The Fresno Classic Century & Half Marathon

The Fresno Classic is a two day event with a 100 mile bike (century) on Saturday followed by a 13.1 mile run (half marathon) on Sunday. I participated in this race as a training weekend because in mirrors my typical weekend brick workout as a triathlete. The Fresno location also works well as home turf. There is just something about eating at home and sleeping in your own bed that makes it easier and seem more like a training day than a race.

At the start of the race, I meet several friends from the Visalia Triathlon Club, Josh Polk, Monte Mitchell and a few others. I pick out the fast riders, the guys in the Safeway cycling kit. I also observe we don't have our major valley teams who must be participating in tonight's criterium instead. This should leave the field open for us triathletes to set the pace in solo time trial without economy of road teams dropping us triathlete who ride like individuals.

The ride starts slow at a mandated 10 mph by the CHP and Rabobank jerseyed amateurs bringing us out of town. I assume this tactic was in order to have everyone start on the closed off freeway at the same time. This was the first century I have ever heard of where they actually close down the freeway to let us ride. Once we hit the freeway, it was game on. The freeway surface is super smooth, better than any surface I have ever been on. At the very start my friend Monte pulls a time trial solo off the front and I hold his wheel tightly with Josh right behind me. The peleton spits and I find our lead group consist of about 14 riders dropping everyone else. The speed was fast, going from 26 to the low 30's.

After the freeway, Monte sets precedence to pull the pelaton for Josh Polk to lead it for the next 15 miles with few rotations not in front. He was not running the next day so he was leaving nothing on the course. At the first aid station, I notice Monte stopped but the rest of the dozen riders kept going. At this point, we head into the hills. Once the hills start, the group fragments and I'm now in the front group of 8 with Josh Polk. This group further fragments and Josh stops at his Moms house who lives in squaw valley to say hello so I find myself with 4 riders in front of me who dropped me on the hills and I'm in 5th with no one in sight behind me. This was half way through the course and I rode time trial solo for the next 50 miles. I finished the day 5th, averaging 19.5 miles an hour which is right on pace to what I'm targeting for Ironman.

After the event, I had a massage and realize I have tight hips from cycling. I learned a few band stretches I can do to help. My tight hips may be attributed to sitting at work so going from sitting 8 hours to riding hours on end on the weekends I am putting them through a lot and will take the extra time to incorporate the recommended band stretching going forward. That night, I picked up Costco sushi and cooked salmon to go with it as my in between recovery meal. I also took an ice bath and stretched.

On Sunday was the half marathon. My goal for the day is a 1:30. I had a great warm up with Justin Levine and Eric Blain, enough to start to sweat before the start. Before the race I drank half a Gatorade and took salt tablets. During the race, I kept nutrition light and only sipped at the aid stations, ate one E-Gel on the course and one Gu after I finished. I also had one salt tab during the run and gave out my others to cramping athletes on the course who needed it. I finished the race right on target with a little spare change, 1:30:58. Overall, very happy for getting out of it what I wanted which was to simulate going out hard on the bike like I will do at an Ironman then running a good pace on tired legs. I am noticing my stride is very different on tired legs than on fresh legs. On fresh legs, I tend to muscle it to be fast and on tired legs, I have to think about running mechanics to be efficient. I am going to invest in a lot more training on tired legs and work on improving my running mechanics for long endurance as my top priority, knowing once I achieve where I want to be as a long distance runner I can always turn it back up on the bike.

My friends also killed it. Eric Blain and John Perez both pulled a 1:26 and Justin Levine did an amazing 1:24. These are my friends who come to the table with running as a strentgh so I like following suit with them on the run and in turn let them follow suit with me on the bike for a reciprocal training investment in our Visalia Triathlon Club group workouts.

Born to Run 100K

When was the last time you did something for the first time? On Saturday May 14, 2011 I did my first 100K (62 miles), the Born to Run ultra. Here is my race recap to tell my story about the challenges I experienced and some lessons to remember.

I'm relentless in my pursuit to prove to myself there is nothing I can't do. I embrace the 'I can' attitude. Endurance events are just as much of a mental game as a physical one so choose your mantra and stay driven. My mantra, Relentless Hickey!

