New start

Well, lets try this. First flight after 20 years. First time in a Cessna - June 26th 2020. Palomar airport with Pinnacle Aviation

Knee surgery.....

Torn PCL and meniscus... knee surgery 4/23/18

Warm

The weather forecast changed a bit and shows 88-90 for the high Sat and mid 70s for the low. This is going to be tougher with the heat.

Race Dir's email arrived today

Sent: Monday, August 24, 2015 3:08 PM
Subject: Julian Full Moon Final Instructions

Julian Full Moon Final Instructions

Thank you for registering for our inaugural Julian Full Moon 12/24 Hour Run.  As you may or may not know, this run is a fundraiser for our local ultra running club, S.U.R.F.  It will go towards supporting local ultra distance races, along with the organizations that provide those races with so much needed support.

The weekend is almost upon us. We are looking forward to a fun event.  It will be hot, so be smart out there.  

If you are camping, you may begin setting up your tent any time after 3 PM on Friday.  The tent site is located in a small open field adjacent to the race start/finish area directly behind Julian Station.  We will have port-a-potties and hand washing stations, but no showers, so please plan accordingly.  Please--no fires at the tenting site.

Bib and t-shirt pick-up will be on Saturday morning (although if we see you Friday evening we will be happy to give you your stuff then).  The run begins at 8 a.m., so please plan on picking up your bib/t-shirt by 7:30.  If you are running the 12 hour during the night instead of the daytime, you may pick up your bib/t-shirt any time before 7:30 p.m.

The course is approximately a one kilometer loop.  It is partly on a dirt road and partly on a goat grazing area.  While the footing is fairly good throughout, there are some uneven areas.  

There is fencing.  Do not lean against it--the inner fencing is electrified to keep in the goats in and the outer fencing has barbed wire.  There is plenty of room, so this shouldn’t be an issue--just don’t go out of your way and pick a fight with the fence! 

The dirt road gets almost no traffic, but it does get some every now and then.  Stay alert.

The run is being conducted on private property on a working farm.  It also serves as a private residence, with neighboring residences nearby.  Please be respectful and try to keep noise down to a minimum during the night-time hours.

If you are staying Friday night or having friends/crew out on Saturday, there is a nice little Mexican coffee shop, wine tasting and a beer hall all on-site at Julian Station.

If I have missed anything or if you have any questions whatsoever, please contact me.  Otherwise, I look forward to seeing you this weekend!

John “El Cubano” Martinez, RD

5 days to go and I am Sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 days to go... still prepping the race gear and crew goodies for Chad who is awesome to volunteer as my race crew. But now I am sick. Bad sinus infection and soar throat. Doc gave me 2 sets of meds.  

I have been running 5-6 milers most days at lunch in the heat and 20 on the weekend, Not enough distance to be where I want to be, but so goes life. Other responsibilities come first. Good shorter 6 mile run with Chad Sunday morning. Haven't slept but a 5-6 broken hours a few nights in a row now. Mostly wake every 30 mins to blow nose

Weather update shows 90 and 65. Thunderstorms should be gone by Sat.
http://julianfullmoon.com/

Estimated timing - Not sure how realistic this is, but Id like to make 80.

Time	Pace	MPH	Dist Covered	Hours in
8am	10min	6	0	0
9am	10min	6	6	1
10am	12min	5	12	2
11am	12min	5	17	3
12pm(noon)	12min	5	22	4
1pm	15min	4	26	5
2pm	15min	4	30	6
3pm	15min	4	34	7
4pm	15min	4	38	8
5pm	15min	4	42	9
6pm	15min	4	46	10
7pm	15min	4	50	11
8pm	30min	2	52	12
9pm	20min	3	55	13
10pm	20min	3	58	14
11pm	20min	3	61	15
12am(midnight)	30min	2	63	16
1am	25min	2.4	65	17
2am	25min	2.4	67	18
3am	25min	2.4	70	19
4am	25min	2.4	72	20
5am	25min	2.4	74	21
6am	25min	2.4	77	22
7am	25min	2.4	79	23
8am	25min	2.4	82	24

20

Knocked out a 20 with no issues at 10 min pace. missed 2nd 20 due to sick kid, fatigue and kids soccer.

