No Name 5030

      Cheeseboro 5030! Yeah, an awesome looking 50K around the trails I train on regularly during my lunch hours! Two weeks later: No Name 5030, wait, what? Am I looking at the right race? Am I on the right website? An ultra race with no name? Yes, its right, same race; no matter what its called this race is going to be good. Although I was still unsure if I was going to run this race, I just got off of a 3:01 marathon effort with tons of speed work, my legs were dead and I also told Desirae I would not race anymore this year. Damn ultra races, its like someone dangling a carrot in front of my face, "sign up Kenny, you know you want to." The fact it was an inaugural race on familiar trails with a RD that I like (Erica Gratton), combined with several people including Desirae, Randy and Brett egging me on finally got me to hit the register button. No turning back now.
      This race was located in the Cheeseboro park area of Augora and Simi Valley hills upon mostly fire road. The map of the race is very confusing as it loops around several different trails, I had to study the map numerous times before I got the gist of it.

        There is a two lane road and a smaller parking lot at the Cheeseboro trail head, so the runner and spectators had to park 3 miles away at a park and be shuttled to the starting line. So I headed to the park early morning by myself with coffee, GUs and a handheld water bottle in tow, the parking and shuttle went smoothly. I had a soar throat for two days leading up to event, between the soar throat, lack of training leading up to the race and tired legs I set my expectations for my finishing times low. I just wanted to go out there and enjoy running on some of my favorite trails and let things fall as they will. Once again I got there way too early and had plenty of time to stand around in the cold and mingle with the other runners as we waited for the race to start. I saw Randy there making his ultra return so I chatted with him a bit and met a few other nervous runners.
       They 30K and 50K runners started the same time so we lined up together to get ready to run up a tight single track right from the start. I didn't want to get caught up in a conga line up the first hill so I lined up in the front to go out hard and hopefully run with the lead pack. Bingo, my plan works as a dart up the first hill (Modelo) in fourth place, the race stays this way for the first 6 miles or so. The first 7 -8 miles of the race is mostly climbing with a few relieving downhills along the way through Cheeseboro Canyon, Shepard's flat and Palo Commando trails, it helped to have run these trails numerous times and I knew what expect. At mile 5 coming into the second aid station it was nice to see Brett and Mark volunteering there and shouting encouraging/taunting words of advice, they never cease to make me smile, a great pick me up. I really enjoyed the section miles 7-9 as I pushed through the rolling trails of China Flats and Simi Peak, you could almost feel the history through there, I could imagine the farming, herding and mining that must of went on years ago.

         Boom! back down Palo Commando we go for the next several miles, as I roll into the mile 10 aid station (same as mile 5) more taunting words of encouragement as I'm told I am in 5 place overall. 10 Miles in 5th place, I'm okay with that and I start to think about how many of those in front of me are 30K runners? Another mile up the Dead Cow trail and its back down hill again to Shepard's Flat, I do my best to run a good clip in this section because I know a lot of climbing along the Cheeseboro Ridge trail is coming up. As I start climbing up Cheeseboro Ridge I come up to one of the runners ahead of me that told me he was a 30K runner and that I was first place 50K, first place? No way, awesome! But just as he told me that here comes another runner passing us up the hill, just like that I'm now second place 50K, well that excitement was short lived, time to do work.
         The other runner (Joseph from Santa Barbara) and I exchange places back and forth all way through Cheeseboro Ridge, he would pass me on the ascents and I would pass him back on the descents, this would end up being the theme throughout mile 28 of the race. At mile 18 aid station, I came in first but took some time replenishing my water reserves and munching on some banana slices at the buffet, Joseph left the aid station before me. Small amount of relief as we ran 1.5 miles along Cheeseboro Canyon trail, we ran together for a while and made small talk, as soon as we hit Cheeseboro Ridge trail again Joseph pulled ahead. At this point doubt of winning took hold in my head, it was only mile 20 and I was hurting, 11 more miles of this was going to be tough. After a mix of running with a occasional power hike up some of the ascents my legs started coming back to me, but I now had some time to make up as Joseph pulled a good lead on me. Just in time as we hit a nice descent down the back side of Cheeseboro Ridge into Shepards Flat and down through Cheeseboro Canyon, I was flying as I caught back up to Joseph at the mile 24 aid station.
      

         Argggh, up again! Over Ranch Center connector trail, then down the other side, Joseph and I back and forth. Pushing each other was a race of will power and drive, we were both determined and running hard, I love racing like this; a good challenge to push me way past my comfort zone, I wouldn't have finished nearly as fast if he wasn't racing me that hard. Up Doubletree, down Smoketree into mile 27, I could tell Joseph was hurting at this point and starting to fade, now its time to make my move. We head up Palo Cammando, the last big ascent and I actually pull ahead of Joseph, "Kenny, you can do this, push hard, embrace the hurt" I tell myself over and over again, apparently its working because Im running faster, I'm pulling ahead! Looking over my shoulder and I could see Joseph slipping further behind, down into Cheeseboro Canyon we go, I only stop for a second at mile 30 aid station to top off my water bottle. I'm running scared at this point, looking over my shoulder whenever I get a chance, its up the Modelo connector and a quick sprint down the Modelo trail to the finish line.
        

