Happy 4th allhave a safe and happy Holiday weekend! My Western states trip by way of San Francisco was awesome. My runner Dave James had a rough go of it at Western, the fuel was just off practically from the beginning and had to call it a day at 55.7 miles all still battling hard and staying in the top 15 ... ( more details to follow ).
My good friend Rick was an amazing host and took me all around SF and across the Golden Gate Bridge through the Headland Trails... We had a blast and I appreciate Ricks efforts to show me his city. I have plenty of photos and a few more video clips of the entire trip that I will share over the next week.
On my last day in SF, Rick took me for some Roasted Duck and then ice cream- (yummy) Video below is me asking him where is the ice cream place ... lol
Turn the volume up.
OK time to eat less and taper for Vermont now- haha
Flying into SF for a "fun" Western States 100 Weekend to crew Dave James and watch an amazing field compete.
Tomorrow I will meet up with speedy ultra runner Rick, Stay at his place Weds and Thurs.. Our workout agenda he said, "TRACK workout Weds night (WTF ?!?!! - LOL ) then off to the Headland trails (ahhh much better Rick- haha) on Thurs." Olga (who has been training for the very tough HARDROCK 100 event ) will join us Thursday night. We will hang out for the night and LEAVE Bright an EARLY Friday to Squaw Valley for the Big Dance :-)
Friday at Squaw Valley should be a blast, I finally get to meet up with so many runners that I have followed the past few years.
Around noon Olga and myself will have a team meeting with Dave James, the other crew person Hugo and Dave's pacer Nick Coury to finalize the game plan for the weekend... He is fired up and ready to leave it ALL out on the course and we will be ready to support him, Game-On Bro !!
You can FOLLOW us along HERE for LIVE RACE Updates (Dave James Bib # 272) and send all the WS runners lot's of positive energy as they check off one Aid Station at a time... Please send those good online vibes to the participants all the way to the Auburn Finish Line!
See ya on the other side of WS with lot's of pictures, videos and stories, (YES probably a few really FUNNY Ridiculous ones too :-)
That about sums it up!! I been in sales and marketing for 20 years and YES people are crazy, met ALL different kinds...and the past 3 years of being involved in Ultra Running I have met some MORE crazy "Awesome" people :-) I like crazy people, NO I didn't say "wackos" ...I said Crazy - lol The title of the post comes from a new song by Billy Currington... songs pretty good but the title is perfect :-)
Let me get you in the crazy mode first ...watch clips (courtesy of Dusty's blog -- some funny chitt...turn up the sound right from the beginning.
Running Superfans - Ultramarathon
OK one more short clip for all you crazy people :-) enjoy!!
Running Superfans - Border Crossing
Speaking of Crazies ...Congrats to Brian Krogmann 18:23:27 third place (top three finished within 7 mins of each other) and Rick Gaston in sixth 20:00:25 ...Both guys kicked butt, had a blast and ready for another... way to go!!
My trainings are going really well for Vermont 100, getting leaner and stronger, logging more and more miles each week and thanks to Natalia who got me into this spinning thing also, which I can tell has helped my overall fitness ... building my quads and increasing leg turnover without the pounding (she helped me also score some sweet spinning shoes from eBay at a bargain price, thanks hun)
I got a great running/treadmill tip from Lisa Bliss to run for one hour at MINUS 3 % on the treadmill at my GYM (thankfully my treadmill has a decline) She said it's a great QUAD buster and did it a lot when she lived in Chicago(no trails) and was training for Western States) & boy was she correct. Thanks Lisa for this addition to my weekly lineup! The next day I had that oh so good sore feeling & you all know what I mean :-)
I have been applying that Tuf-Foot lotion to my feet a few times a week, and can feel them getting tougher... pretty wild. Oh please ultra Gods no blisters for my upcoming race, ok just reduce them to only 20% of my feet--haha
Lastly, Exciting NEWS, well for me :-) I am heading out to the historic Ultra Daddy event of the year, Western States 100in a few weeks. It's not claimed to be the hardest ultra BUT it will be THE DEEPEST Lineup of ELITE runners in the History of the USA 100 milers. (at least 25 runners will be competing for top 10 plus finishing times) Smart the first half, all guts the second half will score big results this year!
