BFFL Best Friends For Life

I tip my hat off to Eric Lerude and Andy Bunkse of People Burning Fat Productions for figuring out a way to have the relay and still avoid the fire ravaged areas of south shore. Sometimes, the easiest solutions are the simplest ones. Instead of worrying about coursing through South Shore, the event this year just eliminated those legs.

As a relay veteran, I was at first bummed out we wouldn't be running in the middle of the night, but it's one of those things you don't have any control over - so why worry?

It's always good to have a plan B anyways right? I know we (Jon, Lesley (who also blogged about it) and Christine) did. Our original plan was to head up Thursday evening, spend the night at my cabin, then head over Mt. Rose to Reno. But those plans ended up in smoke as the Angora Lakes Fire was way too close to the cabin, and with all of the emergency personnel working the fire, it was best we avoid the area completely.

I found a couple of last minute hotel rooms via online in "beautiful" downtown Reno at the Sands Hotel for $34.00 Well, at least the price was right. We pull into Reno around 7:20 pm, just in time for the captain's meeting and the room was packed, understandably so. I am sure everyone was wondering what was going to happen due to the fire and basically Eric told the group that we'll avoid that area completely. We had to sign additional waivers (damn lawyers)and we were given alternative traffic maps.

We rallied after the meeting and met our sponsors, KREN. We were going to be running for the local CW station, KREN and we were excited to meet them. Rebecca selected a restaurant inside our hotel as the dinner spot, so that was nice and convenient. After dinner, we made ourselves over to Mel's Diner and shared a sundae. One of the good things about being a runner, is you can normally eat whatcha like and not worry about the caloric boost! After our dessert, I wanted to go to Circus Circus and try my luck at the arcade. I I had to convince the group to join me as I got the impression they need a lot more sleep that I do. But once we got there, I could tell everyone was having fun. We walked back to the hotel with our arms full of bounty.

Friday morning and we are off to the start of the relay. All of us were in Van 2, but the start just a few blocks away from out hotel and we wanted to meet the rest of the team. I was looking forward in seeing Eric and Andy again as they were my van mates in the Calistoga to Santa Cruz relay earlier. I see Eric working the mike, and wait for him to finish his announcing duties. We hug hello and he tells me that he has a surprise for me a little later on. Knowing Eric, I could only imagine.

Our team start time is 10:00 am, and about 5 minutes before the start Eric announces all of the teams departing. But before he does that, he has a special "announcement" to make. Last year, I made an unfortunate mistake and now that mistake has been forever cemented in the RTO folklore. As Eric is speaking, he holds up this very bright orange sign with my name printed on it and an directional arrow pointing to the left. This is in reference to my inadvertent left turn when I ran last year. We all had a good laugh and took some pictures of the sign. Afterwards, I asked Eric if I could have the sign and he said, no way dude, we are going keep this forever!

Our first runner, Diana takes off and we want to drive up to the first relay exchange point to wish her well. This was her first relay event ever, and in spite of our "calming" conversations, I am sure she was a bit nervous as I know I would be if I had a TV camera capturing the event! After the exchange, we head back to our hotel and lounge at the pool. Now this is how I like to get ready for an event. Sunscreen, bright sun, a towel and a fully reclined lounge chair. We had several hours to kill and why not at the pool?

The operative word during the entire weekend was FUN. I wanted to make sure everyone was having fun. That included all of the first timers. The Reno Tahoe Odyssey is a tough relay but with the right frame of mind, you really don't notice the lack of oxygen in the atmosphere. Lesley was our first runner in our van, and with some last minute instructions, she was off! I think her initial pace and altitude messed her up a bit as well as the headwinds and blazing heat. But other than those minor inconveniences, she did great. I had the next leg, a 4.8 mile trek into Truckee. I know I don't like headwinds, but that is what I was up against for the majority of my run. So I just kept my head down low and tighten up my cap. Even though we were not on a competitive team and just out there to have some good fun, seeing a potential roadkill alters your tempo and pace just a wee bit. By the time I hit the end of my leg, I notched 6 road kills.

Our next runner, Jon, takes off like a bat out of hell and we had to get moving quickly, otherwise, he'd beat us to the exchange point. When Jon agreed to run with us, he wanted to take it easy as he's recovering from a foot injury. We made sure Jon's legs were easier and lucky for us, he took full advantage. Once he hit the finish line, he also notched up 7 road kills!

Christine was next and her leg was 5.5 miles along Highway 89 to Squaw Valley. All of us California people were definitely feeling the altitude and our heart rates were way up there. Christine had a bit longer leg and with the heat, it took a toll on her too.

Josh the librarian was next! Josh joined our team earlier through a fluke chance. We were down a runner, and were scrambling to find a replacement. Josh called Eric and expressed an interest in running the event. Rebecca called Eric and told him that we were down a runner. So there ya go, a match made in heaven. Josh ended up being our secret weapon, as a very good athlete, he just chewed up the mileage as well as the road kills.

The last runner of the day was our team captain, Rebecca. She had roughly a 10k leg that snaked through the west side of the lake down to Homewood. It was around 6:00 pm or so when she started and that part of the evening is just beautiful. The air has cooled off, the winds die down, the sun is starting to set, and you can feel the night air starting to form.


Rebecca finishes up her leg and now we are done for the night. Typically, we would have ordered a pizza, try to get a little shut eye and then commence the second leg of the relay in the middle of the night. But since the course was modified, time for plan B! Both Vans were to meet at Rebecca's mom's house, (Jean) for dinner and a place to crash. We got there first - geez, I wonder who was driving the van. Jean had baked zitti was sausage, salad and brownies for us. I think I ate several helpings.

Van 1 shows up and all of us sit in the backyard telling stories and teasing one another. This was definitely nice. Normally, you never get to hang out with Van 1, but this year it was different, and we took full advantage. Since we had so much free time, Jon brought along his WII from home, and after dinner we hooked it up to the TV and played some WII. Words cannot describe how silly we looked boxing - but I am pretty sure there are some pictures floating around.

Like all good things that must come to and end - Van 1 had to get some rest as they started back up again at 4:30 am. I think I finally turned in around 12:30 or so and managed to get a few winks in. Around 3:00 am, Van 1 was rallying to leave and I got up to wish them all good luck.

