles until I needed a bio break and he took off. Around this time the weather decided that we weren’t quite wet enough from the low cloud and mist and so it started to rain, not hard and not for long but enough just to make things wet all over, oh yes and I mis-read the trail and what looked like a shallow stream with pebbles was actually about 5 inches deep so I had two wet squelching feet to boot!

The trail wound its way down with some odd little ups and there were short sections on tarmac until you dropped off back into the woods, the orange glow in sky was getting brighter and finally I saw the city lights off in the distance, I had come out from under the cloud. I found myself on a tarmac road and as I rounded the bend I could see the end of it opening up onto the street, a minute later I was there and a minute after that back at my car. Shortly after the two organizers rolled up as I was getting into dry clothes and we bid our farewell.

Overall this was a great run, the weather was not so co-operative but hey that’s the mountains for you. My nutrition was good, because of the funny start time I had no dinner and I had tried not to eat anything after 4pm, (there’s a lot of poison oak and wandering around in the dark looking for a spot…well you can see where I’m going) I am also trying some new gels and they are working a treat so far. The big takeaways are travel time in the dark; I was averaging a 17:30 pace so that will help with my pace charts and that the last ten miles or so of trail are a mine-field for twisting your ankle!

No photos the one above was taken from the road and shows some of the low cloud taken from and the Garmin Connect data, MotionBased is being retired!

A little something for the weekend!

This Saturday I have my first organized course run for the AC100, there are four runs like this that pretty much cover the whole course, unfortunately I missed the first one and I’ll miss the third one also, so I end up jumping in feet first Saturday night, yes night, the run starts at 6:00pm, we’ll be covering the last 26 miles of the course. The racebook describes parts of this as follows:

…the Upper Winter Creek Trail rolls uphill for 3 miles to the signed 3-way Hoegee’s Junction. The AC100 course bears left up the Winter Creek Trail towards Manzanita Ridge and the Mt. Wilson Trail for 2 miles…

Ok so that’s 5 miles of climbing and here’s the elevation profile. Nice of them to add the elevation gains on the bottom, just over 5000’ of climbing…sweet…err…sweat over 10 miles! I am estimating 6 hours. This run is a planned dent to my schedule knocking it sideways from the alternating long run/rides and this means that on Sunday I have 65 mile bike ride scheduled with a rest day but no rest night this week as such...

...I am just glad that next week is a step back!

Going all Lance!

My training started for AC100 last Sunday, I had a couple of easy rides during the week and closed out the first week of training with no incident.

With over 1000 miles to cover on my bike in the coming weeks and having had my bike tuned up it was time to tune me and my kit, I dug out all my cycling kit and ran it through the washer; all spruced up and ready to go. Next a good wash and scrub for my trusty helmet and clean of the shoes and I am all set.

Next thing was a quick cyclist trim for me; call it curiosity, call it a desire to be more streamlined, call it what you like but 5 minutes with a pair of clippers followed by a little follow up action with a razor and voila!

All I can say is that it feels very very different!

First long ride this weekend ; 50 miles

The path to the start line...

As they say failing to plan...well you know the rest!

Some highlights:

• Back to back long runs Sunday/Monday
• Running doubles due to time constraints on Fridays
• Significant Cross-training; road cycling, you can see the routes if you copy and paste the url into a browser
  
• Sunday long runs/rides are run for time although there is a target distance
• Hoping for three or four long runs on the course to cover as much of it as possible
• Weekday/road runs are pushruns; 10 pushups every mile
  
• Biggest week in total; 179 miles
• Longest long run 69; miles

Now it's all about the execution, as someone I met on the trail maintenance day said "it's all a head game"...and the game started last Sunday.

Trail dues!

This weekend I had planned to go back and cycle the Ojai Century ride, I had technical failure last year and only managed to complete 80 odd miles. But instead I headed out to the San Gabriel Mountains to get my trail maintenance ticket punched for the AC100, a days work is required as part of the entry and it was a good opportunity to see some of the trail up close and personal. An early start and I was at the meeting point by 7:00am surrounded by other runners and several Parks department folks who are associated with the race, all holding travel mugs of coffee and chatting away. It’s always easy to insert yourself into a conversation and it gave me the opportunity to actually talk to some Facebook friends with whom I had only said hi to on race day.

We sorted out some car-pooling and I took two others in my Expedition; hi-lift was recommended for the drive up. After a short journey we hit the trailhead and the large metal gate baring our way, after some finesse with a crowbar it was open and we were driving up the trail. The cloud was low and thick as we drove through and I wondered what lay in store at the work area. We drove for about 30 minutes eventually topping out above the cloud and were presented with some amazing views of the surrounding peaks.

