I’ve alluded to my 2015 plans via Facebook and a few other places but here they all (almost all) are in one place. All of these are 99% are committed to. As I am not independently wealthy with kids at college I am sure life and work will conspire to throw a spanner in the works at some point, let’s see.
I raced this back in 2008, it was my second 50k ever. It’s cold and barren but tons of fun and a good benchmark for fitness for the year. Becca is signed up too and we’re discussing if I will run with her or not.
7 days bike riding. This is going to hurt as I have ridden my bike 5 times in the last 5 months. It’s for fun and you can dial down the heat as required so other than getting pissy at being on the bike it should be fine.
This is the first big-ticket item of the year and my first time here. It’s the race that Becca have been focused on for a while now and we have spent hundreds of miles on these trails. It’s going to be a challenging day as the course has somewhere around 7000’ of gain!
Another race I am revisiting, the last time I raced…well ran…well walked here was in 2009. Second big-ticket race. Becca’s first 50 miler so they may be a few tears along the way, not sure who’s though!
A complete adventure. We’re camping on the south rim and running there and back again in a day. The last time I was at the Grand Canyon was over 10 years ago. I am sure it hasn’t changed much since then, but I am significantly different.
Another total adventure. Running as a team with Becca, 6 days, 120 miles, 20,000’ of gain. Camping, altitude. A total unknown wrapped in a big bow of OMG!
Beyond that who knows but this seems like a good start!
Check! While not to diminish Marathon training, it is by comparison to triathlon training, well a bit of a doddle! Becca will hate me for this, I get reminded many times a week how jealous she is of my training as she battles to keep balanced and coming back from her bike crash in preparation for Ironman Arizona. Gone (for me) is the struggle of pool times, car drivers when cycling and the general faff (faph?) of kit. So with that said my week shook out like this:
Monday. 6 miles Recovery. Nice and easy on the Treadmill. The joy of the treadmill is consistency, and these splits just reinforced that; 8:12, 8:12, 8:11,8:08, 8:05 and 8:09
Tuesday. Should have been off, but went out with Becca for a nice 6 miler.
Wednesday. Tuesday’s off day
Thursday. Back on my local trail 6 mile run. With a rest day the day before I had a spring in my step and was able to run the entire circuit, including the 40% incline!
Friday. 5 miles nice, steady in the afternoon heat. Was aiming for a 8:30 average, came in at 8:31
Saturday. Off.
Sunday. Hot and hilly 14.5 miles on the Backbone Trail. I need to get my ass in gear earlier on the weekend to avoid running in the midday sun. I know it was going to be hot and paced myself accordingly. I still ran out of water with a couple of miles to go. A fair bit of walking for sure! Very happy to have an “at-home” massage booked for later in the day!
So the weekly numbers tally up as so; 5 run, 6:42:23 and 38.11 miles. 4734’ of gain
Road: 11.52 (30%)
T’mill: 6.1 (16%)
Trail: 20.51 (54%)
Happy to keep the trail running to >50% although it’s been pointed out that I should do some long runs on the road.
Here are the best of the photo stops from the weekend;
Onwards to Week 3. Bulldog 25km on Saturday and cold coming on…perfect timing!
Having decided that the next 9 months or so would focus on running with a build up for Leona Divide 50m and being in a “lull” between plans it made obvious sense to head out the trails at the weekend. So Sunday morning Becca and I managed to slips the bonds of eggs and bacon which usully have us locked down till 9 or sometimes even 10am (although that will change now Becca is stepping up her IMAZ training) and headed off to the Backbone Trail. If you have been reading this blog for a while there are references to this way back but since I have been on a Triathlon bent since late 2011 it’s been some time!
The Backbone Trail follows the entire length of the Santa Monica Mountains and is overseen been multiple agencies that foined to create and oversee the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, it extends over 65 miles starting just North of Santa Monica and end close to the Point Mugu on PCH. It open for multi use including horse riding and mountain biking but hiking and running are the only activities that are allowed on the entire length. I have run the entire thing, albeit in three sections back in 2010 and maybe one day I will in one go!
So we headed off to the local section that connects Kanan Dune to one of the high points at Coral Canyon neat to Castro Peak. The plan had only been to run out for 5 miles but I suggested that we push onto the natural turnaround at around the 6.5 mile mark giving us a solid 13 miles or so. As you can tell by the photos the weather was perfect, a slight breeze and hardly any sun.
Trail running is just a joy and I had forgotten how much I love it. With no headphones it’s just you, your footsteps and breathing. We stopped often for photos and finally hit the turnaround after 90 minutes and sucked down a gel. The clock was ticking so we headed back. At the 10 mile mark we both concluded that we were done, but with another 3 miles to go we had to push on. Both of us were feeling the aches and pains that would set in and last a more than a few days from the ups and downs, the rough terrain and the general lack of trail time!