         I see Desirae, Connor and CJ as I cross the finish line, medal around my neck, high fives and hugs all around! I love that my family is so supportive and is always there to watch me cross the finish line, it really does mean a lot to me that they support my crazy ultra running addiction. First place overall in the 50K with a time of 4:17:16, my first ever win at an ultra event! I'm so used to coming in second and third at races my nickname became quicksilver, it was nice being quickgold for once.. Thanks to Erica Gratton for putting together such a great race, Brett and Mark Goldsmith for making me laugh, to all the volunteers for spoiling the runners and Joseph for pushing me to race hard. Special thanks to Desirae, Connor and CJ for being the best crew, fans and support team that I could ever ask for, love you guys! Till then a beer to celebrate and a trail to run...

White Bull Winter Trail Series Race #2 - Long Canyon

        "Its that time again already?" I ask myself as I wake up Saturday morning. Three race in a row every Saturday morning and the fourth race with just one week break, all "only" 5 miles long and the combined time of every race determines the winner. The reason I say "only" 5 miles long is that 5 miles is tough for me, I dread 5 miles, I'm okay with 30, 50 and even a 100 miles, but 5 miles scares me! The thing is you have to go out fast, really fast and hold on to that the whole race, up and down hills, it really test your heart rate, climbing ability and speed. To test your running like this every weekend for a month is a good and a bad thing; good because every runner (whether ultra or XC) needs to work on their speed, it will make you a better runner overall. Bad because running fast hurts, it beats your legs, pounds your psyche and spits you out of the pain cannon on the other end. Argh, what did I get myself into!?
        "Is it that time again already!?" I ask myself as I pull up to the Long Canyon trailhead, at least I got to sleep in a little longer this time as the trailhead is right up the street from my house. I mingle around and talk to all the other nervous runners at the start of the race, what a great crowd trail runners are. And as soon as you know it we are off again straight up the first climb, no warming up the legs, just a straight brutal sprint up a pretty steep incline for the first mile. I hear several runners right behind me breathing down my neck but I don't turn around or look over my shoulder, I just keep my head focused in front of me and concentrate on getting up the hill. Ahh, success, I made it up the first climb, ahh crap what's this? another climb!? This climb was a lot shorter and was on fire road, it gave me a chance to look over my shoulder to see my competition. Low and behold who is that right behind me? Its Melissa again! this girl is a beast, I cant shake her, I have a feeling that this will be a reoccurring theme for the whole race series. But I am now in my element as I bomb down some technical single-track and put some space on the beast. My relief is short lived however as she catches right back up to me on the flats and climbs, she is faster on the flats than me and climbs up just as fast as me, the only advantage I have over her is technical downhill. I knew the race ended with a nice one mile technical downhill, so if I could hold off her charge up till then I could take home the win. But she doesn't make it easy, she pushes me hard going up the toughest and longest climb of the day, I'm running scared and out of breath. Side by side at the top of the hill we hit single track heaven and I run down it with complete disregard to my well being, smiling from ear to ear (I really do love me some downhill) and setting a Strava CR for the segment in the process. I cross the finish line in first with a time of 38:34 and Melissa right after me with a time of 39:02!
      "Is it that time again already?" is what I'm sure I will be asking myself next Saturday morning as I wake up to do it all over again at Marrland for race #3 in the series. Till then a beer to celebrate and a trail to run!

White Bull Winter Trail Series #1 - Tapo Canyon Loop

         I showed up early again to the all familiar trailhead at Tapo Canyon Open Spaces after my pre race ritual bathroom and coffee break. This race consist of a 5 mile sprint over fairly non-technical terrain with very modest elevation gain. An easy sign up race morning and a very friendly atmosphere put on by the amazing race directors Randy and Sarita Shoemakers (also the directors of 805 Boot camp and Bandit 50K) made for a relax pre race. I stood around with Desirae "sizing" up runners while Connor laughed at the excitement going on around him and CJ was playing Mindcraft on my phone. Funny thing about "sizing" up the competition is that you can never really tell who your true competition is going to be, you think you can but your usually wrong. One guy shows up tall and lanky with all the right gear so I decide that this is my guy, the one I will do battle with.

       A few pre race photos and its off down a very gentle uphill for 1.3 miles against the wind with another very friendly runner. He was keeping pace with me well.. to well, thing was is he was running so close to me he was running me off the road. I wanted to yell at him "give me some room, this isn't a single track, this is a fire road!". Maybe he was trying to draft off of me, no big deal though I lost him at the first "hill". At the top of the first "hill" I look over my shoulder to see a tiny young looking girl nipping at my heels (remember my lack of sizing up the competition?). This girl was fast, I was feeling good at this point flying down the hill thinking she just went out to fast and I would be able to ditch her, but I look over my shoulder again and there she is! This would be the story of the rest of my race, every time I looked over my shoulders there she was right on my ass. At this point in the race I am running scared, I knew if I was going to win this race I had to push hard. I hate leading races, sometimes I would prefer trying to running down the completion in front of me, did I mention I was running scared!? After running a nice clip up the second and biggest hill of this race we fly down the hill and all the way to the finish, you can really run the last two miles hard if you have any legs left. At this point I'm still looking over my shoulders convinced that this girl is leaving just enough in the tank to run right past me at the finish. But it never happened, I flew across the finish line in first place and a new course record of 30:36, with Melissa right behind me at 30:53!