After parking the cars we shook out into five workgroups of 6 people and were equipped with McCleods, Polaskis and snips and given our directions. The group included a fellow Brit (yeah we’re everywhere) as well as several other familiar faces that I know from the “scene” but had never had the opportunity to talk to. We walked down and the conversation obviously touched on the usual topics; races run, race bucket lists and the like. We had a 2.5 mile walk along the trail to our section which was only .75 of a mile long but needed some serious work on overhanging branches as well as widening and clearing along most of the way, it’s amazing how long it can take to clean a section 30’ long and the 6 of us worked hard through to a 15 minute lunch and then through to about 2:00pm. We all had a vested interest in doing a good job as this section was around the Mile 85 mark which we would be climbing between 26-28 hours into the race.

We had been told to return between 3-3:30pm and we had a mostly uphill walk. The cloud had lifted off of Mt Wilson (5710’) and I was told that it’s peak was around Mile 75 after which runners dropped down its side and back up Idlehour Trail, (the one we were working on) to an Aid Station at Mile 90.

I reached the top and shared some cookies and coke (detox over!), after a dusty drive down I dropped off my car-poolers and headed home.

All in all a good days work which will benefit not only me and a some good exposure to the race terrain, albeit only 3% of the course. It's a reminder that the San Gabriel’s are big and beautiful and, I am sure, unforgiving!

Here are some photos from the day.

Leona Divide 50 Mile Run

This was a race of three halves. zero to twenty five, twenty five to forty and forty to the finish. I’ll spare you all the prerace shenanigans but suffice to say that the alarm went off at 3:00am, I was on the road by 3:45am and at the start by about 5:15am; it was cold and dark, the complete opposite of what was in store for the day.

The traditional saw blade was rung at 6:00am sharp and with a woot we were off. During the first climb the sun climbed over the far hills and with it’s ascent so the mercury went the same way, the first hour went by quickly as is often the case and with it the first six miles, I was running with Chris, a runner I had met via RunCastTV and then met in person at Malibu Creek in March, we lost each other at the first Aid Station. Shortly after this Aid Station we were directed onto the diverted section of the course and upwards and onwards we went. I played cat and mouse with Chris during this section and he eventually pulled away.

My pace was on target and I had set myself the target of covering fives miles in the hour, this would potential give me a ten hour finish; to achieve this I had planned to go through Aid Stations as quickly as possible, not stopping if not required and taking photos on the fly, I was carrying my voice recorder and recorded some sections on the way round. The next six miles clicked by in just over an hour and we climber higher and further along the first section, eventually we topped out and started on the downhill, of course being an out and back every step downward was a step up on the return. The was a degree of discomfort from not know the course and not knowing if I was going to fast or too slow! More discomfort was being offered by my stomach, I was feeling bloated, gassy and my drink was sloshing about in my gut…a bad sign of things to come!

I hit the turn around and started the climb back up, the sun was higher in the sky and the temperature was climbing. At the next Aid Station I refilled my third bottle with Perpetuem and my forth with ice water knowing that I would be at my Drop-Bag within the next hour. I was directed onto the Pacific Crest Trail, with the gentle reminder of “see you in 21 miles and don’t go too hard; the climb up is a bastard”, from this point on I was on the old course and with that came a level of comfort knowing what was in store; kinda! The downhill allowed me to pick up my pace and passed the halfway mark in 4:58. Around this point my stomach started to really go to town and took my legs with it and so heavy legged and gurgling away I made it to Aid Station five and my drop bags, I refilled one bottle and grabbed a new one from bag, also taking the opportunity to switch out gel bottles (one bottle contains 6 gels; I was taking one every half hour as well as the two gels in the pocket on my bottle sleeve) and packet of ShotBloks I had taken. I headed out for the long climb on the second out and back. The route follows a series of switchbacks taking you higher into the canyon and then you crest out, pass through another aid station and then the is a set of remorseless rolling turns, up, down, left, right till you reach the next stop, I was being consistently passed at this point not only by people who I had previously passed but by runners who I not even seen before! While it was hot the temperature had topped out and there was a cooling wind which things more comfortable. The next Aid Station had a Hawaiian theme complete with coconut bras and leis; I grabbed some coke and headed out.

