Recently in race results Category

on a whim last friday, i signed up for a trail marathon.  the unconventional thing was that the marathon was the following weekend.  rather than train specifically for it or even taper, i spent this past week performing my normal training schedule.  with three challenging 10mi runs on my legs for the week already, i toed the line this morning ready to take on what was billed as california's hardest trail marathon.

the race director, baz, an ausie ex-pat, set the most amazing vibe at the start by personally greeting everyone and giving a fantastic pre-race briefing that included jabs at runners and much colorful language.  the guy is a nut and the vibe was set for a fun day.

we headed off and immediately began our climb up to the trabuco trail.  the first 1,000' climb was uneventful and i just slowly worked my way up the fire road.  at the aid station at the top of trabuco, i hooked up with my buddy, marisa, and we ran the downhill to the next aid station together.  as always, the first question i get asked is, "how's your little guy?" and i get to spend the next hour just gushing over what a groovy little kid i have.  we rolled into the holy jim aid station at the nine mile mark, fueled up and then i took off up the holy jim climb. 

this climb is a steep, 4+ mile section of switchbacks that climbs about 2,500' up to the main divide road just below the santiago peak.  i ran this section alone and just dropped into a comfortably mellow pace and just focused on form and managing the climb without stopping.  about half way up, i remembered that a member of my trail club, kirk, was managing the aid station at the top.

kirk and i have a long history.  we've never met.

kirk, who is known for his wonderfully sarcastic remarks, is constantly taking shots at me on our club forum.  the problem with this zingers is that i rarely end up seeing the posts until it's been months after the fact, and by then, it's too late to respond.  all of this lead to the thought that, "maybe kirk thinks i'm mad at him for all the comments".  kirk, i should mention, is one of the most well respected members of the club for his sincerity, sensitivity and selflessness.

as i ran up holy jim, i got the GREAT idea to really give him a scare when i saw him.  my buddy, donald, had just posted an entry about a great alternative pre-race warm up.  a maori haka.  the night before, i had joked with smsmh about doing one at the start of the race to solidify in people's minds just what a nut i am.  i spent a couple minutes describing and practicing one and was even joined by thunderclap in my insanity.

anyway, in my fatigue induced state, i thought it would be a GREAT idea to try out my haka on kirk, and make him think that i was going to take out all of my fury on him.  for the next few miles until i hit bear springs, i was giggling to myself.

so, i topped out at bear springs and was immediately greeted by kirk.  he asked how i was doing.  i responded, "i have been running for just over 14 miles with one singular thought in my mind; this moment."  kirk responded, "oh?  really?"  at that point, i started into my haka, breathing deep, grunting and getting into a squat stance.  i threw my hand held water bottle to the ground and started shouting a resounding guttural growl.  i continued my yell/growl and began stomping, slapping thighs and arms and made motions of tearing flesh from bone and finished off with a throat slitting motion.  i stood up, reached forward and shook kirks hand while breaking into a laugh.

the look on his face was PRICELESS.  the great thing was that there were about 10 other people at the aid station that had no idea what the heck was going on.  i had to quickly explain so that no body thought that i was rabid, losing my mind or in need of medical attention.  kirk and i had a good laugh and as i left the aid station i shouted back at kirk, "that was for all the things you said about my mom!"  kirk responded, "i never said anything about your mom....to your face!"  touche, kirk!

off i went again.  the next section of trail was mostly rolling but before hitting the next aid station, it climbed to the pass next to trabuco peak, the highest point on the course.  this was another 500'+ climb over the course of a mile or so and was steep enough to scrape your nose as you worked your way up.  i was still feeling pretty solid on this portion of the run, but i could feel the effort of running the whole holy jim section combined with my miles from the previous week.  at the 18mi aid station, i topped off fluids, chatted briefly with the crew and then headed off for the 'easy' portion of the route.

no sooner had i left the aid station and i went through my "wall" section.  i turned on some music and nick cave started singing.

"well the road is long, and the road is hard, and many fall by the side"

i had planned on showing up to the race this morning both sore and tired from the week with the hopes of really suffering through some difficult sections.  well, i wasn't disappointed as my quads, hips and calves began their incessant screaming.  but i listened to nick...

"i went on down the road, he went on down the road"

this "easy" section of the route was really taking it's toll on me.  the rolling climbs and drops were beating up my quads and flaming my calves.  the loose and uneven fire road was wearing on my feet.  and my joints, oh, my joints.  but i kept running, because as nick said, i was the captain of my pain.