       A week to mentally prepare myself for race #2 - Long Canyon... Till then a beer to celebrate and a trail to run!

LA Marathon 2013

         It all started with my obsessive need to pay $150 to run a marathon, not my first or second marathon and certainly not the cheapest marathon Ive run. Some about the allure of running a big city race that sucked me in, maybe it was the whole supporting a marathon in the city your from or maybe it had something to do with trying to beat some Kenyan runner I've never heard of but whatever the reason I wanted to run it. Last year I had run a marathon in 3:38 and was happy with it but I knew I was capable of more this year. I usually run one or two marathons a year but this year I had run a couple of 50K's and a few smaller trail races along with a strong base of 50-60 miles a week.
Instead of waking up at 3:00am driving to Santa Monica and taking a packed bus with other runners I opted to bribe my wonerful GF into dropping my off at Dodgers stadium at 6:00am. Getting to Dodgers stadium was a lot easier than I anticipated and I ended up finding a nice place to relax in the bleachers behind the home plate, this was cool, way better seats than I've ever got going to watch a Dodgers game. After watching the weather (yes from the app on my phone) for the whole week I was convinced the weather was going to be hot, but it ended up being slightly cloudy and absolutely perfect for running. I lined up in corral B right behind the sub 3hr runners and the elite Kenyans and such. The elite women runners got an 18min head start over the elite male runners and the overall winner would received $50,000. I was most excited to see Deena Kastor running again at 40 years young as she was a local runner from the town of Agoura Hills. Bagpipes played, I sucked down a GU and lined up somewhere near the 3:25 pace group as my goal was sub 3:30.
          The gun went off and soon I was running in a huge group of others trying not to trip over anyone feet and ran my slowest mile of the race at 8 mins flat. After the first mile though I was able to get some room to run and fell into a nice pace of 7:45 min/mile, a pace I was sure that was too fast and I thought I would surely pay for it at mile 21. This is where the fun really began, we first ran through Chinatown and It felt like I was running through Asia, everything was oriental architecture, the streets were filled with Chinese spectators. Around mile 5 we then entered little Tokyo and ascended the biggest "hill" of the course at the top of the hill was Taiko drummers beating there drums at an almost perfect 180 beats a minute, I could match my cadence to there's and it really help me make it up the hill. Next came Echo Park and Silver lake and after around mile 9 I made it into Hollywood. Hollywood was fun and really brought out the whole spirit of Los Angeles, I past all sorts of famous landmarks like Pantages theater, Capitol Records tower, Hollywood and Vine and the Hollywood walk of fame. Next was West Hollywood where everyone was entirely too happy and I got kisses blown to me from cross dressing cheerleaders. Beverly Hills around mile 12 I ran past Graumans Chinese Theater, Whiskey a Go Go and the Troubadour.
        The biggest decent came next at mile 14 as we turned down Rodeo Dr. this was really a gem in the middle of nowhere. The streets seemed paved in gold and I almost felt important running this short 1 mile down Rodeo Dr. definitely one of my favorite parts of the course. Through Century City around mile 19 came cheer alley where all the schools cheerleaders came out to shake there pom poms and cheer your name as you past by, a real pick me up. Mile 20 -22 was the Veterans Administration probably the most boring part of the race and was also one long ascent just when most people hit the "wall". I expected to hit the wall myself as I have so many time in the past at mile 21, but this marathon was different. I felt good, I felt fast and there was no slowing me down, I don't know if it was all the miles I been putting in lately, the perfect pacing I had done up to that point or my meticulous fueling, but I was cruising.  The remainder of the race through West LA, Brentwood and Santa Monica was all downhill and I was passing people left and right, I was smiling and sucking in all the energy of the crowds around me, Its was electric! I was running the last 3 miles of this marathon as fast as I ran the rest of the race, rounded the corner into Santa Monica running next to the beach and the crowd was enormous. Ran across the finish line at the Santa Monica Pier with my hands held high and my smile held even higher at a time of 3:22.04!
       Yes my legs were sore walking the long exit chute that seemed another mile in length but I wasn't in agony like I normally am after a long marathon or 50K race. Collected the really nice St. Patrick's Day inspired race medal, took a few pictures, ate a banana and even got myself on channel 5 camera where my folks saw me on TV at home. I gave my awesome and very supportive GF a sweaty hug and kiss where I ended up 566th place out of 20,000 + runners. This had to have been the most enjoyable marathon ever and actually worth the $150 I paid to run it, the energy of the enormous crowd support, the scenic course, perfect weather all made for a fantastic day. The diversity, culture and way of life varied immensely in just 26.2 miles and that's part of what make the city of Los Angeles so great, I Love LA!