ULTRADEVON AND FAMILY: July 2009

California Running Adventure

I flew out of Honolulu at 2200 on June 4, 2009 after saying my goodbyes to my family. I flew all night not sleeping at all and landed in San Francisco at 0700 on June 5. My mom met me a the airport to give me a ride to her house in Salinas, CA so I could use her car. We made our way to Palo Alto where the Zombies were meeting me early before the Zombie Runner store actually opened. They had my paper bag full of goodies all ready ready. We finally made it to Salinas at 1300. I had 7 hours to drive down to Santa Barbara and pick up my race packet for the Blue Canyon Trail Race and also set up my tent and find m tent site. It took me about 3.5 hours or so to drive down to Santa Barbara arriving at 1800 I thought I could use the spare time to find my tent site and set up my tent and then head into town and find this pre-race spaghetti dinner I heard about. So I set up my tent and finally found the pre-race briefing. I met a lot of nice people and ate some great pasta. I got back to my campsite at Rancho Oso at 2200. Getting to bed at 2300 was not the best time. I slept for a little while and then awoke to a noise outside my tent at 0300. I got out of the tent and went to the trunk of my car only to hear the pitter patter of footsteps behind me. I turned around with my headlamp on and there were four raccoons eyeing me down like a piece of freshly scrapped garbage. Then two more around the front of the car jumped on the hood and then the roof. I closed the trunk and thought they might go away if I went to the bathroom. I walked to the bathroom and they followed me. Finally I went inside and I could hear the dumpster being rustled.

BCTR 50K (34 Miles) June 6th 2009

I got to the start at 0500 and saw the 100K runners head off into t he night. I was kinda nervous and a bit cold. This being my first ultra since my surgery and it having 10000 feet of gain and loss, I felt a bit intimidated. But hell it is "only" 34 miles After hanging out for awhile and talking to a few people I decided to get my stuff ready now that it was daylight. I walked over to the car and got my things together then walked to the only bathroom and went. Now I was ready. We were told to follow the blue ribbons. Now in Hawaii, blue means bad, but here I had to follow the blue. The altitude wasn't that much of a factor but the elevation certainly was. I went out really fast and was passing all these runners walking. They were like, "catch up to you later" And they did… Anyway, we made our way around camp through the piles and piles of horse manure and around and through the many poison oak bushes all along the trail. We then began to climb, and climb, and climb, etc…we got to the "top" and the view was amazing. I was taking lots of pictures. The trail turned from fire road to singletrack at the first aid station, which like a few of them, was unmanned. But, they had everything from GU to carbo Pro. The water was in some kind of pump thing and I did not know how to work it so I did not get any water. I knew, or thought, I would be fine until the next AS. We then meandered our way rolling through the country side. It was amazing I felt so alive. I wanted to share it with so many people that is why I took so many pictures We then had this major climb that just never seemed to end. We had to bushwhack our way through quite a few sections and some sections the trail gave way on the side of a nasty cliff. But other than that the views were amazing. I could see Gibraltar reservoir in the distance and I thought we had to run to it, but it seemed so very far away and we were going away from it. We got to the top of the climb and turned left down the fire road. I was like awesome some thing runnable and it is downhill. Also, I was out of water. In a few short minutes I was at the next AS. There were two guys there and they had flannel jackets on, huh… I quickly reloaded and headed down to the turnaround. I had five miles of awesome downhill it was great. But, when it is an out and back going down means you have to go back up. And that is what I did. After making it to the turn around there was confusion where the turnaround was. I had my GPS on so I knew that this was the turnaround. The AS captain also told me that it was the turnaround but runners were going two mile further where the drop bags were and turning around. They said that it was written in GU, but there was no one there, except the drop bags were there. Anyway, I turned around and headed back up the long 5 mile uphill. The clouds began to roll in and it got cold. I put my Moeben sleeves on and continued my climb. Heading back the same way I came I ran as fast as I could, but my stomach was giving me problems. I don't remember names very well, but some one gave me a mint and that seemed to help. I got back to were we first hit the singletrack and thought great we are almost there. A little downhill and I am home. WRONG!!!!! I turned left, (following the blue ribbons) and headed up, and I mean UP the mountain. I climbed for awhile and began to believe that I must have taken the wrong way. But just then a 50 mile runner passed me by looking strong. I finally got to the top and was completely out of water. I crested a bump and saw a truck roof, the AS, it must be an AS, and it was. They were dressed in down jackets and we could see our breath. I got some ginger ale and immediately headed down the last 3 miles of singletrack to the finish. It was beautiful to come out of the woodline and see the finish. I ran hard to the finish and let the guy who gave me the mint go ahead of me to the finish ( not wanting to be a jerk and sprint past him). I finished in 10:03.

