4 WEEKS UNTIL KODIAK 100

Oh I get by with a little help from my friends.

I get high with a little help from my friends.

I'm going to try with a little help from my friends.

Billy Shears

In the last two weeks I have logged over 150 miles and at least 48 hours on the local trails.  I have had the opportunity to share some of my most challenging runs with good friends.  Jana joined me for a three hour traverse of Thomas Mountain: we didn't start running until 8pm and completed the entire road in the dark!  A week later, Todd rallied for a nine hour tour of the San Jacinto high country.  And, my brother Matt was here for a much needed recovery run on Monday morning.  Sharing the trail with friends has made me realize how important they are.  For this reason, the Lymphedema Awareness Team is changing its focus for the next 4 weeks.  We are not putting a Fundly button on our page, we are not asking anyone to donate money.  We need more friends.  Please, help us make some new friends.

south ridge

fire lookout

fire lookout

limber pines

tahquitz peak

B2B2B 50K's - 3 of 3

“I hope I feel this good when I finish the Kodiak 100,” was my first thought after completing today’s long run.  Yes, I am physically exhausted.  Because of all the elevation gain and loss, the roots, the rocks, the water bars, and the sand, it is understandable why.  However, my mental endurance, stamina, and motivation were really put to the test today.  When my alarm went off at 4am,

I could not fathom climbing into the high country again.  I needed a place to run that was flat, mindless, and close to the car.  I decided to run the double tracks around Fobes Road.  These were my training grounds for the BLU a year and a half ago.  They are relatively flat, so I was able to jog most of the morning.  This was a welcome break from all the elevation gain and loss over the last two days, and also an added challenge because there were no walking breaks.  In the last three days, I was on my feet for 24 hours, covered 90 miles, and climbed over 16,000 ft.  Almost exactly what I will have to do in a single push to finish the Kodiak 100. 

Fobes Flats

Distance - 28 miles - - Time - 6hrs - - Elevation - 1250' vertical gain

early morning

high country from afar

smooth, flat, double track

recovery

B2B2B 50K's - 2 of 3

Fatigue is funny.  It hit me this morning, much earlier then I expected it to, half way through todays run.  It started with thoughts like, "Tomorrows run should be somewhere flat."  And, by the afternoon I was thinking, "Does it really matter if I do another 50k on Saturday?  Could I just run 20 and then another 10 on Sunday?"  After five hours of being of the trail I have continued to ponder these ideas.  Yes, the next run is going to be flat.  No, it doesn't matter if I run another 50k.  But, I will feel a lot better if I do.

Loops and Lollipops

Distance - 31.1 miles - - Time - 9hrs car to car - - Elevation - 7600' vertical gain

Trails - Devils Slide - Tahquitz Meadow and Peak - Chinquapin -  Angels Glide - Strawberry Cienega - Deer Springs - San Jacinto Pk - Round Valley - Long Valley Loop - Wellmans Cienega - Angels Glide - Devils Slide - Humber Park

first light

objectives

pyramid

trail

rocks

america

snags

california

BACK ON THE TRAIL

Vince Brown wrote, “None of us can be sure… until we search diligently to find out for ourselves.”  Two weeks ago, Matt and I completed an amazing 48 mile run in Yosemite, we will share pictures and a trip report soon.  It was so enjoyable that it opened my eyes to the idea of running a 100-mile race.  I have thought really hard about whether or not I am ready to run 100 miles.  The only way I am going to know is for me to do it.  On Friday, I registered for the Kodiak 100.  The course traverses the mountains above Big Bear Lake.  The timing is perfect, the terrain is similar to my local trails and it is less than three hours from Idyllwild.  I am excited, motivated, and slightly overwhelmed.  But, I am looking forward to a lot of training, and I feel confident that I will finish.  Over the next ten weeks we are going to increase our efforts to raise money and awareness for Lymphedema.  Once again we are going to ask you, our friends and family to help support us in this mission.  All the money you donate will go to the Lymphatic Education and Research Network.

Tahquitz Peak for J's 2nd Birthday

South Ridge Rock Window on Father's Day

 - Daniel

Remembering the Tiger: Negotiating Injury

by Matt Gray

So far during my two years of running, I've gone through four training cycles (building and preparing for a race or a featured event after a period of rest).  And each one has seen an injury, or at least something painful enough to keep me off my feet for a while.  My most recent focus event, the Cheyenne Mountain 50K, almost didn't happen because of this training-injury cycle.

In early April, I went out for a mellow Saturday morning run around one of the near-by lakes.  But less than a mile along, a shooting pain on the outside of my knee (the notorious tell-tale sign of iliotibial band syndrome), struck.  I resorted to walking for a distance and then trying a slow jog.  After two or three iterations of this it was clear that the pain wasn't going away.  I had over-trained, run too fast, listened to too many other people's approaches to running, worn the wrong shoes, not fueled properly ... something.

For the next ten days I tried various healing methods, including stretching, a massage roller, different shoes, and some very, very slow shuffle runs on flat dirt roads. Nothing seemed to prevail until about two weeks later when I was on the phone with my brother, griping about shoes and still not finding the right structure and balance. He stopped me mid-sentence.

"Have you gone back to your stride?"

I made excuses for a minute, bringing up all the other external factors that had caused my injury. Within moments though, the image of the tiger from Sakyong Mipham's "Running with the Mind of Meditation" arose quite strongly.

Despite writing about the other animals from this Shambala meditative practice, I had abandoned the foundational tiger practice of mindfulness and looking inward. I realized that I had not been focusing on my breath, or the appropriate 180 strides/minute for a clean mid-foot strike. Instead, I'd been tuning into podcasts and music, trying to find the perfect shoe, and worrying about which pack to buy.

The next morning I took to the trail without anything but shorts, shoes, and shirt.  I focused on my breathing rhythm, my posture, my footfall ... I focused on the act of running and gliding through the world as a tiger: poised and graceful.

The pain still comes back as a shadow, my iliotibial band remains precariously tight. But when I return to my breath and mindfulness, my body relaxes, and I continue on down the trail thankful for the tiger-reminder that I am running.

LSD

Long-distance runner what you standing there for?

Get up, get off, get out of the door.

Robert Hunter

Long, Slow Distance, not lysergic acid diethyl-amide. Though a psychological study of a prolonged derangement of the senses from long, slow, distance runs might have some similarities to those produced by Albert Hoffman's acid.  Today was the last long run in my training cycle.  I was a little down this morning because I really enjoy the continuos hours on my feet, calm meditative state and sharpened perception of the world that these runs have provided over the last several months.  I milked it for all it was worth, trying not to complete a mile in less than 11 minutes.  There is a pace, a zone where just the right amount of effort can keep you moving without too much exertion.  My goal was to find this zone, balance it with an extremely low rate of perceived effort and stay there for the duration of my run.  While using my big wall mantra: slow is smooth, smooth is fast, taking deep breaths, maintaing a "yogic" posture and softening my vision I was able to tap into the zone.  It was around mile 14 when things got a little weird. The blue sky, green pines and golden willows became more vibrant.  The wind crisper, louder and more consistent .  The mud and damp soil more pungent.  My body lighter, smoother, stronger.  Waves of pulsing energy roll through my body.  I am a moving black hole, pulling my surroundings toward me, connected to everything I can see, feel, smell, hear and taste.

It's over.  I'm at my car.  What happened?  Where'd the last thirty minutes go?  I look at my watch, trying to make sense of running sub 9 minute miles for the last thirty minutes: slow is smooth, smooth is fast.