I am going out to crew a very fast, gutsy FIRST time participant of WS100, Dave James... Umstead100 First Place winner in a smokin' 15:05 time and he recently won a very tough new 50 milerPocatello 50 Miler (a few experienced runners who ran the course that day have claimed it might be the toughest 50 miler in the states) ... Dave's been training extremely hard the past 2 months and I look forward to supporting him out there to help him reach his goals. My good friend Olga is going to help crew Dave too, then go help another runner....typical Olga fashion!!
Like I said earlier, the Western States field is the deepest lineup of elite runners ever for 100 miler race in the USA. Not sure if that is exactly true but YES the competition amongst the top male and top female are thick and will be a blast to witness first hand & foot :-)
Best wishes to all the WS "crazy" runners, now rest up and toe the line healthy!
YES very late on the re-cap but nonetheless an awesome ride--eerr RUN (smile) Had the opportunity to follow, help, support, crew and pace four determined runners ... It was a BLAST!!
The Keys100 is a self sufficient race, you need to have a vehicle and crew to support you because there are no aid stations...you have a rolling aid station, like the Badwater race... The rainy day before got a lot of us nervous but it managed to stay away for the most part the entire weekend.
(Kudos to Race Director Bob Becker and his volunteers/staff for putting on an awesome event)
I started out in the morning crewing and pacing Alan Giraldi for the first 50 miles with Will Reynolds other crew person ... who stayed with Alan the entire 100, Will did a great job for a first time crew and ultra participant.. He went the distance. Alan was only going to do the 50 miler but found some crew support and even though he was undertrained (coming off of a Honeymoon last month) decided to do the 100...Alan is an ultra running stud who completed Badwater, Leadville and Mont Blanc ...crazy tough ultra events!!
After a long trek giving him a big congrats just a few steps to the finish... it was one of those moments of Thank Goodness this one is done ... I Need a BEER, and we gave him one :-)
He had one of those Ultra days that truly test your mental limits on what the Flock am I doing out here still, battling some serious blisters but he FINISHED and it was a well deserved effort.Please stop by and read his report for complete details !!
Alan's Crew- Me, Will, Alan and Karen.
Next Runner that goes to my local gym and was only going to do the 50 miler UNTIL we spoke..LOL yes I nicely convinced Robyn Flores to upgrade to the 100 miler instead of the 50. NOW it was easy to do because her trainings were going great and SHE really wanted to do the 100 miler anyways.
Well Robyn FINISHED and did SO awesome, staying focused, great attitude and kept Moving...dispite her knee pain!!
Excerpt from her race re-cap: Bob met up with me again and gave me an ice bandanna to tie around my neck...great idea. It literally kept my whole body cool. He ran with me for 2 miles and told me to make sure to Powerwalk, as I had not walked at all. He also told me a phrase that stuck in my mind, "Beware of the Chair!" I was determined not to sit down unless I absolutely had to.
She wrote up a fantastic re-cap report on her blog ... CHECK OUT Here!!!
Looking like an ULTRA RUNNER FINISHER to me early on :-)
CONGRATS Robyn on your First 100 miler and YES She emailed me the next week, saying that she is HOOKED and will be doing another one in the near future -- WOOOT!
Also finishing their First 100 miler was Ryan Ravinsky, he like a lot out there on the course had his battles on getting it done...but the good news was he kept moving, had awesome crew support and Got it done. Congrats Ryan on your Finish!!