I hung out until the last 100K runners finished at about 2100, then I packed up my campsite, not wanting to battle the coons again, and headed back to Salinas. I started the 4 hour drive and an hour into it I pulled over and took another hour to find a hotel with a room. I found a rinky dink motel and asked the lady behind the glass for a room. She said that she had one more room. She then asked how much I had when I asked how much it was going to be. I said I have $50. She said make it $5 more and you can have it. Being the sucker that I am I gave her the $55 and slept for 4 hours until 0500. I then got up and started the rest of my drive. I stopped at Dennys and got something to eat. The rest of my drive was uneventful.

I got to my moms and spent the week recuperating and thinking about my next race. I actually fell asleep while stretching I headed out on Friday June 12th toward Los Angeles. It was a 6 hour drive to LA. I made it into LA and stayed with my friend at his house so I would not have to camp in the freezing cold of Big Bear Lake. He took me all over LA and I also went to Phidepeddes, the oldest running store somewhere I left his house on Saturday and headed to a hotel at the base of the mountain. I was an hour from Serrano Campground, where the start of the race was. I ot to sleep at 2300 and got up 0400. I headed up the mountain at 0430.

Holcomb Valley Trail Run 33 Miler June 14th 2009

This race has only 7000' of elevation but it all above 7000' in altitude. I got to the start at about 0600. The race started at 0700. I got my adventure pass( something you need to park within the park) and my shirt and got the hell back in my car. It was freaking like 30 degrees. The race had a staggered start and I was in the second wave that started at 0702. After a quick briefing and after the first wave my wave started. I started out pretty well, but my toes were numb and I ended up falling on my face in the first 2 miles. The race continued to roll all around the mountain with great view of Big Bear Lake and snow capped mountains in the background. The highlight of my tip was running on the Pacific Crest Trail. This was a dream of mine. Here I was all over the PCT. I took my time running and taking pictures and trying to drink up the beauty surrounding me. I even met the lady who invented the Moeben sleeves, which I was wearing. The AS were awesome but very minimal with some awesome homemade Chocolate Chip cookies. At the only AS with a cutoff I was 45 minutes ahead so I took my time going up the final major climb which was long and brutal. It was so hard to breathe. I was sucking wind. This was the most runnable and easiest if it hadn't been for the altitude. Anyway, I cruised into the finish at 8:45 and got my finishers award. It was a great way to spend the day. I couldn't stick around though. I had to drive 3 hours to the LA airport to pick up my friend who are in a reggae band from Kauai and are touring Southern California.

So it takes me 3 hours to get to the airport. I have not showered and I really stink. I hang out until they get there at 2100 and we head to San Diego. We get to the hotel to check in at 0100. I am freaking exhausted. We cruise the next day and end up hanging out at the health food store then off the rehearsal for the show that night. We had a great time cruising. The show went great they opened for MIDNITE at the World Beat Center,. I spent the night selling CDs and listening to some great riddims. We got out of there at 0200 and went back to the hotel. Getting to sleep at 0500 and then getting up at 1100 to check out.