We left the cozy confines around 7:10 am and drove up Gieger Pass to Virginia City to wait for Van 1. Lesley took off again for us, but this time, she was a lot more confident in her stride as she acclimated a bit to the altitude. Her particular leg was a tough one 3.1 miles of Most Difficult terrain. But that didn't bother her, she ran up the big hill like it was a minor speed bump and then sprinted down towards me.

I was really looking forward to my next leg. Even though it was also a Most Difficult rating, I knew I had about a mile and half of straight downhill, and I just love running downhill. I quickly passed a couple of runners heading up the pass, and nearly at the apex of mountain, I heard some footsteps, and all of a sudden, I got passed! Wow, I wasn't expecting that - but I knew soon enough I'd be running on the downside of the hill, and once I get going, I turn into a run away freight train. Sure enough the gal that passed me didn't pull far ahead of me and I knew it was only a matter of time before I returned the favor. No more than 500 meters down the hill, I said good job runner as I passed her.

Peering down the hill, I spied upon 4 other runners that were all within striking range. I had to work quick as I was running out of road and I knew the exchange point was coming up. Running a comfortable 5:50 pace per mile downhill, I notched the 4 other runners and handed off to Jon.

Now Jon was dialed in, his leg was 6.5 miles down Geiger Grade Grinder. Jon just grinded the road and the roadkill. Jon's 5:30 pace per mile notched him 12 roadkills! I am so glad Jon was running on our team.

Christine and Josh were up next and their legs were probably the most difficult of the entire van. Christine had 7.5 miles of a relatively flat run, but 7.5 miles! The air was getting hot again and the roads and sidewalks were heating back up again. Josh also had 7.5 miles and he was never so happy to be done either.

Rebecca finished us all up and by the time we got to end, we ended up finishing 4th from the first two group. We still do not know what our official finishing time is, but none the less, we had a great time.

Finally tallies -

Wrong turns: None
Lost runners: None
Van 2 roadkills: 44 (thank goodness we weren't a competitive team this year!)

Labels: relays, running

Last night was my first attempt at a speed workout since my injury and to say the very least, I was very happy. The workout called for 4 intervals of 600 meters - short rest, then 300 meters, long rest. Also in the back of my mind was my foot strike, I've been really concentrating on making sure I strike my heel first then roll to my toe, still feels kinda kludgey but all in all, workable.

I really miss track works - it's the one workout I can do competitively and know I can get my lunch handed to me on a consistent basis. There are many talented runners who show up on Tuesday nights who set the pace around the track, so you know it will be a fun time!

Last night was no exception, I sort of tucked in behind a few of those fast dudes (Jon, Charlie) and followed in their wake. After the first 600, I checked my watch and the split read 2:07 - which works out to a 5:50 pace per mile, I smiled internally and was really happy with it. 90 seconds elapsed and it was time for the 300 meter distance. I really like the shorter lengths when it comes to interval training, and the 300 meter is right up in my alley, so naturally, I opened it up even a bit more and finished up around 52 seconds (around a 4:40 pace). Very happy again, but still cautious, the air was cold and I really didn't want to re-injury myself.

Took the full 3 minute break and ran my second 600, again coming in at 2:08, I felt a slight irritation on my non injured calf, so I decided the next 300 will be my last interval. I powered through it with my heel / toe strike and finished up again in the mid 50's.

I was done for the night, my cardio was starting to scream at me and my other calf was irritating me. So, I shut it down, and did about a mile of tempo running around the track. When I finished, I wanted to do some high knee lifts, so, I went to the stadium seating, and ran some stairs. I was having flash back memories of high school and thought to myself, why am I doing these? I hated them back then and I still hate them!

Labels: running

This isn't a TV show :) Actually, I just want to talk about being injured and working your way back. I've had a good run now (no pun intended) for the last couple of years without really not taking any down time. In this 24 month period, I've accomplished many goals and still look forward to many more.

Back on October 31, I ran with my usual group, and on the way down the hill, I over-extended my left calf and tweaked it pretty good. Mind you, this was after pretty much taking the previous week off from any serious training due to commitments at the grammar school. I guess I was too anxious and overly excited to be back out there. Those of you who know me, know I live for the hills, especially heading down.

Unfortunately, I wasn't ready for the quick pace down the hill and have subsequently paid a price. Sucks getting injured, sucks even more when you want to run and you can't. I tried to come back- maybe sooner than I should have, but I messed it up even more.

Deep down, I think it was my body just telling me to knock it off for awhile and REST! My BFFL reminded me that the last time I injured my calf, (2 years ago,) I came back faster and stronger - so, there ya go, hopefully I can bounce back and tear it up again.

The Rehab for a pulled calf is a lot of stretching, deep tissue massage, and a lot of hurry up and just wait for it to get better. So, I've taken it easy, let my self slowly get back into the swing of things- I was even able to knock off a bunch of "honey do's" around the house.

I am getting antsy though, think of a sports car, stuck at idle, the engines running, but not going anywhere. My mood has been foul, not able to think straight, just a royal over all pain in the ass. (Ask the family) I started back up again this past weekend. I ran 2 whole miles on Saturday, 4 miles on Sunday, and look out 5 big miles this morning! Whoa Nelly! Seriously though, the run this morning was good. I was able to run up some hills and then down a couple with relatively no pain.

One good thing about this whole mess, is I got to discuss my running stride. Back in my high school sprinter days, I learned to run on the balls of my feet, when I made the transition to distance, I haven't changed my foot strike. Weird eh? considering how long I've been running distance, you think I'd have had more issues or pain.

So, my last three runs have been around 50% effort, concentrating on a heel strike roll to toe action. My legs are definitely sore, but a different kind of sore. Keep your fingers crossed!

Labels: running

To further my sour mood, I tweaked my left calf muscle last Tuesday. I didn't think much of it, but it started to bother me more on Thursday run, and when I ran Huddart Park on Saturday, I really jacked it up. I am at the point now where I need to shut it down for at least a week and then see how I feel. This is really putting a crimp in my Sacramento Marathon plans as I was planning on running long yesterday.