Onwards and upwards to the turnaround which was situated in the relative shade under some bristlecomb pines which had the biggest pine cones I have ever seen! I actually passed someone on the way but he was looking pretty bad and asked if he was ok, he replied he was making steady but slow progress and how far was it to the next Aid Stationm I guessed a mile and half and he thanked me. I eventually reached it and gave them the heads up as this guy was in pretty bad shape, (as best I can tell he dropped) I about faced with 8:55 on the clock. On the way to the next Aid Station I hooked up another runner who was also having major gastric issues and we chatted as we passed the miles, I left him at the Hawaiian Aid Station and started on the descent, (he went on to finish about half an hour after me).

Around mile 40 my stomach threw the towel in and I stepped of the trail, without all the graphic details it will suffice to say I threw up. 30 seconds later I was back and feeling a whole lot better with 9:20 on the clock there was not a lot I was going to be able to do to make up the time and I new that of the remaining 10 miles at least five of it was uphill. I hit AS 9 the penultimate stop, refilled and pushed onto the climb. I wound my way back up the hillside, two hours later, or thereabouts, I was at the top and with 3-4 miles left it was plod back to start line, my time was shot and so I eased off in an effort to minimize my recovery, I was passed by another six or seven runners on the way to finish and that was fine I even stopped to record some video.



I caught sight of the finish and carried on down the hill crossing the finish line in a very unremarkable 12:07.

I met with Chris, who had had a great race and finished in 11:17; a new PR for him by some three hours! We stretched and chatted while we waited for the Drop-Bags and then said our goodbyes.

Ninety minutes later I was outside my house doing the hamstring crampy dance from my car to the front door…ouch!

So what went wrong? Well I am struggling to figure it out, did I over hydrate, take too many S-Caps (one an hour), was it something I ate that morning or night before, truth is I don’t know, I’ve been googling possible causes/symptoms to no avail so maybe it was just “one of those days”!?

Whatever the cause it’s not something I want to experience again, what I will say, and other ultra runners I am sure will agree whereas runners of shorter distances may (or may not) disagree is that it's never as bad as you think, this is not said out of hubris or bravado but only from experience. I felt bad and that's probably as bad is it got, was it life threatening; no, was it potentially life changing; no I simply felt bad, it was just a case of suck it up and get on with it. At Twin Peaks last year it was 30 degrees and I was in the dark and wet in a t-shirt and shorts, that was bad; but with hindsight and Goretex I could have finished, yesterday I was at worst sick; once and then felt better, there is no real comparison. So as I say it's never as bad as you think, most likely when you stop even considering the good bad equation then it probably is bad.

The good news is that I have my AC100 qualifying race in the bag; that takes the pressure off completing a race in the summer. Of additional comfort was that I was not overly impacted by the heat, it was hot, that is typically my Achilles heel but I seemed to manage that pretty well all things considered. My recovery today is a hundred times better than last year and I am up and about with no problems today (Sunday), this goes to the power of stretching, Of more concern is this weekend has reinforced a niggling concern that I have had that my local training trails are probably not going to be up to the job, the Santa Monica’s top out at around 3300’ and at AC I’ll be going up to 9000’.

For some reason while my Forerunner kept going all the way round the MotionBased data is a bit screwy, most everything is there except the elevation profile and it says it recorded only 18 miles but when you check out the laps they are all there! There are also a few pictures here but the best ones are included in the post.

Next up I have six weeks of relative downtime until the Ojai Century ride on May 30th which kicks off my AC training proper.

PCTR Malibu Creek 50k

Sunday I had the pleasure to attend the PCTR Malibu Creek 50k. This is the first of three SoCal PCTR (Pacific Coast Trail Runners) races this year and my first time racing this one. As always Wendall and Sarah put on a great event; a relaxed vibe, glorious location and perfect weather (apparently Wendell had booked the weather in advance), all aligned to make this a really enjoyable day, if you live anywhere accessible to one of their events, go, do it, sign up now; it will most likely be the most fun you’ll have all year!

Anyway I digress…as usual! For me the race was a tune up for Leona Divide 50m next month and I was using it as a benchmark on my current state of fitness, readiness etc and my expectations were to gauge myself and not go too mad, I was, as previously mentioned, looking for a steady sub 6:30 finish and it was also the opportunity to meet up with some online buddies (Chris and Danica) and re-meet with some real ones, who I hadn’t seen in the longest (Billy and Sara).

I arrived early and found the temperatures were a little cooler than anticipated; 34f! (yes I know for most of this country (and Canada and the UK) 34f is positively balmy), but I live here for a reason and 32f ain’t it!

A quick think on the clothing front and a stab in the thigh with the number pin and I was set, I stretched in the trunk of my car grabbed all my gear and wandered off to the start line. I had bumped into Sara and Danica earlier and they weren’t exactly embracing the climate! At the start I hooked up with Billy and we wished each other good luck, and with a 3, 2, 1, woot we were off!