Going well

Lots of 5+ milers with 2 mile walks or coaching soccer for 2 hours in the evening. Feeling strong on shorter distances in the heat lately. But thats only 5-7 miles around 90 degrees... noon time.

20 this weekend early.

Distances

Been hitting the 14-16 distances ok and adding in a little bit of hills. During the week I am doing 4-5 days of 5 miles in the middle to high 8 min pace, with a 2 mile walk later that evening. Coaching soccer for a few hours a couple times per week as well. The lunch runs are in 80-90 degree weather with some humidity right now. 30 days out.

Exhausted today.

5 miles.... nice

5.00 mi

Distance

8:38 min/mi

Avg Pace

742 C

Calories

43:11

Time

55 ft

Elev Gain

10 for long lunch

Nice 10 miler. Longest I have gone since Lake Hodges 50k. High 8 pace and already minimal chaffing after 10 miles? Really? That's not good. Run was nice and I thought about coaching soccer and ran through and entire session plan almost real time on the run. Possession and speed of play.

10.01 mi

Distance

8:50 min/mi

Avg Pace

1,485 C

Calories

Splits	Time	Cumulative Time	Moving Time	Distance	Elev Gain	Elev Loss	Avg Pace	Avg Moving Pace	Best Pace	Calories
1	9:16.7	9:16.7	8:57	1.00	16	58	9:17	8:57	7:37	144
2	8:43.8	18:00	8:44	1.00	--	26	8:44	8:44	7:32	148
3	8:23.4	26:24	8:23	1.00	13	--	8:23	8:23	7:34	150
4	8:35.7	35:00	8:36	1.00	27	--	8:36	8:36	7:31	150
5	8:36.5	43:36	8:36	1.00	29	13	8:37	8:36	8:02	150
6	9:03.1	52:39	9:03	1.00	6	15	9:03	9:03	7:48	147
7	8:59.6	1:01:39	8:55	1.00	--	35	9:00	8:55	7:00	147
8	8:40.3	1:10:19	8:40	1.00	12	17	8:40	8:40	7:34	150
9	9:06.3	1:19:25	9:07	1.00	11	7	9:06	9:07	7:57	148
10	8:52.6	1:28:18	8:52	1.00	32	--	8:53	8:52	7:46	150
11	0:05.0	1:28:23	0:02	0.01	--	--	15:34	6:14	9:56	1
Summary	1:28:23	1:28:23	1:27:55	10.01	145	170

1:28:23

Time

145 ft

Ele

6 Miles - Nice cruise

Ran a 9 min pace 6 miles today again trying to get base level distance up while not burning much effort. Could barely tell the r-quad was still there & much less pain full. Seems to be headed in the right directions. Keeping an eye on calf's.

6.00 mi

Distance

8:57 min/mi

Avg Pace

890 C

Calories

53:43

Time

67 ft

Elev Gain

Tuesday - Rest Day -

Rest day on Tuesday. Will get back at it today. Monday was 6 in the sun, and then jog walked an additional 2 in the evening around kids soccer practice.

6 miles in high 80s heat (87) today with tired legs from Sat but felt ok, Was into it. (Warning light came on in r-quad). Laps around Palomar college track to start getting used to circles. Hitting the sprinklers with shirt on helped. Not used to warmer temps yet. Good day.

8 with Chad - Escondido

No more time to delay. Distance has to climb. 8 miles in the morning, nice cruise with Chad. 2 miles (approx) playing soccer. And then the mandatory 1 mile or more evening walk. Since I know I will be walking a ton, I am following the advice of more experienced distance runners.... and training my legs and mind to walk too.

A 16 min pace for 24 hours is 90 miles!
A 17 min pace for 24 hours is 85 miles!
A 18 min pace for 24 hours is 80 miles!