Maybe in a back handed way, its my body revolting to all of the training I've been doing - trying to tell me just to take it easy for awhile and not push myself too hard. I ran the Tahoe Marathon at the end of Sept, and it probably took a lot out of me, more than I realized.

OK, enough of the cry babying!

Labels: running

I always like to have something to look forward to, kinda keeps ya focused and headed in the right direction.

I figured why not itemize the upcoming races I want to participate in during the next 6 or 8 months?

Ok, here's the list with links for any of you who want to sign up and run.

December 3, 2006 California International Marathon
Feb 2, 2007 Kaiser Half Marathon in San Francisco - a fun and fast course!
March 4, 2007 Napa Valley Marathon
April 16, 2007 Boston Marathon oh yea!
May 5th and 6th, 2007 The Relay
June 3, 2007 Family Fun Run
June 29th and 30th 2007 Reno Tahoe Relay

Some might say this might be a tad bit aggressive, I think it's good to have goals! I ran the Tahoe Marathon a couple of weeks ago and felt great afterwards, I figured I already have the base established so why not do Sacramento?

I usually run the Kaiser Half which use to be called the Home Depot Half (I have the old long sleeve shirts to prove it). It has become a semi tradition to run a local race on Super Bowl Sunday right before I stuff my face with more food.

The only wildcard on the list is the Napa Valley marathon. I've already done the course, and the weather can be less than ideal, but it's 6 weeks out from Boston, and it could be a nice training run for me, similar to the Lake Tahoe Marathon.

All of the training though points to Boston. I am definitely going to be attacking the course differently than I did last year even though I PR'd on it. My goal is to get super strong and conditioned, lots of long training runs and tempo runs, with a possibility of two a week track workouts. I am not messing around this time.

Once Boston is under my belt, I am going to relax and have fun with the next couple of races. I've am going to go back to the Relay and get the old gang together again. We missed it last year as the schedule conflicted with Boston. But we have a enough of a delta to do it this year.

I also need to set a new Hillsborough 5k PR, I was robbed of my placing medal last year, so, I'll just step it up and just win my age division. Nothing like a little pressure eh?

And finally, the Reno Tahoe Relay - Burlingame Track Club will be participating in full strength. More on that later.

Labels: running

After my successful debut at the Boston Marathon, I wanted to do something a bit out there. I don't remember what marathon it was, but a while back, I received a postcard advertising the Lake Tahoe Marathon. And in reading the back of it, I though, hmmmm, that would kinda fun race to do. So, I signed myself up.

I prepared myself mentally for the challenge. I knew the course would be at high altitude and hilly. I also realized that I would have to run a lot slower than normal. I incorporated lots of hill training in my preparation for this marathon, unfortunately, it's hard to duplicate the thin air.

This was going to be a quick turn around for me, leave Friday morning, check into the Expo and pick up my stuff, have an easy night Friday night, get up early on Saturday, race, head back to the cabin, winterize it, then head back to the Bay Area for a "Margarita" party we bid on and won.

One of the nice things of heading up by yourself is not waiting on anyone :) plus, I tend to drive just a bit north of 65 miles per hour. To me, it's always a race or challenge, even when the GPS tells me the car drive is suppose to take 3 hours and 45 minutes, I am pushing it!

I arrive Friday around noonish, and head to the Horizon Hotel which was race central. I checked in, and picked up my race bib. I wasn't expecting to see my name on the bib, but there it was, in a rather large font, Joseph Dito, and in the upper right corner, "marathon". The bib actually, was quite nice, the background of the bib was the lake, with runners in the foreground. Very artistic! Which led me to my other thought, I've never been at a race where they print your name where your number is suppose to be. This must be a very small venue as how many crazy people are out there running around the flippin lake?

I found someone affiliated with the marathon and asked them how many marathoners have signed up? The gal stated at least 500 have signed up. Yep, a really small venue, that's why my name was printed on the bib!

The marathon wasn't the only event though, the advertising calls it "marathon week' so, there were many events being held simultaneously. Thursday was the beginning of the Triple Marathon as well as the 3-day triathlon. Fridays events included the 2nd day of the triple marathon, 72 and 35 mile bike race and 72 mile course and lake tour. Saturday, was the busiest day with the 3rd day of the marathon triple, the 20 mile power walk and run, the half marathon, 10k, marathon relays - 2 & 5 person teams.

I met some good friends (Rebecca and her husband Ken) for dinner Friday night, and they were kind enough to treat me to a carbo load fest at the new Montblue hotel. After dinner, we strolled over to Fire and Ice and hung out by the outdoor firepits. Around 8:45 pm, I headed back to the cabin and watched the rest of "Without Limits", the Steve Prefontaine story, on DVD.

Going solo to Tahoe did have its advantages, I didn't need to sleep in one of the bedrooms, I was able to spread all of my running gear out on the kitchen table and counter tops, the only mess I made was the pot of coffee. I slept on the pull out bed in the living room with a blanket and I was just fine.

The alarm went off at 5:00 am and I proceeded through my usual routine. I drove to the Horizon Hotel and arrived right at 6:20 am. Lines were already forming for the shuttle buses to take us to the starting line. I picked one and slowly made my way onboard. In line, I struck up conversations with my fellow marathoners and the gal right next to me was attempting her first marathon. Wow, I was impressed, Tahoe for her first. I know I would have picked something a bit flatter without the altitude, but in talking with her more, she was going to school in Reno and her parents live in South Lake Tahoe. She had a really interesting name, Targhee Orr, I later found out that her Dad is a local orthopedic surgeon for the US Olympic Ski Team. We sat next to each other on the bus, and exchanged stories. She later mentioned she was featured on the front page of the local Tahoe newspaper.

I remember the lines to the bathroom being really long, and the race was soon starting. Talk about cutting really close, I got into line for the race with less than 20 seconds before the gun went off. Since the Marathon started in Tahoe City, I was going to be on familiar terrain. Back in July, I ran the Reno-Tahoe Marathon and one of my legs covered it to Homewood. Back in July, I pushed my pace, so I fought the urge to go too fast. The first part of the marathon is relatively flat, but at 6200 feet!