A mile or so in Chris and Billy found me, I’ve no idea how Chris found me; it must be the accent when I am huffing and puffing through the top of my head! And so we stuck together on and off for most of the first loop.

The course was two loops taking in Castro Peak (not quite the summit, as it’s all marked Keep Out, but close enough), so it really is an up-down-around-up-down-around course, in fact on 19% of it is level and the rest is 50/50 up and down. After another mile or so were met with a line of runners backing up the trail…oh that sounds like water I thought; it was! About 12-15’ across and 2’ish deep (it seemed deeper the second time?), there seemed to be several ways to tackle it and I went with ‘try the stepping stones’ and then, ‘well I am wet let’s just get on with it’ approach, my shoes would dry out after a few more miles.

After this crossing we faced to the long climb to the top which went on for about 6 miles with some little downs in between, it was all very walkable with some running on the occasional downs and flats, we swapped stories and generally shot the sh!t as runners do. Once we got to the top the downhill was runable all the way to half way point, Chris and I jabbered to each other most of the way down with Billy not far behind and before we knew it we were half way round. 2:48! Gosh that’s a bit quick.

I set out from the Aid Station on my own; Chris had said that he had only wanted to stay with me the first loop and Billy was refilling bottles etc. I pushed through the water crossing the second time round without even a pause and plodded up the trail, a couple of hundred yards in and things were not looking familiar, I back tracked and picked up the right trail, phew disaster avoided and only a few minutes lost. I passed through the next AS and set off up the hill again. This time I knew where the flats and downs were so I made a point of running them even if they were only a dozen steps or so, every little counts, right!

There were two runners/walkers in front and I set my sights on overtaking them before the first summit, I managed to pass one and then caught the second a little later, there was also a third further ahead and I finally passed him, this had taken 3 miles. Up ahead there was a group of three who were pacing off each other and I played tag with them catching another two over the next 4 four miles. The downhill run, which lasted about 6 miles and dropped us 1900’ started to hurt the quads and toes after the second mile and so I balled my toes up and parked my brain as I let gravity take me down the hill.


I passed the old 4077 MASH site (where they filmed the TV show) for the second time and I finally overtook the third runner from the group I had been chasing. At this point I had one eye on my watch, the sub 6:30 was well in hand and there was a slim possibility of a sub 6:00 finish, something that has been in my sights for over a year.

Eventually the trail leveled out and I found myself in the last mile and on the road back to the finish. One runner was in front of me and with 300 meters left I pushed as hard as I could, caught and overtook him just before the chute, the clock by the finish read 5:58:53!

And that remained my official time, I was 17/61 overall and 5/16 in my Age Group, I broke my old PR by over 20 minutes and ticked off a major “thing to do in 2009”.

Chris came in about 10 minutes behind me with a new PR and Billy 10 minutes behind him completing his first ultra!

We hung out chatting and enjoying the sun for a while and then all parted company. What a great day!

So as races go it really couldn’t have gone better, other than a few potato chips I raced on gel (6-7) and Perpetuem alone and popped a S-Cap every two hours, it wasn’t that hot but I was feeling a little crampy with a mile to go so one every 90 minutes probably would have been better.

Now I have to weigh up if I want to run PCTR Sycamore Canyon 50k in three weeks or pass on it and go straight to LD in April, it would be nice to get the longer mileage in but I can cover that on my own and going in on the back of such a great race will be a real boost; while I simply need a finish to fulfill my AC100 entry finishing sub 11:00 for entry into WS100 is always on my mind!

Other race reports: Danica's, Sara's and Billy's with more photos etc, Chris' deleted his and is re-writing it.

Here is the MotionBased Data and a few photos here

That's that then...

I am committed or as my wife said, I should be!

From the AC100 website (my abridge):

"THIS ENTRY CONTAINS A LIMITATION ON YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS - READ IT!
I wish to enter and participate in the Angeles Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run.... I am aware that this trail run of 100 miles is extremely difficult and hazardous...difficult mountainous terrain and spans great extremes of altitude and temperature...I should not participate in this even unless: a) I am in excellent physical condition, b) I have previously run ultra-marathon distances (50 miles) on rugged trails, and c) I have recently (in the last 12 months) had a complete physical examination, including a stress electrocardiogram...I am also aware...physical injury from a number of natural factors including snow...other hazards...lack of water, communicable diseases, wildlife...during the day or at night...risks include the fact I may become injured or incapacitated in a location where it is difficult or impossible for the Run's management to get required medical aid to me in time to avoid additional physical injury, even death"....and so on!

What's an ultrarunner to do, I ask you?