We reached the car and of course did the worst thing possible, got in a drove home, no stretching. So here I sit feeling like someone has torn my legs off and hit me with the bleeding stumps…still I did get some nice photos!
Back to the trails is going to take some time but fortunately I have 250+ days to get there!
To be honest I am absolutely wiped, so to make my life easier this is my entry in SportsTracks from yesterday’s run:
Topanga Canyon thru to Kanan Dune. Started later than hoped due to driving around and dropping off stash bags. Had hoped to run whole trail but today was not the day, late start, heat humidity and overall tiredness from prior night(s) lack of sleep. Decided to start at Topanga and go as far as possible. Left knee heavily taped and strapped with ITB strap; held up well. Pace dictated by terrain; lots and lots climbing, this is the hardest section of the BBT by far. Met two rattlesnakes on the way! Run out of water around M21 (Castro Peak) rationed thru to Latigo Canyon and then replened from someone's hose - not great but needs must, Conclusion 20 miles of water is max I can carry. Got to drop stash at Kanan to find someone had taken water and food! Had called for pickup beforehand anyway so this reinforced it was the right decision. Disappointing overall but it is what it is!
This photo, with my marking, shows the middle 13 mile section, click to enlarge:
Target mileage for this weekend; 30, target trail; first 15 miles of the Backbone Trail from the southern end. Success rate 13.5/15, that is foiled by a road crossing at the almost halfway point!
Knowing that my mileage is due to only get longer my wife and I had a heart to heart and she has basically granted me a guilt free run pass on my long runs as the extend further into the day, it was becoming clear that my estimates of return times were becoming woefully inaccurate and leaving the family at home waiting for me was really unfair! If you were to look up supporting and/or understanding in the dictionary you would see a picture of my wife! I had switched my long run from Sunday to Saturday and so this would be a reversed back to back from Friday’s 15 mile run.
Starting at a major State Park; Will Rogers, I had to wait until the park opened until I could park my car at 7:00am and shortly after I was on the trail. As always the trail heads up and this close to the coast into the fog, the coolness was welcome and meant a delay to the heat of the day which would be along soon. I passed some mountain bikers on the trail and at this point I realized that I was the first person out the trails that day, cobwebs the size of dustbin lids lay across the trail! There were also hundreds of webs on the sides of the trail which were picked up by the dampness, there are tarantulas and black widows in the area so I left these things well alone and headed towards “The Hub”. Talking of dampness, high grass gave me a real wash down!
The Hub is nothing more than a junction of trails and is where one park; Will Rogers meets another; Topanga. The trail wound its way along towards Eagle Rock. Eagle Rock so called, I understand, due the shape of it looking like an eagle's head rather than the number of birds you'll see. Taking this trail is slightly off course but is a more scenic route. From here I headed down into the next canyon towards Dead Horse parking lot and it was from here that things came unraveled.
Two road crossings lay ahead, Topanga Canyon and Old Topanga Canyon from where I would pick up the Fossil Trail through Hondo Canyon, the NPS website states that these are 'exceeding obscure' trails….oh yeah! Up down, down up, left right, right left ; could I find it - could I heck and to use the vernacular of the old country; bugger! At this point I turned around and headed back the way I came, an uneventful journey back to my car left my mileage short and so I took a couple of laps around the polo field to bump it up to within 10% of the scheduled 30.
On the way home I took a detour in the car to try and find the missing crossings and managed to find the ultimate destination crossing which was quite easy to find it’s just the mile in the middle that proved problematic, if I have the chance I’ll go back and have another look, if not I’ll just “road it” life’s too short to go round in circles!
Here’s the Garmin Connect link and some photos including the uber spider webs!
Like most runners I like to plan, I plan my race calendar, I plan my training plans, I plan for race day; as anyone knows failing to plan is planning to fail…yeah I am bit OCD. Well you may have seen the little widget thing on the side bar pictured to the left, which listed this year’s races, it’s gotten smaller as I have ticked them off and now there is only one which has a splash of ‘Registered Red’ by it. I like racing to train, it helps gauge fitness and it helps overcome race day nerves, there's free support and you get a T-shirt and medal...if you finish.
By and large the first half of year went well, I ran three out of the four races faster than I have done previously and I would have at Leona Divide had my stomach not gone south, well north actually…oh well!
There were two place holders for August; Mt Disappointment 50m and Bulldog 50k, well these bit the bullet. Put simply I can’t fit them in. Mt Dizzy falls on a night run weekend and Bulldog falls on a weekend when I am on vacation…oh well, it’s not such a problem, running in Las Vegas in August is going be more of a problem!