"i am the captain of my pain, tis the bit, the bridle, the trashing cane, the stirrup, the harness, the whipping mane, the pickled eye, the shrinking brain, o brother, buy me one more drink, i'll explain the nature of my pain, yes, let me tell you once again, i am the captain of my pain"

before too much longer, the perseverance paid off and i rounded a corner on a climb and could see up above me, about a quarter mile off, the trabuco aid station.  john resnick was there, checking off runners and he gave me the great news that i was the 22nd runner.  i topped off and headed back out.  knowing that i was a mere 3 miles from the finish spurred me on.  i felt rejuvenated and began to push my pace.  i moved quickly on the downhill back to the finish and the pains from a handful of miles previously were forgotten.  before i knew it, i was rounding a corner on the falcon creek trail and spotted the cars parked at the finish.  i picked it up and finished strong.  i waved my arms in the air as baz congratulated me, stopped my watch and was pleased to see a 4:24 finish time.

after a tough course with 5,100' of climbing i was happy with my time, happy to be done with the "racing on fatigued leg experiment" and happy to have really messed with kirk's head and solidified the perception that i am a nut case.

soundtrack for this post
	lick: hipsters: wax:	Wardance Killing Joke Laugh? I Nearly Bought One!

the thing that stood out most about the drive up to santa barbara this year vs. last year was the weather.  a marine layer dominated the sky and was just beginning to burn off when we arrived at around 1pm.  "if that could hold through the weekend", i thought, "it'd be great weather for the race."

saturday dawned cool and overcast and as the sky began to lighten, i was already at the transition area with my gear completely set up and ready to rock.  lesley, who was racing the following day in her first sprint, waited with me while my start time grew closer.  we joked around about how hard it is to cheer for people with normal names at large races.  yelling "john!" or "eric!" might not get the same response as someone named "zipper".  if your name was zipper, you'd know if someone was trying to get your attention.  i also mentioned that in the family reunion areas at large races i always tell my crew to meet me at the letter "q".  the "s" area is always jammed.  so, i guess the ideal race day name would be something like "zipper quigley".

my wave was scheduled to start the swim at 7:09 and i was suited up and ready to swim with plenty of time to spare.  as my wave prepared to swim, i positioned myself in my customary location;  outside left, toward the back.  the swim is my weakest discipline and the chaos of the pack always un-nerves me.

the horn sounded and we were off.  i ran down the beach, waded into the surf, waited for a wave to crash and then dove in.  i quickly had my face in the water and began focusing on my stroke.  i also quickly realized that i was in the middle of my wave, not to the outside, and definitely not at the back.  as we rounded the first buoy, i took stock and noticed that i was, surprisingly, comfortable.  my heart rate was fine, i was swimming with a really powerful stroke and i was right in the main mix of my wave and not bothered by the kicks and bumps. 

i found a guy that slowly swam past me and tucked right in behind him.  i was able to draft off of him for the whole swim.  i took a couple kicks to the face, but nothing that messed with my goggles.  the great thing, though, was just how comfortable i felt in the middle of all that chaos. 

before i knew it, we were back in the surf and i was running up the beach.  goggles on head, unzip the suit, strip to the waist and head into t1.  the transition was seamless.  the suit came off without a hitch, helmet on, shoes on, grab the sunglasses and bike and i was off.

the bike course is tough.  there are some challenging climbs that are single digit speed steep and the resulting downhill sections are technical with sharp, steep turns and incredibly poor road conditions.  i pushed hard on the bike, making sure i didn't fall asleep at any point and always at the height of effort.  i was able to pass a significant number of people on this leg, and the thing i noticed this year vs. last year was that most of the cyclists were in my age group.  in races past, i usually end up coming out of the water a wave or two behind mine.  not this time.  i was still right in the mix.  on one of the main climbs, a car [the course was open] came up on my left and i heard the ringing of cowbells and shouts of "zipper quigley!"

it was kevin and the kids.  lesley had relayed my race day name joke and now the kids were using it to cheer for me.  what a great boost of energy and motivation.  our host family is the BEST at race day crewing. 

at one point, a guy in a kain jersey passed me up [with a 35 on his calf], cut right in front of me, turned around and gave me the "lance" look.  excuse me?  i wasn't sure what that was for, but i backed off, got out of his draft zone and picked it back up and passed him on the next climb.  this went on for a while, with the two of us yo-yo'ing back and forth.  eventually, i passed him and didn't see him again on the bike leg.

the bike leg went by pretty quick and before i knew it, i had hit 30 miles and was on the home stretch.  i rolled into t2, ditched the shoes, slipped on my running shoes [now with yankz!], grabbed my visor and was off!  i ran down my rack, headed toward the run exit when a yell of "helmet! helmet!" caught my attention and i realized i still had my helmet on.  duh.  i turned around, ditched it and waved a thanks to the folks who had clued me in.

feeling like a dolt, i headed out onto the run.  within seconds, i found myself running up on "lance".  i settled into a strong, but comfortable pace, blew past him and didn't even give him the courtesy of a glance.  that loss of 20-30 seconds with the helmet must have let him get ahead of me, but i wasn't going to let him pass me again.

