Running in purdy places... time to taper.

Hit 90 miles with about 18k of climbing for the first time in months… and I’m feeling fine, no real issues to speak of. These aren’t super solid #’s, but I’m sticking to my plan of slowly & steadily increasing mileage and my body seems to like it.

Besides boring treadymill/stairclimber mornings before work, Elissa and I snuck up to Pt. Mugu for some fun running in preparation for the Santa Monica Mountains 50k.

Ray Miller Trail (Santa Cruz & Anacapa Islands in background?)

Maliboo-yeah!

Got another good run in from Eaton to Hogees and back in the cool, moist clouds (a big thanks to the
woman who shared the bottle of water she had for her dog with me, would’ve been a tough trip back
out of the canyon w/out it).

Finished off the week with 23 miles on the AC course from Islip to Mt. Hillyer with Dom and KD.

Mountains keep calling, I keep going.

Climbing out of Islip Saddle

The more I think about it, the more likely I am to run AC 100 and not even throw my name in the hat for WS 100 this year. We have friends getting married on the Saturday that WS is being held. At first I was a little bummed to see this, but then I thought to myself that being there for this marriage is way more important than a race.  I could throw my name in the hat, knowing that my chances of getting in as a one time loser are pretty low, but I'm just going to focus on AC.  Furthermore, its rugged course with more climbing and descending suites me better than WS, mostly because I’m slow on fast flat stuff and relatively faster on slow steep stuff.  And if I didn’t have enough reasons to run AC, it’s right in my backyard. It’s also fun when a buddy has thrown down the gauntlet with a good time, to give me something to shoot for.

In two short weeks I'll be running Los Pinos 50k:  I'm hoping to push myself really hard and see what I'm made of, but I'm being realistic as well.  The major contenders on the men's side:  Jorge, Tom, Dom & Jesse have won 67 ultras between the four of them.  While I think I'm in good 50k shape, and in good shape for this type of course, I'm going up against some studs, who'll also be pushing it.  While I do plan to be in the mix for some of the race, I don't think I quite have what it takes to take down the monster that is Jorge Pacheco, or the other guys for that matter, but it'll be fun trying. Competing with this caliber of runners will push me to my limit and I’m looking forward to it.  I'm hoping to improve on my time from last year on this course by 30 minutes, which would be a time of 4:45ish, I think I can do this, IF it’s cool.

CHLA just had a nice health fair at work so I got to see how my blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, body fat %, bone density and other health indicators are doing.  Everythings pretty good, except my systolic BP is a little high (130's).  Probably related to stress and drinking a wee bit too much caffeine. 

I'm stoked to be running for the Rudy Project Sunglasses' Ultra Team now.  I've been running in a pair of Sportmask Performance Running Sunglasses and I love 'em.  Super light and comfy.  Definitely an upgrade from my last pair of expo specials.