Really hoping to get to 80+

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/795923116

Julian 24 Hour Run

I have decided to sign up for the Julian 24 hour run and hope to make it 80-95 miles inside 24 hours. I will use this blog to record training and how I feel as I build up and through race day. 

The Race Course

Run the one-half mile loops on dirt and grass around a working farm with the full moon under mountain skies. We will be using chip timing with real-time tracking distance and time. You can feel free to set up your tent on-site.

Race Link:
http://julianfullmoon.com/

I am also doing it and trying to raise money for Suicide Prevention:

http://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.personalCampaign&participantID=757946

Lake Hodges 50k Race Day!

I woke to my alarm at 5:15am and was on the road a little after 6 with some oatmeal, orange juice and a protien shake in my belly. Lake Hodges is only 15 minutes from my house so that made the entry, training and planning for this race very easy.  After a quick checkin in the dark with some others, I walked to the start which was now only 20 minutes away.

Runners slowly began to gather around the start (pictured to the left) but overall it was fairly quiet. I was a little suprised as I am used to typical marathons with 20,000 people running in them. Since this was my first ultra, I was curious as to how people behaved or prepared so mostly I just people watched and tried to stay warm. The tempurature was in the mid 40's and it felt cold as my hands were beginning to get numb. At this time I was very glad I grabbed my arm warmers.  A quick check of the camel pack and and a gu, 30 secs to say hi to a freind, Pauls pre race speech, and off we went. With less than 200 running this race, I was really looking forward to enjoying it, cruising but still trying to push a little and seeing what I could maintain, and finishing my first ultra.  The first 4 miles to aide station one was stunning. Mile 1 zig zags around the lake and then heads to the bridge. Turn left , cross the stream by stepping on the rocks, and continue west in a line with the others. The sun was rising slowly from behind and the lake looked like glass. The only sound was feet hitting the dirt and the occasional rock kick followed by a stutter step hopefully without the crash.  I found myself smiling at this point and thinking a couple different things. One, how lucky am I to be here and have the ability to do this cool race with other running fools like myslef. A quick thanks to God and my family and kept moving.

Next, a friends advice who has done other ultras popped in my head... 'Go out slow, you'll need your legs at 27'. Looking at the watch, high 8's, and low 9's for the mile splits. Right where I want to be for 5 hour finish. This is when I began to notice & look at what other people wear when they run. There are typical outfits, and some that stand out. One was a guy in a button down shirt. That was odd to me at first, then I decided, maybe its his lucky shirt, maybe a friend or family members who is no longer around gave it too him?  Either way, likely means something special for him and I thought that was cool. There is that ultra runner Antone Kirpitchka  (spelling?) that runs in those. Maybe theres something there I don't know? Maybe thats him?! Not likely at my 9 minute pace. Right about here at 3.5 to 4 miles in, is when the leader went by. Are you kidding me? His pace was unreal.... Saw my buddy Eli and he was still in the front group playing chase.

 

Aide station #1, came and went with a slight climb away from it. I saw a lady who unfortunetly had taken a pretty good fall and had a figher escort taking her to the aide station. Approaching the stream I found a cell phone on the ground. I grabbed it and thought I should take a photo of myself running and post it to their Facebook account with "I have your phone, I'm the person running at Lake Hodges!". This is when things got a little wierd. There was a guy crossing the stream with a sled (only with wheels) being pulled by 4 or 6 (can't recall) sled dogs like he was training for the Ididerod. Buddy, it is supposed to be int he low 90's today?  The lady I was running with at that point saw it too. I wasn't dreaming. Continuing on, passed the bridge, handed the cell phone to a volunteer and off under the freeway and around to aide #2.  Let me point out that all the aide station volunteers were incredible. A little run up next to the highway by the mall, and then off across the valley and up toward Raptor Ridge. It was beginning to be real clear that the cool temperatures weren't going to last long so I ditched the arm warmers and through in some fueling and salt. The camel pack was mostly water with gatorade mixed in and I continued to just sip away. We switched back into the shade for a while around mile 11 and it felt great. At the bottom of Raptor Ridge, aide #3, a quick snack, some electolites and up I went starting mile 13. Watch check.. 1 hour 54 mins - 8:45 pace, right on track. Mental note, 'it's your first 50k, its not about the watch, enjoy it and finish it'.