The last few marathons I've run have been huge with thousands of runners, so it was really nice to be out there basically on your own. Running is a solitaire sport, and this provided me the opportunity just to run and check out the beautiful scenery. I really wanted to push myself, but for me, the prize would be to finish in good form with plenty left in the tank. I told all of my running pals, that I was planning on a 4 hour marathon, even though I can comfortably run a 3:30. The altitude and hills really concerned me and I wasn't about to blow myself up.

At the half way point of the marathon, I came in right at 1:50, felt really strong and I toyed with the idea of maybe opening up the pace a bit. That didn't last long as soon as I hit mile 15, the first major climb of the course presented itself. The race organizers called it Damnation Hill and I soon discovered why. Nothing like a little 15 mile warm up run right before your first major hill to climb!

All I could think about was my cadence. I shorted my stride, but kept my legs moving. I wasn't exhausted, but the lack of air was starting to mess with my mind. I didn't want to look up, so, I kept my eyes on the pavement in front of me and churned my legs. There was no way I was going to stop on the hill, I've done too many hill runs to quit and I wasn't going to start today. As I was running up the hill, I was finally catching up to the 20 mile walk/runners. As I passed them, I gave them words of encouragement, congratulating them.

We hit the summit at mile 17 and I let out a big yea baby! I did it without stopping! There was a water stop there, I grabbed a couple of cups, threw one over my head and drank the other one. I was really glad that was over, I was slightly dizzy and a bit light headed, but all in all, I survived. The course took a slight dip to mile 18 and I was able to stretch out my legs a bit. I passed a couple more walkers and I overheard their conversation, yea that was the tough hill, but wait until we get to mile 19, that one is really hard!

Great, I knew there was a climb from 19 to 20, but I didn't need to hear that, not after that climb.

The West side of Lake Tahoe is just beautiful, we've driven it many times and visited many sites along the west shore, so all of the road had a familiarity to it. The only difference is instead of pressing the gas accelerator to climb the hills, I am pressing the pavement.

Mile 19 approaches, and it's near the Vikingshome parking. From the vantage point on the course, you can look up and see the climb to the top of the hill. Damn that's steep! My only saving grace is I know once you get to the top of mile 20, it's all down hill from there. The road up is again, very picturesque. On your left, you have Emerald Bay, and on your right, you have the majestic Sierra Mountains glistening in the sunlight. However, in front of me, was just steep pavement!

Nothing worse than getting passed as you are running up a hill, I take offense, but I had to keep tellin myself the marathon wasn't the only race today, they had 10k's and marathon relay teams, and they have different colored bibs. I made a point to check out each of the bibs as they blew by me and made sure none said "marathon" on it.

After running basically by yourself for most of the race, crowds started to appear on the road and it got a bit challenging to maneuver around them. The walkers were sometimes walking 5 or 6 abreast, and I had to go into oncoming traffic lane to avoid them. My only other complaint was the pounding my legs took on miles 20, 21 and 22. If any of you have ever driven Highway 89 around Emerald Bay around those hair pin turns, you know what I mean. One of the tricks of running a marathon is picking a semi straight line that minimizes the turns on the course. This was next to impossible, so, I found myself banking really hard.

Less than a 5k left and I am really looking forward to finish, my legs were tired from the pounding on the highway, and I wanted to stop and stretch a bit, but I took too much time on the second half of the marathon and I wanted to break 4 hours, so, I plugged away. Mile 25 then 26 come and go, finally .2 miles left. As we turned into the parking lot at Pope Beach, there are crowds of people lined up on the left side of the parking lot, and with a rather large smile on my face, I pick up my pace a bit and finish strong. I glanced up at the official time and it read 3:56:03. Phew, just under the wire.

At the finish line, they take my timing chip off my shoe and present my with my medal. One of the largest marathon medals I've ever earned! A light purple ribbon secures the medal around my neck, but I see many other colored ribbons, red, green, orange, ha! Those were the "easy" distances.

All I wanted to do now was jump in the lake and cool off my legs. I stripped down to my running shorts and dived it. Funny thing though, there were many runners in the lake standing with jackets on just up to their waists, here I am diving in and swimming along. One marathoner told me, hey your upper body shouldn't be sore, but I told him I needed a quick shower to clean up and cool off!

I milled around for awhile, I actually felt really good considering what I just have been through. There was a free lunch for all of us runners and I remember having a soy hot dog, more water and other energy bar. Live music was playing at the beach, but I couldn't stick around much longer as I had to head back to the cabin, winterize it and then make it back to the bay area for the party. But before I left, they had the marathon results posted. I glanced at it and to my suprise, I found my name in the 48th position! Wow, a top 50 finish! Considering how I felt, and the pace I ran the second half of the marathon, not a bad result for a training run.

The car drive was good. I only made one stop to fill up the tank, and I picked up a cup of coffee to keep me company. I made it home in 3 hours and 5 minutes including the stop. Traffic must have been really light.

Labels: running

# posted by D-toe @ 10:04 AM 4 comments

We meet at 5:30 am for our usual Thursday morning run. Neale, Mark, and I take off through the streets of Hillsborough. This particular morning, we've decided to add an additional hill towards the end of the run. Neale, coming back from sickness, decides to listen to his health and rightfully so, and not join us for the additional suffering.

Neale was definitely the smart one this morning for not running the rest of the loop. After his words of encouragement to me to keep Go Go in my line of sight, Mark transformed right before me. As soon as we turned up Forest View, Go Go spots a road kill almost at the apex of the hill. So he glances over his shoulder to me, and in an authoritative voice, barks out: come Dito, road kill.

Do you have any idea what it’s like traveling in the wake of Go Go? I felt like Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack on the runway in the movie Pushing Tin. Go Go says hey, we’ll reel them in nice and easy. Sure enough, right at the very top of the hill, Mark and I pass the runner, and then Mark almost stops mid-stride and offers up an invitation to the Tuesday Night Track Workout.

Gasping for air, we finally reach the end of the hill on Forest View, I am doubled over in pain, thinking phew glad that was over. I was really looking forward to a nice easy recovery run as we made our way back down hill. I can remember telling Mark, well, the workout is over, now is just a matter of going down these hills nice and easy until we get home.