Signing up for an event keeps you disciplined and the specifics of eating and exercising will almost automatically follow from taking the event you commit to seriously. Given the date on your calendar to work toward, you know you've got to give 100 percent effort into training and do everything you can to get yourself ready. Its not that you wouldn't like to watch sports, drinking beer on the couch, it's just not important enough to make this trade off if you want to be active and participate in the game yourself. I thrive on setting a goal for an event then looking at every single detail to help get me to the finish line. On race day it's a test of my own assumptions for success.

I've read a lot of advice and there is no cookie cutter recipe for success. Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. What separates those who succeed from those who DNF is what you do when you get punched in the face. Doing a 100K, it's just a matter of time until you hit the wall or something does not go your way so get ready for when the inevitable occurs because its how you respond in that moment that counts. When you reach that extreme state of fatigue you have to dig deep, reach inside and push through the obstruction.

The ultra experience is more of a primal state. The story may be told similar to how Alice in Wonderland chases the rabbit or Jack Sparrow visits Davy Jones Locker. You dip into a trance and stay there for a long time. At the start of the race on the first mile, I literally fell into my own rabbit hole.

I was running directly behind a group and landed in a hole up to my calf throwing me flat on my side. I picked myself up and recalled what the race director said, take responsibility for yourself. I stood up and decided to stop running behind people so I ran toward the front of the group to sort things out and luckily, came out unscratched. That was the start of my trance where I became acutely self aware. Self aware to make sure I felt ok, self aware of my own pace, self aware of each footstep on the rough trails, self aware of my surrounding environment, etc. The state of Davy Jones Locker has begun and I'd be there for an epic 11 hours 41 min.

After the first lap, I took of my shirt and ditched the ipod. Running through the grass fields you can let your hands down by your side and feel your fingertips brush through the grass as you navigate the
single track. When the wind picks up, you can take a deep breath and enjoy the clean ocean air. Its going to be a long day with the pendulum going between the primal states of thrive and survive so when
you have that runners high its time to milk the experience while it last. For me, it lasted for 55 miles, I could not believe it. For 55 miles I felt like I could run forever. Then on the ridge sometime after mile 55 I ran out of water so the last 7 miles were like hitting the wall trying to deal with catching back up on hydration.

Your body starts with about 2,000 calorie reserves so the first two hours of the endurance event primarily spend the calorie reserve you started with. Between hours two and three, most people hit the wall
you often hear described in the marathon which is when you have burned through these calories. Track kids who don't pay attention to this can rock a 5K, 10K or even a half marathon but blow up on the marathon and beyond. So during an ultra event, you have to execute a nutrition plan to stay ahead of the curve. For me, I don't wait until the 2,000 calories I started with depletes and work toward replenishing my tank with a Gatorade and Gew every 5 miles. If I was able to consume this the entire race I would but at some point you literally get sick of the sugary concentrate. Diluted Gatorade and water taste a lot better toward the end of the race but you'll need to factor in how water flushes out your sodium so salt tablets at each aid station become a must. Real food also settles your stomach down so I had a nice hot grilled cheese sandwich, cantaloupe and a red bull for lunch which kept me going. Crazy but you also need to monitor how often you pee as a sign of keeping hydrated.

A crew can also help you succeed during an ultra by serving as a pacer and monitoring your nutrition. During the miles I'm familiar with, I actually served as the pacer and reminded my friend Scott to fuel because he must have skipped aid earlier in the race and was trying to catch up. After I helped him along the way on his nutrition issue, he returned the favor and helped me re-hydrate and pace last 7 miles when I needed it. We both went through cycles between thrive and survive and partnering up to be each others pace & nutrition crew we achieved more than I would be able to accomplish alone.

The impact this event has on my life is the realization that sometimes we need that punch in the face to overcome the inertia of your normal routine. I can't wait to hit training with my whole new perspective. And yes, the ultra belt buckle 100M 24hrs will be a future endeavor because I'm going to need that buckle to hold my pants up after all this running, ha!

2011 AVIA Wildflower Triathlon

This year's 29th Annual AVIA Wildflower Triathlon was amazing, as always. It's the Woodstock of triathlon and I thoroughly enjoy being around people who live and celebrate this healthy lifestyle. My favorite thing about Wildflower would have to be the humbling race experience every age grouper goes through in their quest to evolve in the sport. It's certainly humbling when you whiteness what the elite are capable of enduring on this very same race course but it's those lessons learned that allow us grow as we laugh at ourselves and share in this common experience. This year I had the opportunity to publish some of my favorite campfire stories for everyone on page 50 of the official Wildflower event program and tell my story in an interview for TriCal TV.