Climb headed east up Raptor Ridge

I knew I would walk most of the hill accept the flat & rolling parts and that was the plan. Short story is I hate hills. I am not good at them. They cause my back to lock up as I am sure I lean over too far. But since I completely threw out my back 4 days before Noble Canyon 50k 1 month ago and had to scratch that race,... and had done hardly any distance training (only 12 miles for long runs since), I was concerned my back would lock up on me again. So slow and steady. Actually what stood out was the temperature change you could feel on the way up. A little foreshadowing from what was coming. I actually planned on taking more photos during the race but this was the only one I took. What also stood out was this guy in front of me and his socks. Would drive me nuts to have one up and one down on the ankle. Yes I have a littel OCD. The hill climb went quicker than I thought it would, and I continued to use any hills/walking as a good time to fuel and take in salt. Anyone else notice all the stink bugs on the trails (little black bugs with rumps up in the air, no?)



The run down the backside was excellent but I was trying not to look at my watch and simply run a 'comfortable' pace instead of a 'specific' pace as this was my first ultra and didn't want to fall apart. I kept looking across the valley for any movement and could see some specks way out on the trail. I tried to picture where the leaders were at this point. This is about the time I noticed the temperature and the sun, along with my hip flexors. The muscles felt sore. Brief thought, 'that's odd, and really gonna suck later if they are hurting now', and I pushed it out of my mind.  The trail from mile 14 to 18.75 was mostly flat with little rollers here or there. They are the kind you sprint down for 20 steps and then slow jog up the otherside (but nothing steep)... then back to normal pacing on the flatter sections. Again, and at around 17 the leader went by in the opposite direction. I encouraged him out loud and then commented internally, "He is 22 or something rediculous! I could do that pace if I was 22! (BTW, the winner, James Walsh is 34 and finished in 3:47. Nice work James). Not to long after that right at the cattle farm/dairy Eli went by again in 3rd and looked strong. It was clear to me at this point my planned insults after the race for my freind of how Army is better than Navy weren't going to work against him, again.

Aide #4 was the turn around at 18.75 miles and a very nice aide station lady in a dark shirt offered to refill my camel pack for me. Thank you so much whoever you were! 3 mins at the station, salt, pb and j, coke, ice cold water on my head and off I went on the return route. Again, reminded myself  mental note. 'it's your first 50k, its not about the watch, enjoy it and finish it'. This was a huge turning point for me as one of my own rules is, 'I have to walk back to my vehicle now no matter what so I am good to go on finishing even if I have to walk the entire way'. 19-23 went back through the orange grove and up next to the high way again. Lots of sun and warm temps at this point but I was in the zone and it went by quickly.

At 20 miles, watch check..., 3:05 which translated to a 9:15 pace so far. I needed a 9:43 or better pace to break the 5 hour mark. Right on track and felt good looking at the 30 second gap that I knew I would fill on the hill and with fatiguge in the later miles. This is where my mental note changed, 'It's about the watch! Break 5 hours!'  My Garmin watch doesn't show a pace increase, but man I felt incredible from 19 through 23 and to the base of Raptor Ridge starting 24.  And then the wheels came off. Walking up Raptor Ridge was brutal. I'm not sure what happened other than it was 90 degrees with no breeze and I was cooking. When I didn't start running the down hill right away due to my stomach, I knew I was done running. Aide #5 was a blessing and ice cold water felt amazing. When a Search and Rescue volunteer comes over and says, "Buddy you look hot, you feeling ok?' thas probably not a good sign. He added ice in my hat, I took some gu's, salt and water and off I went. Figured it would be a slow jog from here with occasional walking and it was. Watch check... 5 hour mark is history. Mental note to myslef again... 'it's your first 50k, its not about the watch, enjoy it and finish it'. I was dissappointed when there was no marathon marker on the course. Will definetly recommend next year they chalk that mark on the trail.  Passed the same two guys a couple times back and forth coming across the valley. Good job SD Tri club.