Timewise I am nearly halfway way through my training plan, I have 8 weeks left including the two-week taper. Training so far has actually gone really well, I am injury free, have run my biggest week ever; 76 miles, I have only missed one run in eight weeks and by the end of this week I will be only 9 miles short of the 340 run miles and 18 miles short of the 542 cycling miles, that being said I am only 44% through the plan in terms of miles; I have my last long bike ride this coming weekend; a century and then it’s long runs; the shortest of which is about 26 miles and the longest 69 miles run on my Birthday weekend in August.
So while I am changing my plan I am at least on schedule!
A Fat-Ass run is typically one where the runner provides his or her own supplies usually in the form of something on the side of the road, it's usually a recognized race distance and there is never any hoopla, shirt, medal etc. This Skinny-Ass one was, well, 51.64km to be precise and a whole different ball of wax; especially on the supplies front!
This weekend’s long run was a scheduled 28 miles; I was planning to run the reverse of last week’s (less the getting lost bit) to try and connect the Northern half of the Backbone Trail. On the map it looked around 30ish miles; I figured I could make it 31 and call it a Fat-Ass 50k. I started early and was on the trail by 6:15, my pace wasn’t fast; I was really looking for time on my feet and had agreed with my wife to pick me up at the coast between 1:00 and 2:00pm which would give me about 7 hours, I was running with my cellphone (which I hate) but whatev!
The forecasted temperature along the way was for around 95f inland and 85f on the coast at midday, how ever you looked at it, it was going to be hot. With that in mind I had dropped 2 liters of water at what I thought would be around mile 12, it turned out to be mile 15. I was carrying two handhelds and another liter in my vest. The temperature was rising but was runnable, I consciously took things easy, walked the ups and even some of the flats, taking lots of photos and even some video clips.
I had gotten through most of the water by the time I reached the drop and made up two more bottles and refilled the liter bag, I called my wife who was in no rush and so I said that I would call again once I had gone over Sandstone Peak, at 3,111’ Sandstone Peak is the highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains, and would lead me into the section where I missed the turning last week. The climb was uneventful and I took the detour to the summit for a video opportunity.
Coming down the backside was all very new territory to me and was very barren with very little shade, in fact zero shade, this was around midday and like me the temperature had slowly been climbing; it was best described as “very bloody 'effing hot”. I picked up the elusive Chamberlain Trail which I had failed to find last week. My assumption is that this trail is little used, it was very overgrown and was a bit of pain to navigate, just as you got into your stride you would have to stop to avoid being torn up by some very aggressive and overgrown bushes. However that being said the view was spectacular, I have seen the ridgeline a million times from lower elevations but had no idea that a trail ran over it. I called in again expressing my ETA and said that I would call in again once at the bottom…duh!
Finally I reached familiar territory and headed to the canyon floor this was at the mile 25/26 point after about 7 hours and I was running very low on fluids, I grounded out on Sycamore Canyon Fire Road which would take me straight out to coast, I dug out my phone; No Service – bugger!
At this point I would have been quite willing to call it quits and make my way to the coast but I had told my wife to meet me further up the coast at the next canyon exit and so there was nothing to do but climb to higher ground and hope I got a signal. I started a very methodical walk up the next hill periodically checking my cellphone, after a mile and a half I finally got a signal and then noticed that the battery was running out! I got hold of my wife who was stuck in traffic and told her that I had about another 4 miles to go, I did umm and ahh about going back but I was nearly at the summit and so with the available option of finishing what I started I pushed on.
By this time I was totally out of fluids and was reluctant to have a gel or bar, as I knew that would just gunk up my mouth, slowly but surly I climbed, there was zero wind and the heat was radiating off the ground. Finally I reached the top and was treated to a cool ocean breeze. I mustered all I had and ran/walked the last three miles downhill to find my wife with a car full of drinks waiting!
Twenty minutes and combination (not mix) of 100oz in Gatorade and chocolate milk later I was standing in the ocean cooling my feet!
So the final tally 32.09 miles in 9:08:21 (told you I wasn’t fast), 7287’ elevation gained and 8783’ lost, average HR 131 which was pretty much where I wanted (in the ‘go all day’ zone) and 3504 calories, I weighed myself when I got home and I had lost 8lbs! This is a real no-no for AC100 where they weigh you at the Aid Stations for weight loss and dehydration; 3% loss and your asked to drink more, 5% loss and your made to drink more (8lbs would represent 4.62%)!
Recovery was ok, I missed my early slot for today’s 14 miler so I had to go out mid morning, it was never going to be a fast run and it took a good two and half hours, again in the midday sun, around the local streets, taking a lesson from yesterday I carried cash and replened at several gas stations on fluids and ice. When I got home the thermometer in the garden said 96f. The average temperature over the last three years at AC100 has been mid seventies and so this really is good heat training, that being said the coolness of a 5:00am run definitely has it’s appeal!