I spoke too soon – as we turned right onto Sharon Ave, Go Go looks up and off in the distance, and I mean distance, observes three more road kills. Well road kill to Go Go is like chumming the water for Great White Sharks. Sensing more road kill notches on his belt, Go Go opens up his pace to Ferrari level. We blow by the final road kill just as we turn left on to Floribunda. The game is definitely on now, I know I was sprinting, but Go Go was just casually running along side me when in between breaths I said, let’s just go to El Camino.

I could have swore Go Go said, sure we’ll stop at the light. But did he stop? No! He runs across the street not missing a beat. Finally, Mark turns right on to Oak Grove and disappears. I think I will take tomorrow off and rest!

Labels: running

Sunday, June 25th, was the Presidio Relay and 5k event. After sipping from the victory cup during our last relay event, we decided to try it yet again. Lesley (our newest member of BTC) found this event for us and wanted us to give it a try.

The relay event consisted of 4 5k's with us participating in the "open" coed division. I was able to convince my training partner, Mark to join in the festivities. Mark, for those of you who frequent this blog, is my super fast training partner.

Even though we all raced on Sunday, I really didn't want to deviate from my usual run up at Huddart Park on Saturday. We did however, cut our mileage back to 7 miles instead of the usual 11.5 miles. With less tired legs, I knew we would all do well on Sunday.

I picked Mark up at 6:00 am for the race that suppose to start at 8:00 am. We just don't like to be late that's all. We arrived at Crissy Field and parked right outside the Expo. (that's what happens when you are the very first people there). In fact, we were so early, they haven't even set up the finish line. We milled around, picked up the racing bibs, kept commenting on the lack of port-a-potties. I think we counted only 3 for the entire field.

Lesley and Christine "finally" showed up at 7:15 with their respective significant others (mine was still in bed asleep) and we had a little strategy meeting on how to handle the chip hand off. According to the rules, you had to keep it velco'd to your ankle while you were running and not carry it in your hand. Otherwise, you'd be disqualified. What we came up with was a good system. As the runner was completing their leg, the next runner would bend down and remove the timing chip. This worked out pretty well for us as our transitions were quite smooth.

Earlier, we figured out the relay order - I started, handed off to Christine who then handed off to Lesley and Mark was the closer. In checking the official timed results, I ended up with a 19:47 another new personal record for myself. I was very happy with my output and overall as a team, we really kicked butt.

We didn't know what place we finished in yesterday as they had some chip timing issues, but we knew we finished in the top three. Finally, today, it was official, Burlingame Track Club won the Open Coed division with a blazing time of 1:21 for the entire 20k. That breaks down to a 6:35 pace per mile.

We could have been even faster if Mark didn't decide to lengthen his leg and run past the turn. If it wasn't for the really nice lady right behind Mark telling him to TURN he still might be out there. Just kidding Mark.

Burlingame Track Club is now three for three - three different races, but the same result. I know one of these days we might actually lose a race, but for now, we are a local dynasty and a legend in my mind. -- Just let me dream.

Labels: running

Well, I ran it - I guess I should be happy, I did manage to set a new PR for the course (20:17) smashed my old PR by a whopping 8 seconds. I should be happy all things considered - but it left a funny taste in my mouth. I purposely took it easy on Saturday, only running 7 miles up at Huddart (ok, maybe not that easy) so I thought I'd run a bit faster.

I just knew in the first mile that it wasn't going to be my day. The race has a nice gradual downhill start, and my first mile split was only a 6:01, typically, I should have been right at 5:45 - 5:50 pace, but I didn't feel like pushing it. The weather was nice and the band was great too. Coach Frank was there, as well as Sean from Tuesday Night Track, Coach won his division - I think he was the only one in it :) and Sean finished 3rd overall in the 10k.

Next year, I think I will NOT run at Huddart the day before the race.

Ok, enough bitching. I am getting amped up for the Lake Tahoe Marathon coming up in the end of September. I wanted to pick a really challenging course, and this one sure fit the bill. I do have the Reno - Lake Tahoe Relay coming up in July and that promises to be tons of fun. I will be hanging out with my loco friends and you'll never know what might happen. True story from last year's event. We were just finishing up our legs and we were all parked in the lot. Since it was close to dinner time, we saw another van come back with several large pizzas. I inquired, where did you get those as we were in BFE (Bum fuck Egypt). They told me about some hole in the wall place near Homewood just down the road. I called 411, got the number and ordered up some pies. We make it down the road to the pizza parlor, and when we walk into the restaurant, who do I run into? My entire family. My wife, and both daughters spent the day on the lake with friends on their ski boat, and they randomly decided to stop at this pizza parlor for dinner. What are the odds of that happening? Several of my running mates thought it was all planned, but it wasn't. Luck would have it.

Labels: running

There's a local race here in town that I will participate in this weekend. Family Fun Run I've run it a couple of times, last year, I was scheduled to run it, but the day before the race, I was up in Huddart Park doing some trail runs, when I fell and sprained my ankle. I tried to tape up my ankle but the pain was too intense, so I scratched the race. This year, I plan on being more careful up at Huddart, in fact, I am not going to do the same trail. I usually don't run 5k's, but this one has a nice pancake breakfast afterwards included in the admission, and with the prices was they are in Hillsborough, this is quite a bargain.

I was playing around with Map My Run and came up with this link for the run. Tiny Url

Two years ago, I ran a 20:25 for the 5k. I hope my time this Sunday will be slightly faster. I will be able to start up in the front this year, away from the kids as they tend to get in the way :) The course starts off going down a slight grade, then meanders around some hills. The 10k is just a double loop of the 5K, so, that doesn't really thrill me. I will also get to try out my new 305 with the super sensitive SERF III chipset. . So far, and I'll probably write about this later, the unit is impressive. I've run the hills of Huddart, and have not lost signal up there. It's also very nice to have the feedback of the heart rate. I guess I have some reading up to do on how to train via heart rate.

Ok, that's it for now.