my legs felt quite good on the run and i didn't have the stomach problems that had plagued me last year.  gotta hand it to racing with proven fluids and fuel.  i ran a comfortably fast pace, handled the climb up onto the bluff without any difficulty and before i knew it, we were at the five mile turn around.  as i climbed back up to the bluff, i saw "lance" again, a couple minutes behind me and looking like he was really struggling.  i put on a happy face and ran past him moving fluidly and confident.

i picked up the pace a bit on the way down off the bluff and pushed a bit on the run into the finish.  my run pace wasn't flying compared to what i've done in just running races, but i was happy to be keeping about a 7:20 average for 10 miles  after 35 miles of other disciplines.  i came across the finish line smiling with a pr-busting 3:29:17, a full 16 minutes off of last year's time.

i was over the moon with my time, and i felt fantastic.  like i said previously, i may have been in better tri-shape last year, but i FELT better this year, and that made all the difference.  when i looked at the splits for the race, i was surprised to see that i had dropped five minutes on each of the disciplines and the last minute was attributed to faster t1 & t2 times. 

i'll have to say that this year's santa barbara tri was my best tri performance to date.  i can't wait to challenge my pr next year!

soundtrack for this post
	lick: hipsters: wax:	Santa Barbara World Party Dumbing Up

well, i made it out to the third and final race of the summer trail series in peters canyon. again, it was a great day; sunny, a little warm and comfortably breezy. smsmh and tc came out to watch and we were all able to hang out for a while before the race started up. jessica showed up shortly before the race started, too, and she was finally able to meet tc and see in person just how chubbily awesome he is.

i hopped into the starting chute a couple minutes before the start and spotted several people that i knew. i chatted with a few people, and while i was talking to rick from snails pace [now fleet feet], i spotted the guy. yup. he was there again, doing his same, macho bouncing, head shaking and arm waving. yup. the growler was back. this time, though, he was actually complaining about how many people showed up. what? dood. more people means that the race organizers will probably continue the series. yeah...i know it means you'll finish further back and your high ranking from the first race when there were only 75 people there will be blown. but dood. you're not elite. and it's not 'your race'. so, quit yer growling.

this time, the course ran up the canyon clockwise and then looped back onto the ridge just after the two mile mark. i caught the growler within the first mile, and yes, he was growling when i passed him. i was feeling pretty good and was slowly trying to work my way up through the ranks. there were a ton of high school xc kids this time around, which made for some fun racing. when we hit the hills, the kids would slow down on the climbs, but come flying past me on the downhills.

i ended up yo-yo'ing with a couple hs guys. on one of the climbs i touched one of the kids on the back as i went past him and said, "tag, you're it!". he laughed and laughed again when he flew past me on the backside of the hill. those kids were fearless on some really steep stuff. man...to be young again and not care about my knees! haha

after we cruised out of the hills, we hit the long downhill and i passed up the guy that i'd tagged earlier. i told him "good job" and then looked back and added, "don't let me beat you!" once he'd recovered from the hills, he started his kick and there was no way i could keep up with him. i did pass a few other guys on the final stretch into the finish, but i'd been tagged and my quarry was going to stay away.

the funny thing is that i thought this course felt harder and that i was going a little bit slower, but turns out i finished almost a minute faster than last month. final time was a 34:55, just a hair under a 7 minute pace for the course. i was really happy, and once i'd cooled down, ready to eat some grub at the bbq that the organizers put on. what a great finish to the series and something i'll definitely do again next summer.

two, two races in one [week]

last week was one of those weeks that goes down in the archives as something NOT to repeat. well, i guess a capitol NOT isn't necessary, since aside from being exhausted and sore, things turned out pretty well.

a friend that runs a race management company started a trail race series this summer and i wanted to get out and join in the fun, so i signed up for the second in the series; a 5 mile challenging route through one of the local wilderness parks [peter's canyon]. i did this, knowing that i had an oly on saturday to compete in, and i had every intention of taking it easy during the trail race.

until i stood at the starting line, that is.

as i chatted with other folks from the oc trail runners [eric and wendy], i noticed a guy from one wearing a jersey from one of the local tri clubs [not oc tri club, the OTHER one]. this guy was bouncing up and down, exhaling loudly and generally looking like he was one bad mo fo [but he's from that OTHER tri club, can ya dig it?]. when the horn sounded and we headed out, this guy took off but wasn't running too far ahead, so i kept an eye on him. anyone who acts all cocky like that at the start, i like to take note of how they do out on the course. my attention paid off, too. i caught up to the guy at the first of the hills and as i passed him, he tried to go with me up the incline. my desire to beat this guy was increased when i realized that every exhale he made was...um...unique.

he was growling.

yes. growling. every exhale as we went up the climb was a deep, guttural growl. this annoyed me. so, i turned on the billy goat legs and hammered up the climb, leaving the growler in the dust. when i hit the top of all the hills, a friend of mine, brian, the coach of the vanguard xc/track team, was up there cheering. he shouted good job and told me that i was in 10th place.