We checked out of the hotel and packed up three cars full of rastas and band equipment and drove to Santa Barbara. On the way we stopped in Little Ethiopia in LA to get some food. That was pretty irie. We got to Santa Barbara with about 30 minutes to spare. I spent that night selling more CDs and hanging out. We got done at 0100 and hung out until 0200. I then drove back down to LA airport and dropped off Kaya and Nadia (friends from Kauai) and then headed down to San Diego to drop off my friend at his house. After hours upon hours of driving I made the final jaunt back to my friends in LA. I hung out at his house until Friday June 19th then made my way to Wrightwood California to camp with my mom and step-dad. I drove the 2 hours there and made it to the campsite without falling asleep or driving off the mountain, YAY!!!!:) I set my tent up and crashed for a good 4 hours. My mom and Sam got there and we set up camp. There were bear boxes, bear boxes are needed for this area. OMG

It was fun camping and hanging out but I came here on a mission and my last challenge was tomorrow. I went to bed at 2200 and got a good nights rest…..FINALLY

Angeles Crest 100 Night Training Run June 20th 2009

I left camp at 1200 thinking I would have enough time to hang out and do some work on the internet. WORNG TURN and five hours later I was an hour early at the meeting place and finish for the AC 100. The drive should have only taken me an hour. Anyway I got there and got ready. We then headed to the finish of the run about 1 mile away. We carpooled up to Chantry Flats mile 75 of the AC 100. We had the final 26 miles of the AC 100 course ahead of us and darkness coming on. I rode with Hal Winton, CO-Race Director. Not knowing it at the time but we also got cutoff by my mom and sam heading down form Chantry Flats looking for me. Funny but terrifying experience when on the side of a mountain.

The start was like "there is water stashed up there if you find it good if you don’t take from the streams" now go!!! The front runners marked the course as we went. They did an outstanding job too. The climbs were pretty easy but there were a lot of them. I think I got this race in the bag as long as my knee can hold up. But on this run it took until mile 14 then my knee started to hurt. I ran/walked the downhills and walked the ups for the next four miles. Then I decided F**k it I am not going to kill myself for nothing so I walked the last 8 miles to the finish. All I kept thinking was that bears and mountain lions can sense when some one is injured….So I just kept moving. I was last since some people stopped at mile 14 (where there was an AS on this supposed self-contained run which I was wearing a 10 pound pack on, but enough of that). So I was last and my knee hurt pretty bad, but there was no where to stop and turn around so I just kept pressing on. I got about 3 miles from the finish and my flashlight went dead. So I am on the sided of this cliff and I am alone in the dark in unfamiliar territory and I hear a growling sound, I quickly change batteries and move on, not wanting to see where the sound is coming from. It is about 0400 now and I hear voices and no it is not the "regular" voices I hear but regular voices. I then see lights. I move a little faster and it appears that 2 guys are waiting for me to finish. YEAH!!!!! I finish in 9:30 at 0430 in the morning on June 21st 2009. My first experience on the AC 100 course and I was within cutoff for that section with a hurt knee. Nothing to be too proud of, but I finished it. My California Running Advnenture is over. I walk over to Hal Winton who is asleep in his truck and wave to him to let him know that I came out alive. He nods and says, "See you in September"

I then drive around for about 2 hours looking for a place to sleep because I think it is too dangerous to drive up the mountain at this time of the morning. But, there is no place so instead I make the drive up the mountain and make it to the campsite at 0800 I crash until 1200 then pack up and head back with my mom and sam ahead of me. It takes us about 4.5 hours to drive back to Salinas.

I spend the next day packing up and cleaning my stuff. I get on a plane on June 23 at 0700 and fly to Salt Lake City then to Honolulu.

On Thursday June 25 I had my vasectomy and have been taking off the last week recuperating from the operation. My knee feels better. I believe I am about ready for AC 100 and am up for the challenge. I would like to thank my family for their support, my coach Karl for the training schedules, and HURT for there support as well. Up next Angeles Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run September 19-20 2009 Jah Bless.