After 2 days off from running, I hit the pavement again today. I ran 11.5 miles around the bay at a nice comfortable easy pace, about 8:45 min/mi. I was running by the Mission Bay Golf Course and heard, “TRIATHLETES SUCK!!!” I looked over and it was my neighbor Steve Norman. He was playing hookey from work getting a little golf in.

I also got my Saucony Closeout order in today. (I had today off) to I will give the full report on this tomorrow.

I am at 41 miles for the week so tomorrow will be a very light/short run with the Dirt Devils. Until then… Dont jump in too many puddles.

Yesterday was a painful day. It was a good kind of pain however. I ran 12 miles in the morning with Doc around Mission Bay. We cruised at a 9 min/mi pace and it was easy to maintain the whole time. My legs being STILL sore from San Dieguito were slightly relieved after the long slow run.

After work I met up with the VAVI Rock n Roll Marathon group and did another 4.5 miles. It seems like a pretty sweet group, everyone seems to be pretty nice.

After the run my legs were trashed! I was hobbling back to the car. I’m not injured, just really sore. Thats what I get for running 30 miles in 3 days. As my training for the PCT50 continues, I will get stronger.

I focused on recovery these past few days doing lots of massaging, stretching and drinking recovery drinks. I can’t imagine how bad it would be if I didn’t do anything for recovery.

So I am taking today off completely.

Today was the San Dieguito Half Marathon, arguably one of the toughest half marathons in San Diego. Its known to most as a “really hilly” half marathon. I ran a 1:49:09 today which is 14 minutes faster than my previous best!

Here are the splits:

Mile 1: 6:49 Downhill for the first half mile flat for the second. Tried to go out hard.
Mile 2: 7:22 Flat, tried to maintain. I knew a hill was coming.
Mile 3: 8:41 Uphill for .75, flat for .25! I was surprised I was able to run that fast up it.
Mile 4: 7:47 Mostly flat, a bit downhill. Hit a 5K PR 23:00.
Mile 5: 8:05 Mostly Flat
Mile 6: 8:19 Rolling hills
Mile 7: 8:36 Slightly uphill. Missed a 10K PR by 30 seconds
Mile 8: 8:05 Out and back flat
Mile 9: 8:17 Out and back flat.
Mile 10: 10:11 Tough! Uphill and I was starting to get tired. (needed more salt tabs/electrolytes)
Mile 11: 8:31 Downhill. Mentally, it is what I needed.
Mile 12: 8:25 Flat (got a high-5 from Queen Elizabeth.)
Mile 13: 9:07 50% flat, finish was .5 miles uphill. Mentally, extremely tough! Almost cried…
Mile .1: 0:49 Finish chute… overwhelmed with joy. Trying not to cry from the pain of running uphill.

I utilized a new downhill running technique today, the “arm-flailing windmill.” It worked very well and I was able to run downhill much faster. The race was incredible. the first 8 miles were in the red zone. I was on a mission for a PR.

With respect to nutrition:

At 4:30am I woke up and ate a plate of Tater Tots (extra salty) and 2 salt tabs. I drank 40 oz of water with Nuun and topped it off with 200mg of caffine. Digestively, everything went perfect today! During the race I took 2 more salt tabs and 3 Gu Roctane’s. Post race, I drank about 8 cups of Yellowtail IPA thanks to the good people at the Hash House Herriers.

I am feeling VERY confident about the PCT 50 at this point. I have never felt stronger with respect to running. Tomorrow… 13 more miles… thankfully easy.

This morning, Doc and I went up to Daley Ranch in Escondido to tun around the ranch. The loop is 12.6 miles but you can shave off little sections to make it 10 miles or less. Today we ran ten miles. The trails were incredible. So far, it is my favorite trail run in San Diego. This loop had everything from hard packed fire roads to rocky single track. The best part was that there were a LOT of hills, some of which were very steep. The run was very technical and reasonably challenging. I walked some of the uphills and ran everything else. I have included a map and notes about the course below. When I get home tonight I will post the elevation profile.

One thing I really liked about this route is that the entire 3000 acre preserve is fenced in. So you really cant end up in Arizona or anything like that. There is also an abundance of wildlife. This morning we saw a coyote and lots of birds.

This is the run we are taking the Dirt Devils on this Saturday. I am bummed I cannot do it with them but I want to be in prime condition for San Dieguito. I am pretty stoked that I can run 10 miles of challenging terrain and not feel like crap/tired. My fitness is improving dramatically and I am continuing to lose weight. I was 182 this morning. 14 lbs away from my target.

Daley Ranch | Map of route with notes.

This week is a taper week for San Dieguito Half Marathon. My legs are feeling great. Tomorrow I am going to do an easy 10 miler on trails and a short Z3 run on Friday and that will be it. I just checked the weather and it looks like rain on Friday and Saturday… too bad not on Sunday. Rainy half marathons are the best!

In other news, I am expecting shipment #1 of shoes from Saucony either today or tomorrow. I ordered 2 pairs of the Saucony Guide, 3 pairs of the Saucony Guide 2, and a Saucony Guide TR. My current pair is about done. It will be nice to have a couple pairs I can rotate and get more life out of.

After the race I will jump right back into training for the PCT 50.

