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 »
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.
Last year I signed up for the Bandit Ultra Trail Race 30k and the days leading up to the race I got sicker and sicker. The day before the race I thought I could pull it off even though I had massive body aches and felt like death warmed over. I picked up my bib …
Bandit Ultra Trail Race 2015 – Volunteering and Photos O’ Plenty Read More »
I got a little crazy in December and decided to sign up for my first ultra race. After some training I figured it made more sense to do a trail marathon so with that I changed my registration for the Sean O’Brien 50K to the Marathon race on February 7, 2015.
If you’re not familiar with the Sean O’Brien races, this is the second year for the races, held at Malibu Creek State Park in Agoura Hills. Last year runners could sign up for the Marathon, 50K or the 50 miler. The 50 miler turned into a playground for elite runners seeking to qualify for a coveted Western States 100 spot. This year, a 100K race was added and it is part of the Montrail Ultra Cup Series. Top two men and women would get the golden ticket to Western States.
The Marathon race wasn’t a qualifier of any kind but it was a ticket to 5,000+ feet of elevation gain going up and down segments of the beautiful Backbone Trail. I chose to do the Sean O’Brien race because I had already competed in two races on part of the course in 2014 – the XTERRA Malibu Creek Challenge and the Bulldog 25K race.
I completed the Bulldog 25K trail race this past weekend, August 23 2014. This was my longest and only second trail race.
After doing the XTERRA Malibu Creek race in May, I had started eyeing the Bulldog race and immediately started training for it. I took a bit of circuitous route though, doing a series of 5K races including the Father’s Day race and three of the “Boogie Nights” races that were held on Wednesday afternoons near Surfer’s Point in Ventura.
I ran the XTERRA Malibu Creek Challenge 22K Trail Run on Saturday and it was hot. The good news was that it wasn’t as hot as it had been all week (high 90’s and low 100’s) but it was still plenty hot in the high 80’s.