With the 4th of July celebrations landing on the weekend I decided to mix up the weekend which involved moving Sunday’s long run to Friday and then move Monday’s run to Saturday which would leave me most of Saturday and all on Sunday for holiday shenanigans. The schedule called for 25 miles/5 hours and I had reviewed the Backbone Trail map and calculated that I could cover the first 25-30 miles in fairly good order. My wife agreed to pick me up so I could leave my car at the start point until later in the day.
Things didn’t get off to the best of starts, I was late leaving and then it took me ages to drive through the mountains to leave a drop bag with some water and goodies on the roadside where the trail crosses the road. Then when I got the trailhead, I had to wait for Park Rangers to open the gates. By then time I was underway I was behind schedule by over an hour.
Starting at the coast means that pretty much the only was is up I headed up the Ray Miller trail which climbed up and into the low cloud, temperatures were cool and the cloud hugged the coastline. I dropped down into the next valley and followed Sycamore Canyon Fireroad, here I missed my turning but was put straight by a couple of mountain bikers. I found the right trail and started the second climb of the day. This section of trail I had run and raced on previously during the XTerra race series, maybe it was because of the familiarity or maybe I just missed the turning but that’s exactly what I did. The climb up Boney Mountain has two false summits over three and half miles and it wasn’t until I had reached the top that I concluded that I was on the wrong trail. I checked my map and decided that there was not enough time to back track and called my wife on the cell phone to give her a new collection point. I made my way back down the mountain and during the remaining 90 minutes took a couple of side trails, (including one to monument the parks donation), that I had always fancied but never had the time to take the last one putting me at the bottom of a mile climb up a tarmac road! I also stopped and topped off my handhelds from the water bag I was carrying; a sign of how warm it had gotten as usually two bottle are enough. I finally got to the parking lot at a little after 1:00pm having been out on the trails for just over 5 hours and with my Forerunner chiming in the 20th mile of the day.
In some aspects it was a disappointing run; missing the turning and coming up short mileage-wise was insanely frustrating, as was the delayed start. On the up side I got some good heat training, the thermometer in the car said 89f when I got in and I had been in the sun for the majority of the run. Also I now know that I need to connect the trails coming from the opposite end to ensure that I know where I am going; it’s much better to screw it up in practice than when I will be running the entire Backbone Trail in August; where time constraints don’t give me much margin of error. My wife’s interest in the hiking the Backbone Trail has also piqued and we’ve divided up the trail into day hike sections; so I have extra opportunities to ‘recce’ it out before August.
After getting home and cleaned up we headed back to the ocean for a classic "seaside" lunch of fish'n'chips and the largest bottle of beer I could find at Neptune's Net an eclectic cross between a bikers bar and a surf shack and then spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach.
Saturday morning I was out early for 8 miles, even though I have two more long rides in the coming weeks; this marks the start of running back to back runs. And so ends week 5 of training; 48 miles run, 116 miles on the bike, 16 hours training. Here are some photos and the link to the Garmin Connect data.
Sunday I headed out to run a section of the Backbone Trail. I’ve run bits of it before; more by luck than judgment and I wanted to recce’ out as much of it as I can for when I run the whole thing in August. The trail crosses several main roads that run east to west as it runs itself north to south along the spine of the Santa Monica Mountains, what this means is that there are places to park and you can run sections. The plan was to park my car at Kanan Dune and run south, I was hoping for around 13 miles in total; which puts me a couple of miles short for next weeks start of training long run; 15 miles. The cloud was low and the weather was cool – perfect.
After a short sharp up the trail leveled out and then dropped down and then climbed up and then down and then up; this became a regular feature of the trail as there was very little “contouring” and mostly the trail assaulted the climbs in a full frontal manner, it was nothing too serious and gave me ample time to practice my walking!
I also managed a first for me, which is not bad considering all the miles I’ve covered; a faceplant! No harm done, more shock than pain and fortunately I landed on the side of the trail in the shrubbery! Of course what I tripped over was...absolutely nothing!
One nice feature was the continuous change in running surface; hard packed mud, to sand to trail dirt to bare faced rock in parts not only did the surface change but the environment did; literally you would round a bend and it was like being in a completely different climate; from thick woods, to meadows, to rocky desert it really was a case of if you don’t like something run a quarter mile and it’ll change. One noticeable feature was the riot of color from all the spring plants and flowers that are in bloom, yellows, oranges, purples and whites and of course accompanying the flowers was multitude of butterflies, at times it was like running through a butterfly garden.
Two and half hours of running and thirty minutes of taking photos and I was done and heading home.
For anyone local this makes and excellent and rewarding run or hike there's plenty of sign/mileage posts to tell you you're on the right trail, and if you have a buddy with a car you could easily set up a point to point rather than an out and back run. Here’s the MotionBased data and the photos.