Today I took the WASP for a trial run on the trails of Tecolote Canyon. I met up this morning with the Dirt Devils and put in a solid 8.8 miles on the same trails I ran earlier in the week. The pack worked great. The design is brilliant! A great feature is how you don’t feel the weight of the pack on your shoulders. Rather, you feel it around your rib cage. The pockets on the front were great and can hold a lot of stuff.

Today’s run capped off a 50-mile week and the last big run week before the San Dieguito Half Marathon. Next week is a taper week and I probably wont get much more than about 12-15 miles in. The run today was again, about 80% trails and 20% road. This particular route is becoming one of my least favorites. It is good if you want to do a short (less than 6-mile) trail run… but for longer runs, there is too much road running.

Today is new stuff day! My pack from Ultimate Direction came in today. We ordered it about 2 weeks ago and it was worth the wait. This thing is bad-ass. Here is a really big pic.

So What makes this bad boy different? 2 big things! First, the bladder, in ridiculously easy to fill, clean, and empty. It is completely open at the top. To close it, you simply roll up the top. It is a brilliant design. The second thing is the pockets that are attached to the back straps. It makes accessing whatever you put in those pockets super easy and convenient while you are wearing the pack.

So tomorrow I will put this pack to the test on my trail run. We shall see!

Today Tom, Doc, and I meet at the entrance to Tecalote Canyon to do the Tri-canyon loop. It is essentially running through 3 canyons and I don’t know the names of two of the canyons. The 15.3 mile run was about 80% trails and 20% asphalt.

When we started it was pretty cold… not as bad as the Marion Bear morning described below though. As mentioned above, we started out in Tecalote canyon. The first 2 miles are flat and were very cold. At mile 2 the hills start and that is when I began to warm up. I was dressed in the Saucony Boston Pants, long sleeve moisture wicking shirt, Asics beanie, and Asics MCT Liner Gloves.

After the first initial hills, the canyon flattens out and you run along a stream until about mile 3.5. After that, we ran up Genessee and hopped into another canyon that was gradually and deceptively uphill for about 2.5 miles. I was running along wondering why the hell my heart rate was so high running a 10 min/mi pace. Once we got to the top of that canyon we run on more asphalt up Balboa to the Fox Run area. After looping around we entered another trail which merged with the first canyon we ran. I know, its confusing… I still don’t get it.

Coming back I had to poo pretty bad… and I had no TP… so I had to run about 5 miles with a giant terd prarie doggin’ it. I was so relieved to finally get back to the car and eventually… take a dump.

As for nutrition on the run. I under-did it slightly. I drank 32oz of liquid with 6 servings of Nuun. I ate 3 Gu Roctane packs and about 200 calories worth of Carbo-Pro 1200. The Nuun, I love and the Gu Roctane is awesome. Carbo Pro has traditionally made me want to poop at inopportune time during runs so I have stayed away from it… I was giving the 1200 a trial run today and I wont be using it anymore. My stomache can’t muscle it. The next thing I amgoing to try is sunflower seeds for calories. Those little suckers are LOADED with calories.

Here is the course route.

This morning was the coldest run of the year so far. Knowing it was going to be chili and knowing I was going to be running in a particularly cold canyon, I tried to come prepared. Running pants, long sleeve shirt, running beanie, and gloves proved to be no match for the 30 degrees of coldness that smacked me in the face when I got out of the car.

I ran this morning with the trail running group at the San Diego Running Institute. Doc and I started out on the trail as a slightly faster than normal pace as I was trying to warm up. My attempts were unsuccessful. My body never warmed up. My joints never felt like they were properly lubed. So to avoid injury, I cut the run short at 5 miles. It is going to put me a little behind in my running for the week but I am sure I can make it up later in the week.

This morning was a harsh reality. I am going to have to run in the cold… and like it. The PCT 50 is in the mountains at altitude and I am sure t is going to be cold at the race. Most of the training runs are in the canyons, on the trail in areas of the county that are always colder than what I am accustomed to.

On an unrelated note, I got my new training plan from Felipe of Breakaway Training last night and it is looking like this month is going to be a great month of training. I am keeping 1 swim and 1 cycling workout per week while I train for the Ultra-Marathon. After the marathon we will focus more on cycling and swimming.

This morning I sought to escape the cold by running on the treadmill at the Running Institute before work. On the schedule for today was a nice easy run. (Zone 2) The nice thing about the San Deigo Running Insitute is that Doc has a tv with DVD player right in front of the treadmill! So I started running and watching Billy Madison. About 4 miles into the run I really started to feel great. I felt like I was done warming up, all my joints were well lubed, and I could go forever. Until the treamill stopped! I tripped the breaker for the treadmills going an astonishing 6mph. Not having access to flip the breakers, I switched to the other treadmill. Still able to stay in zone 2, I stpeed it up to 7.5 mph. Sure enough, 2 miles later, I tripped the breaker for that treadmill… and my movie.

Feeling sad that I no longer had a running machine and no longer had a movie, I braved the outdoors and did the last 3.3 miles “in the wild” and by wild, I mean, on Alvarado Canyon Road. More of a concrete jungle than anything else.

My legs felt good and I did the base workout with very little trouble. Total milage was 9.3. Overall, I feel like I am going to do great at San Dieguito. This is my last week of training for the race, then taper, then run my heart out! I will definitly be out to crush my previous half marathon PR of 2:03:53.