Weekend Recap-Part 2

After my marathon I was trying to figure out how and the heck am I going to get ready for 18miles on Sunday. To be honest the only aches and pains that I was experiencing was very sore shoulders, and a good workout on the lungs. I made a effort to fall asleep by 8:30pm for my early start the next day. I met with Lisa at 5:00am, and started our journey for 18miles. I felt pretty good, the body was not too stiff as I thought it was going to be. We kept the pace fairly consistent in the first half, then we were able to take it up a notch on the way back. I started to feel the body rejecting the fast leg turnover at mile 17. For that last mile I decided to use that as a recovery or cool down mile :)- The rest of my Sunday included alot of NOTHING, I was entertained with watching the Packers, Cowboys, and Colts. However, Monday was the wake up call that I was expecting, I had sore calves and quads. I somehow made it to my local gym and jumped in the pool for kickboard workout. I felt refreshed but still sore- and contemplated if I should sign up for Surfcity. 20min later I registered - my plan is to take it easy this week for recovery and get on my bike again. I really miss the camaraderie with my road buddies, I have a lot of making up to do.

Weekend Recap-Part 1

Saddleback Marathon
It is the toughest marathon in California.

I am not sure what I was thinking when I decided to undertake a challenging course so early in the season. I somehow convinced myself it would be a good indicator of where my fitness/insanity level.
I have been toying with this idea of doing long distance races back to back since August. So after the race, I was preparing for my long 18mile training run in Huntington Beach. (more on that later)

On Saturday morning I had the chance to carpool with my race buddy Kim. The last time I saw her was at Bulldog in August. I feel very fortunate to have easy going training partners. Kim made the race very entertaining, we even had a chance to sing and dance a along a christmas tree that was decorated along the course.

We the opportunity to start early to help mark the course, I was very please with the early start. It gave us the some time to clear alot of broken tree branches along the course. Kim and I started with 2 other people but we got separated going down hill. We waited for about 15min at the first aid station, and we left a message with the volunteers to tell the others that we waited and decided to keep pushing forward. Going towards the top of Holy Jim we were finally passed by the lead runners :(. Overall it was very well supported by having all the right goodies at each aid station. My finish time was 6:15 and again it was a blast out there. Here goes the a race profile picture of the course.

Sunday Foggy Run

This past week has been a big challenge getting back into the swing of training. After our local fires I pretty much had no training for the past 7-8 days. Yesterdays trail run was cut short in terms of getting access to El Moro, due to a Red Flag warning the park ranger told us not to run inside the park. Instead we ran along Crystal Cove.
Today with the time change I was able to squeeze in 16 miles. The body felt better and I felt like I was back in rhythm. The fog along the beach kept me cool enough to finish strong.
This week is a big for me, I have a trail marathon on Saturday, then I plan to run 18 miles of the Surfcity Marathon course. So hopefully this will be good indicator to see where I am in terms if I can pull off this back to back 50K Ultra (TwinPeaks), and Surfcity race Superbowl weekend. I plan to be a good boy all week now that Halloween is over, I promise to eat all my fruits and veggies and drink plenty of water. By 10:00am next week I should be pulling out my credit card for my official entry in Surfcity. I will keep my fingers crossed. ;-)