Labels: running

# posted by D-toe @ 3:15 PM 0 comments

Wednesdays are always tough for me - too many good shows and not enough time to watch them all. Let's see, we had Amazing Race, Lost, Invasion, plus the Sharks game that went to triple overtime as well as the Giant's game.

Let me start off with the Amazing Race - in my humble opinion, this is the best show on television. Someday, I would love to participate in it - just look at the challenges the participants get to do: sky diving, bungee jumping, avoiding crocodiles, off road racing, boating, the list goes on and on. There is a little bit of luck involved in making it to the final three, but, if you know how to play the game, you can find yourself playing for the ultimate prize.

As a viewer, we are exposed to some out of the world places, and if you have a travel bug in you, you really appreciate the locations.

Central casting seems to follow a certain script in selecting teams, the hot babes with the low cut shirts, the gay dudes, the trouble married couple, the minority couple, the best friends, the old couple and the dating couple. Our final three fits right into the this formula, we have the hippie dudes competing against the best friends and minority couple.

My prediction will be the hippy dudes to win it all - they have the right attitude and are really fun to watch compete.


LOST

The question mark. We learned so much about the question mark - Is it another observation tower? What about the video camera inside the hatch? We got a peak of the 5th orientation film, the Pearl, so we now know of two hatches. Locke use to be a man of faith, now Eko has become the man of faith. The swan station must still be important as evidenced by the food drop a couple of episodes ago. What's up with Michael? Did he sell his soul to the devil? I read a funny quote about him - MADD Michael against drunk drivers as both characters he killed were involved in real live drunk driving incidents. Sucks breaking the law if you are a cast member.

Invasion

The aliens are coming! Get ready for the invasion of the body snatchers - I like how Sheriff Tom Underlay has morphed into a human advocate instead of Szura's henchman. Every show needs the stress of a drama and in the early part of the season, Underlay fit the bill as the bad guy, the reason for the tension. We now have a new villain, Szura and he's taken Tom's role as show villain.

Labels: running

Saturday night we all got together for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Goomba's. My friend Neale made reservations for us, but since our party had grown to 12, the restaurant split us up into two parties. It is a nice feeling knowing you don't have to run a full marathon distance as our banter during dinner was light and funny. This was also the first opportunity we had to finally all hook up and meet our newest team member, Lesley. As you could imagine, we take our relaying very seriously, months and months of practice, with untold hours spent on the trails conditioning our bodies for peak performance, analyzing topography of the course in order to assign the proper person to that leg - yea right.

I met Lesley and her husband Steve during the Expo in Boston and knew immediately she'd do fine running with us. As we all stuffed our faces with food, we did talk about expected finish times, as our resident geek engineer, Angelo, worked up some finish time scenarios for us. Basically, the range was anywhere from a 2:48 to a 3:02 finish time. We also decided that I would start off, then hand off to "Buttercup" (Lauren), then Angelo, Meghan, and finally the new girl :)

As we left the restaurant, we stopped at an old art deco movie theatre that was having Japanese dummer's play - very inspiring music. Oh, early in the evening as we were waiting for our table, I saw Ultra-Man, Dean Karnazes, step into a boutique next door to the restaurant, so I grabbed Lauren and took her over to go talk to him. Dean is the best, I know he recognizes us from the Bay Area as well as from the Boston Expo, but such a super cool dude, the salt of the earth. If you haven't picked up his book, you should -.

Angelo, Lauren, Meghan and myself all piled into one room, we hit the sack pretty early as I needed to be up at 3:15 am to catch my bus to the start of the race. Yikes, that's so early. I worked my way to the school as the buses for the relay runners was separate from the marathoners. The bus ride took about 70 minutes up Highway 1 and I was glad to finally get there. The start of marathons are so much fun, the air is full of electricity, people are excited, some are wrapped in solar blankets to keep warm, others are taking inventory of all of their stuff that they will be bringing with on the course. The music is blaring loudly, and the announcer is telling us to start staging ourselves on Highway 1. I checked my long sleeve shirt, and stripped down to my customary singlet and shorts. I am very superstitious on how I dress for a race, and it doesn't matter what the outside temperature is, but I always wear the same things.

I was going to take advantage of my relatively short leg this morning, (I later found out they extended the distance because of a land slide on Highway 1) and really blow it out. As the announcer was introducing the elite runners from Kenya, I came up with a quick plan in my head, wouldn't it be nice to actually beat these dudes for at least one mile? There is no way in hell I could keep up with them, but maybe for the first mile, I could blow it out and beat them. As the wheels were spinning, and I convinced myself I could beat the Kenyans. See what a lack of sleep does to your mental synapses? Ok, screw it, I am going to do it, run like hell. Even if I blow up, I can muster enough strength to finish up my leg and hand off to Lauren with a relatively quick time split.

Since I lined up in the very first corral, I was able to see most of my friends who were actually running the marathon, I hugged my training partners, Neale and Patrick, as they lined up (both did awesome by the way), saw, Scott, Moselle, I didn't see my good friend, Deb, but she also had a fantastic marathon.

Countdown to the start of the race, someone from the military sings the National Anthem, they release 26 doves during the anthem, I am deeply touched - very patriotic. 30 seconds to start, I looked over and saw the Kenyans, damn they look fast, even just standing there. Bang, the gun goes off, and so do I! I remember one dude, Relay runner takes off like a bullet, no way in hell I could keep up with him, but 200 meters into the race, I find myself all alone, I am right behind the pace car, with the camera focused on me, where are the Kenyans? Ha, they are all behind me, I have that stupid grin on my face as I am barreling down the hill. So, this is what it feels like to be in front of the elites. I am doing it, I am beating the Kenyans, even if it's just a short distance, I am beating these dudes. As I quickly approach the first mile, the gal reads out my time split, 5:30 - crap, that's really fast considering I have 4 more miles to go, and thus ends my fantasy. The Kenyans blow by me at mile 1.2

It was fun while it lasted, who can say, they actually beat a Kenyan? Now mind you, we are talking apples to oranges comparison, but don't let that get in the way of my sense of reality. For at least one mile, me, Joe Dito, was actually beating a Kenyan in a race. My sense of exuberance was short lived as I knew I had a 4 more miles to cover and I was already in oxygen deprivation for going out so flippin fast.

