When I find myself in times of trouble, Courtney Dauwalter comes to mind. I was 11 miles into the Sean O’Brien 30K race when my quads started to revolt. The climb out of Corral Canyon always does something to me. It’s as if the moon rocks take control of my body and do with it …
With dizziness and super bright vision I knew it was time to call the race.
This was my fourth time running the Bulldog 25K at Malibu Creek State Park and I know what it takes to get it done. This time a finish was not in the cards. Had I made it out of the Corral Canyon aid station there is a possibility that I could have stumbled about along the trail, as I have done in other races that I got done, but this time I felt the chances of getting hurt or causing an extraordinary burden on rescue workers was too high.
I’m walking in a room and it’s filled with mud. There are walls everywhere but I know that somewhere there is a door. I just have to keep moving and walking until I find it. No, it’s not a bad dream. That was my Sean O’Brien Marathon race on Saturday, February 4th at Malibu Creek. …
Somewhere There Is A Door – Sean O’Brien Marathon 2017 Race Recap Read More »
The Bulldog race at Malibu Creek State Park is not easy, whether you attempt the 25k or the two-loop 50k ultra. If you do things right you reach a certain level of pain as you negotiate the seemingly interminable Bulldog Rd. that goes on for 3.2 miles and nets you over 1,7oo ft of elevation gain for an average grade of 10%. Basically, Bulldog Rd. haunts my dreams and it’s because of that that I always look forward to the challenge of taking it on during a race.
There are a few beautiful moments in one’s life when things just seem to be humming along and we are in synch with our environment. The Leona Divide 50k race day was one of those rare instances where everything seemed to click. Just like we have good hair days or an I-fit-in-my-skinny-jeans-days, this day just worked from the start.
Well, here I am again, explaining why I DNF’d a race. I attempted to race the Ray Miller 50k in Malibu and ended up running out of gas on Hell Hill, unable to even complete the 30k.
By this time people aren’t asking “What happened out there?” They’re just saying “Oh, you’ll get the next one” and moving on. They’ve heard it all before.
But, as a blogger and trail runner it’s my duty to document what happened and hope that others out there will learn from what went right and from what went wrong.
Once again I’m signed up for an ultra, the Ray Miller 50k. And once again my training hasn’t been what I’ve wanted it to be. I thought about dropping down to the 30k race but you know, sometimes one needs a good ass kicking.
I got a note from my doctor and he said “no long runs” before my next test. He later clarified in his online note and said to keep runs “under 5k.” This was a major bummer because I’ve been working a lot of weekends lately but this weekend I had a nice juicy three-day weekend and was already planning out a great long run for Saturday. So I decided to do the funnest short runs I could over the weekend. Kind of like a snack pack of running as I continue to train for the Ray Miller 50k in November.
I originally signed up for the Ventura Marathon to join my nephew on his first 26.2 run. But after my nephew got injured and my lackluster training post-Bulldog 50k/25k I decided to drop down to do the half marathon.
To get ready for the half I hit the roads again but my muscles and breath asked “where’s the steep stuff and the nice power walk breaks?” Unfortunately that question came up again during my race.
After my flameout at Leona Divide and my partial redemption at the XTERRA Malibu Creek 22k I got up the courage to try a long shot – the Bulldog 50k trail race in Agoura Hills.
