Xterra Crystal Cove

Another fun event put on by Trailrace.com...hard but beautiful course in the OC...Heather Fuhr showed up and had the third fastest time of all competitors...our own Beth Gerdes was second overall female...me, well this was a "character builder"...not a lot of miles going in plus a pre-race evening at the Belly Up made for dead legs today...still finished at 1:24 which is my PR for 15k (this being the first 15k I've done...LOL)!

Really well-supported event...kinda like a Tri Club race!

Now, no running for 3 weeks...yoga, pilates, healing...then 2008!

Mark

Iron mountain run

The view from the top of Iron Mountain

Mike and Zarah Lawson and I did Iron Mountain tonight. Perfect weather and view at the top. We're going to try to do this once or twice a month during the winter. Great training for Xterra!

Du Time

The club duathlons have started...the first was at Calaveras Hills in Carlsbad...I finished 5th! These are great fun and great winter training...

Ramona Ramble II

Ramona Ramble II went off today with a challenging ride from Poway, a run up Iron Mountain and a ride up to Dos Picos Park in Ramona for lunch...the ramble is a non-competitive event that gets you out to the country and on the trail for a day...the transition area at Iron Mountain is pictured.

Boot Camp

Very cool event put on as part of Fleet Week.

More serendipity...I was added at the last minute to BAE's Bravo 5-member team for the Marine Boot Camp Challenge. We had a great time...the Alpha team got second place in the corporate division.

5K course with hay bales, logs, water, tunnels and DIs in your face...where were the monkey bars, rope courses and nets?

TCSD was there in force and showed well. Cami won her division; Michelle was second in hers and Farah, Courtney and the rest of "Run DMC" was third in the 5 member female division. Where were the guys?

Nice post-race meal with the TCSD crowd; nice post-race fun with the a few of the BAE team at KarlFest.

Oooo-rahhh Marines!

Borrego Camp

Coming up soon...have to get back on the bike and get some miles in!

TCSD Borrego Camp
October 19-21
Palm Canyon Campground
Anza-Borrego State Park

Superfrog Relay

Got put on a relay team at the last minute...I'm glad I trained (a little) for the sand running! The day was epic...stormy/choppy for the swim, windy for the bike, clear and warm in the middle, then cool and rainy at the end of the run. My relay team consisted of a Navy officer for the swim, a disabled vet for the bike and me for the run. In some ways I had the easiest part.

The run started off well as I was warmed up and ready to go (I got there with the rest of the athletes at 6 a.m. and chilled in the car while my mates were slogging it out in the rain and wind!) Fred blazed into the transition, I attached the chip and was off. My friend and personal running "coach" Suzanne Tignor was 30 seconds behind me out of T2 as a solo competitor (BTW she came in 7th overall...impressive first half IM!) Suzy blazed by me like I was walking (although I think I was gaining on her at the end!)

My plan was to do the first 3 (of 5) loops at my long run workout pace (9:15), then see what I had left for loops 4 and 5. Lap 1 no problem with the sand. I went fast on loop 2 as the competitive juices started flowing. Lap 3 all good. Dialed it up a notch in lap 4 on the pavement and hardpack sand...started to fatigue in the soft stuff. I was hoping to break 2 hours but I needed to do laps 4 and 5 in 21 minutes and it just wasn't there today! Lap 5 was cool as we got horizontal rain from the last cloud in the sky...Andy Concors passed me on the soft sand but I had a kick that the individual competitors didn't have...sorry Andy!

Crowd support was great...TCSD was out in force...thanks for the encouragement guys! My team ended up winning our division...so we get a plaque!

I love this event...I'll be back for more...maybe as a individual competitor in the future!

(picture at right is of Fred Liebel and I accepting congratulations as winners of our division)

Superfrog?

Thinking I might do a relay leg...we're going to practice in the sand this weekend.

Sunday, 8/26/2007 at 10:00 a.m.
Silver Strand State Beach
1.2 mile swim
6 mile run in the sand

See you out there!