I quickly went into survival mode and worked on my cadence and leg turnover. I knew my pace was slowing down a bit as more and more of the elite runners were catching up to me and passing me. A couple of guys right at mile 4 told me to hang in there, I was almost done - we chatted for a bit and I told them I just came off of running Boston a couple of weeks ago, and that I was a bit tired (didn't mention my running with the Kenyans though). The relay exchange point couldn't have come sooner, as I rounded the bend, I saw the sign, exchange point 200 yards ahead, finally! I picked Lauren out and I could hear her, come on Dito, let's go, I passed off the baton to her and off she went. Phew, I was done, thank God!

As I cooled off a bit, I made my way up to the highway and watched all the marathon runners go by, I yelled and cheered for all of them as their work was just beginning. I saw Patrick and Neale and Tom, jumped in with them for a bit and ran with them. They all looked good and relaxed. I later saw Deb go by, Brian, then Moselle. Now the only bummer about running this marathon as a relay is the transportation back to the start. They held the buses back until 10:00 am - logistically speaking, they had to do it as the race takes place on Highway One, and they can't block the Highway with buses making wide turns, so that really sucked. I spent a whole bunch of time in the back of a bus, I did meet some nice people though and told my usual corny jokes, met a gal from Texas who also ran Boston so we bonded.

The buses finally started to move slowly at first, but as we got closer to the end of the marathon, we caught up to the walkers, then finally some of the runners. At mile 22, I saw Moselle running, and she asked me to join her on course, I figured, why not. I talked the bus driver in letting me off, legally she wasn't suppose to, but did me a favor, I arranged someone to have my bag of clothes (cell phone, wallet and iPod too) to the bag pick up at the end. Thank you by the way! I hopped out, and ran with her and Mike. Mike jogged in from the end to meet Moselle at mile 20 to help her run her in. Moselle looked real steady, her pace was consistent, and she was smooth, me, the marathon veteran that I am, tried to offer up words of cadence and pace, but I am sure she was saying to herself, shut the f**k up and just run. I guess you had to be there.

Moselle did pass a bunch of people on her way to the finish line and finished quite well on one of the toughest courses in the nation.

I peeled off and I tried to find the rest of my relay team, the finish line was full of people, luckily, I saw my mates, and they told me the outstanding news, we finished 5th overall, and 1st in our division! As a team, we ran a 2:55! Damn we are two for two! We hung out by the stage as they awards ceremony was going to be starting at any time. This was going to be especially nice as we had some hometown support in the crowd. They finally called us on stage and all 5 of us were presented with these really cool plaques, as well as a huge bottle of wine. I am beginning to dig these relay events, it really pays to have really fast friends!

I personally want to thank Lauren, Angelo, Meghan and Lesley for being outstanding team members. There is no way Burlingame Track Club would have the success it enjoys if it wasn't for those folks. Again, job well done.

Labels: running

The gang and I are going to test our legs and see how much we've recovered from the Boston Marathon. Usually, we wouldn't put ourselves to the test so quickly after a tough marathon, but we are all young (most of them are) and dumb, so, what the heck, let's boogie.

I am running with some very quick people. Lauren, Angelo and Meghan and I all ran the California International Marathon last year as an open relay team and we were fortunate enough to come in first place in our division. I don't know how successful we will be in this relay event-but we will give it the varsity effort.

This course will be a true test for us, but since they will be 5 of us participating, we might stand a chance of finishing pretty strong.

Labels: running

After a nice road trip to Boston, with a quick turnaround from SFO to Louisville, I am finally back at home. I will try to get caught up with all of the shows backed up on my DVR. I did manage to catch up on 24, Soprano's and Invasion. More on those shows later.

Labels: running

After all the months of preparation the big day was finally here. The Boston Marathon was everything I expected it to be and then even more. From the F-15's fly over at the start, to the screaming fans along the course, that town sure knows how to put on a marathon.

My day started off great - I had a real nice breakfast at the hotel (which I normally don't do but because of the noon start time, you really needed to load up on some carbs) - I visited the local Starbucks in the hotel lobby and picked up a couple of large coffee's with two shots of espresso in each, hooked up with my friend Christine, and we walked the three blocks to the CSU special chartered buses. On board we met the rest of our Tuesday night track group - Angelo, Lauren, and Meghan. The Bay Area was well represented in the house.

It was a really nice drive up to Hopkinton, we had big comfortable seats that reclined, tons of leg room and most importantly, our own bathroom on board. When we arrived at the start of the race, we all decided to hang out by the bus and take advantage of the coach. The athlete's village was packed with runners, at least this way, we had lot's of space.

Around 11:00 am, we started making our way to the assigned corrals. All of us we blue starters (started at noon) I lined up in the 9th corral and started making conversation with the people around me. There was a couple of early starts for the wheelchair division as well as the women's. When the gun finally went off, it took approximately 6 minutes before my group finally crossed the start line.

You need to have a good plan when you run a course like this as well as a back up plan. My goals was to break 3:30 which would re-qualify myself for Boston again in 2007, my second goal was to run a negative split, and finally, set a new personal best record. These were all lofty goals, but I trusted my training, and my past marathon experiences, I knew I could hit at least one of the three.

The first mile is straight down hill, in fact, the entire 1st half of the marathon is downhill. I am a very aggressive downhill runner, so it was counter intuitive for me to hold back - you should have seen the people blowing by me, but I kept my head down and knew I'd be passing most of them by the time we got deep into the course.

The first 5K was relatively smooth pace for me, I came in at 24:49 which worked out to a 7:59 pace per mile. 24 minutes into the race, and I was dead on. My Garmin cut out at me at mile 1.4 so I had to just wing it and use my overall time on the course as my guide. As I came up to each mile marker, I used my mad math skills to figure out my pace and make sure I wasn't creeping up too soon. But really, I know what an 8:00 minute mile pace feels like, I've practiced it so much, I just went into auto pilot and let the miles melt way.