10th place? woah!

something clicked inside and i decided i wanted to finish well. so, i looked up the course, saw a couple runners a few hundred meters up the trail and became determined to move up a couple spots. i turned on the speed on the downhill and slowly began to reel one of the guys in. slowly but surely i caught one of them and by mile four i was safely past him and into the number nine spot. i tried hard to catch the next guy, but we were too evenly matched and he kept his lead on me.

when i crossed the finish line, brian was there again and told me that one of the guys out front was a bandit, so i actually crossed the line in 8th place. woohoo! i was ecstatic to have turned in such a solid performance on a tough course. final time was 35:33. i was very happy with my time. i spent the rest of the evening hanging out with smsmh and tc and chowing at the bbq at the finish.

when i woke early on saturday, i knew i was going to regret the effort on thursday's trail race. my quads and calves were like lead and as tight as could be. well, i didn't mind too much, since thursday's race had been such an enjoyable event. i headed down to camp pendleton, got checked in and set up in the transition area and made a couple race day friends. today would be my first race w/ aero bars on the bike and my first race with an ocean swim. i was really looking forward to it and decided i would swim and bike hard and just relax on the run.

when the horn sounded and i started the swim, i knew it was going to be a good day. the swim was a water start and my wave was stretched out over a 100y front. no crowding. none. i think someone grabbed my ankle at one point, but aside from that there was no jostling. you can't beat that! i swallowed very little salt water and ended up having a great swim. it's hard to tell, but i think i exited the water about nine minutes faster than my oly last summer. the transition to the bike included about a .5 mile run back from the beach, so rather than run in the wetsuit, i stripped it at the beach and just jogged back with it over my shoulder.

on the bike, i was feeling really good, so i spun hard and attacked the many rises on the course. i felt great passing up the guys on the fast bikes on each climb...although i'd get caught and passed on the flats and down hills. i just can't seem to match their speed. climbing seems to be my forte. anyway, the aero bars were fantastic and by the time i finished the bike, my back felt great and the legs weren't too fatigued. i exited the bike feeling pretty fresh, all things considered, and sporting about a 10 minute lead on my previous year's time.

the run was what i expected...sorta. the marine layer had burnt off and it was getting warm. the run route was pretty flat, but along the water, which reflected the sun. i was getting a little cooked and the legs were feeling the week's effort, so i just took it easy and didn't try to turn myself inside out. i finished predictably slower than what i know i'm capable of, but my overall time for the whole race was an 11 minute pr, and that included the long transition run. my transitions were near flawless this time around and i knocked considerable time off there.

now, though, i'm fried. the legs are worked and feeling all the effort. but, despite the pain and fatigue, i wouldn't change a thing. it was a great two-fer week and i'm feeling alive again!

it's funny trying to come up with a race report when your partner for race day has already summed up the event so perfectly. flipperhead already posted her recap of the event and pretty much captured the feeling and events from the day. epic weather up until the time we hit the corals, the joy of being out on the course, and effort required to go the distance.

again, i find that i enjoy running in support of another runner much more than i enjoy running for myself. i find that my mind is completely off of how i'm performing, but focused on my ward, and that seems to allow me to perform without the stress of worrying about how i'm going to perform. sure, i may try to go sub 3 again at some point, but for now, this is where i'm finding my joy.

and joyful, it was. we've all see just how deep flipper will dig for a hard workout or a race, and we've all read just how tough she is, but it was impressive to see that first hand. we ran a really steady race for the entire course and only slowed slightly over the newton hills. the amazing thing, was that when flipper found out we had dropped the pace while climbing the first couple hills, she started to pick up the pace. i was a little concerned that she'd burn out early, but when we crested heartbreak right on pace and then she surged as we flew down the other side, i was pretty confident that the wheels weren't going to come off this bus.

my race wasn't really that remarkable, but i did flirt with some hamstring cramping and calf cramping and a couple times, came close to have those muscles lock up on me. again, focusing on form and making sure i kept the fluids coming was what did the trick. the pace was very sustainable for me, and i never had a problem keeping flipper trotting along at that 8:05-8:10 pace, but toward the end of the race, i started noticing that my muscles were really starting to show fatigue. it wasn't until we got back to flipper's house after the race that i realized why my muscles felt like they were taking a beating. i hadn't really tapered much. duh.

anyway, i know that's sort of a lame race report, but the day was all about flipper, and i was just there as a spectator.