AFC...Asphalt Fire Crud

Well, all I can say is I survived! I really have no desire to run a marathon now...woke up at 2:30 a.m. (now I know when my neighbors get home after partying) , couldn't sleep, read til 4:30 then drove down...I have to say they are very efficient at moving 7,500 runners from Balboa Park to Point Loma...PL great, then the race started! Had a good first half, then suffered the rest of the way, Harbor Blvd. was brutal...fun to see all of my TCSD friends there...nice meal after the race (thanks Tina)...1:53 was all I could muster on this hot day!

The Cove

Finally started swimming again...forced myself to fight the traffic to get to the cove...well worth it...lots of friends and cool people...potlucks too!

Xterra Temecula

Hey, that was actually fun! 4th place in my division; 20th overall. Fun crowd. I don't think you can image how steep some of hills were. I'll be doing more of these in the Fall.

XTerra here we come!

Well, the tri's out due to my neck so I signed up for the 10K trail run...we're headed out there next week to check the course out...http://www.xterraplanet.com

MTB Clinic II

I woke up Sunday and evaluated my situation:

...hungover from the ramble yesterday
...cold and windy
...Easter Sunday
...a group ride with four women

I got my sorry ass up, put the new tires/grips on the Sugar and headed to the second clinic with Jimena Florit. We got started and I found you can't just show up at a mountain bike ride...you've got to be mentally engaged. Took a while but finally got into it...lots of fun after that.

So the format was "hang with Jimena"...she'd gracefully ply along while we followed in various stages of compentency/disarray...biffed on a tight left switch back (note to self...that difficulty you have with slow speed lefts needs to be fixed dude) but no major injuries....we even went back over the drop off I pussed out on in the first half hour.

Anyway, I highly-recommend a skills clinic to anyone taking up mountain biking or, like me, anyone who has been away from the sport for a while.


Thanks Jimena!

Ramona Ramble

What exactly is a ramble? My definition is an event that combines riding, running and maybe even swimming to/from an interesting location. Mostly a self-supported event but if a few volunteers help out with logistics, that's great. Throw in a BBQ and it is even better!

Here's the deal...I need variety to stay motivated with my workouts. I just get burned out doing the same loops and out and back courses around our beautiful San Diego.

I heard about these falls/pool you can hike/run to from Ramona/SD Country Estates. At last year's Deadman's Camp we were talking about cool places to ride and run to. I suggested to Mykl a ride/run in the Spring when the falls would be flowing.

Well, one thing led to another (the power of the TCSD network) and we had a group of 10 ride out to Ramona, drop our bikes at a volunteer's house, run to the falls, swim or hang out, run back (1,000' gain in the last mile), ride back to Ramona, have a BBQ at another volunteer's house, then ride back.

Some of the group rode from Solana Beach while the sane members of the group rode from Rancho Penasquitos.

Details

Ride: 60 miles/2,500 gain/loss (PQ group) to 90 miles/3,500' gain/loss (SB group)

Run: 4 miles/1,200' gain/loss

Swim: 25 meters

Calories consumed at the BBQ: 3,000

Calories consumed later that night: 3,000

Nice, tough, long day but everyone got there and back safely...can't wait till next year!

My new toy

Xterra...Jimena's MTB Clinic...it all sounded good...now I need a bike! Decided to go the used route till I see if I like it first...Craigslist here we go! Found a nice Gary Fisher Sugar that fits so this is my new toy for now...just need to figure out how to ride it now!

Du Dementia

For now, I'm a duathlete...my neck continues to be a problem. Chiro, massage helps but doesn't resolve...so now I'm back to "traditional" medicine and a course of PT...we'll see. Have to change my schedule...good news is all this free time I have now that I'm only training in two disciplines!

February Du

Nice club event...perfect day at the coast. Some of the pros showed up too! Guess I need a race bike!

SD Half

Well, that was nice! Rain held off to the finish then soaked us as we were cooling down! Lots of TCSD members there. Post race scene was so-so mostly due to the rain. The highly touted food was not good. Club race food is way better!

Having done this half, I now know two things:

1. I can go faster
2. I have no desire to do a full marathon!

Oh, and a third thing...running 13 miles on asphalt won't kill me...lots of aches and pains, but not death...

MK