I arrived at Lake San Antonio on Thursday to set up the Visalia Triathlon Club campsite. This included setting up 5 tents and roping off space for 5 RV's for friends arriving the following day. We scored a prime campsite location including game day lounge seating at the half way point of the run course. Camp set up was followed by packet pick up and an interview with the director of TriCal TV.

On Friday, I woke up with real bad allergies leading to a head ache. Fortunately, this went away after taking allergy medication and acclimating to the environment. This is exactly why I come one day early so that I have time to adjust. Racing in a new location, your body will respond better if you acclimate and give yourself time to settle in. On Friday afternoon, everyone arrived at camp and I took the bus to the race expo, bringing along plenty of fluid & fruit to stay fueled. At the expo, I entered my name in a drawing (won a Polar RS300 watch) purchased some local wine labeled Wildflower (for Grandma who's babysitting back home) and meet Ben Greenfield (the endurance nutrition expert).

Race night you can't expect much sleep because you'll either be excited with pre-race jitters or the noise will keep you awake as cars pull into the campsite through the night. Fortunately, I had a great night sleep on Thursday and got plenty of relaxation during my taper week. Game day I woke up early for my cup of coffee and there's something about a morning campfire to make you feel like your going into battle. By the time everyone else awoke, I was in race day uniform including helmet prancing around a blazing campfire with music and all to awaken the fire in me, ha! Going down Lynch hill with the triathlon backpack on and people all around on amazing bikes you can just feel that incredible vibe the magic this event brings.

After setting up transition, I had time to warm up and watch the pro's. I love the fact that these guys will suffer the same elements (hot weather, cold water temp, headwinds, etc). They lead by example when they kick off the race in the first wave to show us age groupers how it's really done. One of my favorite mantras goes along these same lines, 'shut up and ride'.

On the swim, I line up in front and enjoy the entry as everyone elbows for space. I'm comfortable in the water and enjoy contact sports. I stayed on the heels of the former high school/college swimmers as long as I could then did my best to navigate past the age groups who started in the waves in front of us. Personally, I find the swim does not test my max speed as much as it tests my navigational skills. I had a decent swim time and certainly had more fun than those in my way.

Things are looking good through T1 as I make my way out on the bike. My bike strategy was to conserve on the first hill then attack the 5 rollers that followed leading into mile 10 then max out on the aero section of the course for the next 30 miles. Overall, I played the bike course exactly as planned, conserving on both major hills and attaching on everything else. However, I came in just over my 3 hour bogie but given the massive headwinds it was on par for what I had expected to achieve. Toward the end of the course, we had a training partner reunion as Monte overtook me followed by us both overtaking Josh Polk. Yes, I did give Josh Polk the inevitable ass smakin' as I rode by which I had established as a training partner tradition our first year on the course. It worked and woke him up to finish the bike leg with me strong as we entered T2 together.

Out of the run gate at T2 my training partner Josh Polk took off given running is his strength. I employed some sound running strategy advice; 'keep him in your sights'. The first half of the run course includes the grueling hills and with each turn, it took everything in me to ensure he was still visible on the horizon. At the half way point on the run, there was my sanctuary, the Visalia Triathlon Club campsite with everyone there cheering. Its funny how the return on investment in people works and the karma coming back to me at this particular moment was more than I would have expected. Running through my camp triggered the negative split in me and my pace completely transformed into that second wind that just makes your race. Landon paced me and gave me my split, 5 minutes behind Polk. It was on and I kindled the motivation to grind up the hill knowing a long descent through the team in training campsite area was to follow. This move paid dividends and I caught Polk about mile 11. The two of us proceeded to pace to Lynch Hill where I found that 'extra gear' at the end of the race to bring it home. The finish line was lined with people, yelling and screaming and feeling good I simulated a slam dunk on the finish line clock. The best thing about today is how good I felt after, not injured or run down like the prior year and I'm so looking forward to keeping my #1 focus to stay consistent on a marathon training plan to work toward qualifying for Boston which in turn will also help me at the Vineman full end of year.