At the 10K mark, my garmin was finally working again but it only confirmed what I knew, I was dead on pace. I crossed the mark at 49:26 (7:57 pace). I had a moment of comedy at the 10K mark, as I remembered my first 10K race I ran with Team in Training, and I ran that at 53 minutes and was dead to the world, Here I am in Boston, and just ran a nice and easy 10K at 49 minutes. I guess you had to be there :)

My 15K and 20K splits were 1:14:21 and 1:39:09 respectively, (7:59 pace) I was almost at the half way point of the course and so far, my plan was working. I felt strong, relaxed, but very focused on the mission. By the time I got the the half way mark of the course, I had a big smile on my face, I clocked a 1:44:28 (7:58 pace), I was well on my way.

Once I passed the half point, I told myself, ok, time to go to work. The first little uphill comes right after mile marker #14, and I blew straight up that hill, I clocked at 7:57 pace for the 25K and was loving life. But I told myself, don't go too fast up these hills, as I don't have any course knowledge and don't know what to expect on the later hills.

The next 10 kilometers were going to be the true test. These next few miles will either make or break you. Heartbreak hill was coming up but it isn't really one hill, it's a series of hills, so if you are not careful, you can really lose it on the hill prior to heartbreak. I trusted my training and took off. Let me tell you, it was really fun passing people on the series of hills, my slowest pace up the hill was 8:00 pace - it felt really really good. Once I crested heartbreak, the course dipped downhill a bit and I knew the hard part was done.

I was feeling extremely well, my pace quickened, as the last 6 miles seem to fly by. I kept checking my watch, I wanted to see if I could actually break my personal record I set last year in San Francisco and I knew I was close. It was all coming together, my 35K and 40K times were stellar, I was able to get my overall pace down to 7:57 pace per mile.

As I was working my way to the finish line, I started to take in all of the cheering, did a couple of low five hand slaps, and felt really blessed to be at Boston. I looked up and saw the Citgo sign by Fenway Park and that's the one mile left to go on the course, there's a slight hill up to the sign and a runner turned to me and asked, who put this hill here on the course? I laughed and told him yea, what were they thinking about.

Ok, one mile left to go, I am doing the math in my head, I really need to open it up and finish strong if I want to break my PR. I don't know what took over me, but I clocked my last mile in under 7:00 minutes, 6:56 to be exact, I sprinted the last few blocks and was so excited when I finally crossed the finish line. 3:28:19! It was the trifecta. A new personal record, a negative split and a Boston qualifying time at Boston no less. It doesn't get any better than that for a marathoner.

Part 2 later :)

Labels: running

The family and I will be leaving tomorrow morning for Bean Town. I will be participating in the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 17th. To say I am excited, would be an understatement. For those of you who run (marathons), Boston is the gold standard everyone is compared to. This will be the closest I will ever get to an olympic event. I will be running with the best of the best.

The path to Boston for me has been a long struggle. My first taste of marathoning came with Team in Training back in 2001. I crossed the finish line in 4 hours and 24 minutes. I was overwhelmed by the entire experience - and seduced.

For those of you who know me, I've experimented with other types of training programs - I use to be a strong believer that you never had to run more than 16 miles during your long runs - well, after countless blow ups, I threw that training program out the window.

The only way to get better, stronger, faster is to do the work. There is no shortcut to endurance or speed. 26.2 miles is a humbling distance - the first marathoner back in the ancient times died after running that far.

So, I read lots of stuff from true marathon veterans, talked to a lot of people and put together a hybrid training program I look forward to do each day. I guess that's the key - live for the training because so many things can go wrong on marathon day. I am living proof of that. Of all the marathons I completed, only once, have I ran the perfect race. What is the perfect race? A negative split - running the second half of the course faster than the first half.

I've written extensively about that perfect day - check out the link in my bio as I will not talk about it here. It boils down to my love of training. I love to get up early in the morning and logging my miles in. I love going to the track on Tuesday nights and doing speed work, I love my Saturday runs in Huddart Park and my long runs on Sundays.

Before I go off on a tangent, there are some people I need to recognize. First one is my BFFL, Tony C. TC suggested to me early on this training season, I hook up with some fast people to take myself to the next level. For once, I actually listened to him and hooked up with Mark Goyette. Mark is a local guy here in Burlingame who we've become better friends. Mark and I met years ago during the track workouts on Tuesday Nights. This year, Mark and I started to run together early in the morninng and also up at Huddart. Mark is really fast and I think I probably held him up, but he's been really cool about it.

The next couple of guys I want to tip my hat to are Neale Mulligan and Patrick Lee. Both of these manly men are training for the Big Sur Marathon (the degree of difficulty makes Boston look like a very flat course!) We covered undless miles together, early in the morning, Sundays running 20+ miles together and even though the put downs and insults were flying about, they were great company. I know they will do an awesome job at Big Sur.

Finally, I'd like to acknowledge my track coach, Frank Hunt. Frank has a heart of gold - always with words of encouragement - thanks Frank!

If you want to follow my progress on the course, I am bib # 9920.

If I can, I'll try to post from my Treo....

Labels: running

Ran this morning at 5:30 am with Mark. We did the double hill route through Hillsborough. I can't believe it didn't rain on us. This is my second to last week before the big event and I've cut back on my mileage but not the intensity. I should cover about 43 miles this week.

It's starting to sink in a bit. After all of the early morning runs, the gu shots, the rain soaked clothes, the soggy shoes, I am winding down to the EVENT. I read a great article in Running Times Magazine about the Boston Marathon, Beating Boston.

I suffer from the disease called: out like a rabbit-die like a pig. The article does a wondeful job talking about the dangers of going out too fast. Of the 13 marathons I've done, only once, have I run negative split(running the second half of the course faster than the first half) and that was last year in San Francisco of all courses. SF is a really tough course - one of the hardest - yet I was still able to qualify for Boston on it. Go figure.

The family and I will head out of town next week to Boston and take in all of the sites. My wife just informed me my mother-in-law will be joining us on the trip. Monica called me yesterday and asked if I would mind, I responded, does it really matter? It's actually good she's coming along as I tend to be a bit of an asshole right before a big race and it will be good for Monica and my daughters to hang around someone other than me.

I am back to Huddart Park again tomorrow morning and then a nice easy 12 miler on Sunday. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate.

Labels: running