Aide #6 was back by the freeway and I knew I was almost done. Again, incredible volunteers. Ice sponges and something like carrot cake (with frosting) they had was amazing. Back under the freeway and the shade and breeze felt so good. I was then passed by a running Ninja? Runner in all black with crossed swords on her back, about 5 ft. tall? Anyone else see that or is that in my head with the Ididerod race crew? After the bridge, the last mile hurt, the hip flexors I mentioned earlier, it was a lot harder to ignore them now. Right ankle felt like it was sprained all of the sudden and walking and jogging was just painfull on my left knee. This is where the no distance training for 6-7 weeks and nursing a back injury to be well enough to run at all was a huge factor. But I was completing the race. Crossing mile 30 and the bridge again, I was thinnking 'this is really cool. I have never run this far... it's your first 50k, its not about the watch, enjoy it and finish it'. And then I realized, I can break 5:30 if I push it! New mental note to myslef . ''It's about the watch! Break 5 and 1/2 hours!'.  I started laughing really hard at my own mental issues about this point in the run.

With a 1/2 mile to go, a young lady who was singing out loud when she passed me told me to 'keep going' as we zig zagged  around the lake so I tried to stay with her.  When she saw the last hill and yelled "OH COME ON!!!" really loud, it was classic and made me laugh. This is when I noticed I had laughed out loud several times and truely enjoyed the entire day. I pushed and finished in 5:29:11 , 17th in my AG, 53rd Overall. That same singer passed me again with 10 feet to go. Results show her (I think) as Marla Hernandez 1 second faster and in 52nd place. Well done and thanks for the encouragement!!!

Race course was well marked, well aided, and was a great time. Thank you to all sponsors and volunteers as well as Off Road Pursuits for hosting. I will be back next year and for the off road marathon in January.
,

Ok, just over a week to go. Back is not 100%, but its good enough to run it. I did 12 with hills the other day with no problems in race attire. 

Getting excited!  Will try to see what running with a Go Pro is like today.

Noble Canyon Scratch.

After 4 months of training and decent hill work and build up for sustainded running in very hot tempuratures (90+), I had to scratch the NC 50k. I completely threw out my back  4 days before the race. I was literally stuck on the floor and could not move. After  a docs appointment and Vicodin and a muscle relaxant, it took 3 days to be able to walk again.

Very disappointed. I have the Lake Hodges 50k, but now my timing and training is completely off, and my back is still preventing me from running.

Going to be interesting.

22 on the way to 31.

After several weeks of complete melt downs in the later portion of my long runs, I decided to start early in the day. This made a fairly significant difference. Still had issues with gatorade affecting my stomach, but legs were ok late into the run.  I would slow or stop running for stomach issues, not legs. Which is common for most people who try a chug gatorade. Had it cut in 1/2 with water too.

Did 22 on a scaled down version of course eleveation. Bascially down on the way out and 750 ft of climbing in last 11 miles on the way back.

That was the last hurrah before race day in 3 weeks. Gonna be interesting, hoping to break 6 hours. 12 minute pace average should get me about there. I plan on just taking it easy and doing 9 min pace on  the way down (should put me at 2:15 at the 1/2  mark) and 15 minute pace on the way back up (3 hours 45 mins) to put me at 30 mile mark at exactly 6 hours.

With any luck I can extend and hold 14 minute pace for the last 15 and save off 1 extraee 14 minute chunk to make it under 6.


 Mike

10 strong

Ran 10 miles in 96 degree heat with no problems Wednesday. Seems that I may be figuring out my fueling and also that I was likely over heating. Carried water and and used to to cool myself. Held 8:40 without too much effort.  Saturdays 20 miler will be a different story I assume.