Ryan almost to the finish line with his crew behind him cheering him in ! LASTLY the opportunity to Help support/ crew the FIRST Place Course Record in 16:31finishers amazing last 24 mile push. This guy CRUSHED the Course, He doesn't have a blog but was kind enough to put a report together and sent it over...
Keys 100 Course Record in 16:31
FIRST PLACE Finishers Race Re-Cap - Brian Krogmann
Once again I just have to say thank you to everyone because each one of you was crucial in one aspect or another to this finish; especially the one person crew that I had for the first 76 miles and due to scheduling conflicts must remain nameless and out of all photos!
Here we go at my second attempt at a race report so if you get bored just delete and when I get more photos to send you can just look at those.
A few days before the race begins I am scrambling to find another person to round out my crew of 1 and get a call from the RD Bob Becker who hooks me up with Bob Gentile. We exchange a couple of emails and a phone call and we have a game plan set for the day. The day before I leave for the race I get a call from the RD and he wants to switch my crew around and offers me a mother and daughter team and since being an RD is an extremely difficult task I agree. From the get go I did not get the same reassurance from them that I got from Bob but it was out of my hands.
We arrive in Key Largo 2 days before the race to get all settled in and stock up on supplies. On Friday I go to the pre race meeting and meet up with Bob Gentile and Tony Portera (who I am crewing at Badwater) and afterwards head out for your typically pre 100 race meal – plain grilled chicken breast and some steam broccoli. While at dinner I get a call from the mother and daughter and all of a sudden they have car troubles and will not be able to make it down to the race. It is now 9 pm and the race starts at 6 am. I was not concerned with the running just someone to keep my one person crew occupied for the next 100 miles.
Enough of the prologue and to the event itself. We all meet at the Publix parking lot to meet up, get in some last minute strategy and fuel and then we take a short walk down US Highway 1 to the start at mile marker 101. The race starts off slow as there really is no need to hurry things up as you have a 100 miles to go except for these two guys who take off like it is a 5k championship. I thought to myself that these guys will either burn themselves out or they are US National Team 100k road runners and in which case I would not be able to hang with them. I settled in early to a pace and was soon between an 8 and 8:20 pace and slowly moving up the ranks. The first 18 miles are brutal as the scenery is just plain boring and not at all what I thought the Keys would look like. After 18 miles or so and you hit the first of about 40 bridges that all changes and everything that you imagine the Keys to be it was. The change of scenery helped me picked up my pace and the miles started to go by and by mile 24 I had passed both 5k track superstars and checked into the first checkpoint at 28 miles into the race in a little under 4 hours. At this point my one person crew is working their tail off and we are well in sync – ice bandanas and ice water ready at each stop. As the bandana would be changed out I would grab some food and off I would go. 72 miles left and I was in the lead; that was extremely tough on me mentally as I did not know how to hold a lead for that long and I had no way to find out where the other runners where on the course.
Looking Smooth in his protective sun gear
The race from mile 28 to mile 51 was uneventful as I kept my focus on knocking out the miles and a few times I caught myself talking with the relay teams and I can remember crossing a fishing bridge and seeing a relay guy in front on me and I was trying to catch him. Here I am at mile 40 running across a bridge at a sub 7 min mile trying to catch a relay guy. There were a few times when I got caught up in that but quickly would settle back down into my pace.
After the check in at mile 50 is where the real fun begins. You have about 3 miles to go before you hit 7 mile bridge and as the name implies it is just that 7 miles long and since it is US Highway 1 there is not place for your crew to stop. There is a place to stop about a mile before the bridge but basically it is 8 miles unsupported with a few small climbs while on the bridge. It hit the bridge around 2 pm and by that time the ice bandana and ice water that I just filled up were already melted and the sun was getting hotter and hotter. I had to take my time across the bridge and conserve my fluids to last me for the entire 7 miles; so I did a combination of running and walking and an hour and 20 minutes later I had survived. Lesson learned next time take 2 handhelds and a camelback to get across that bridge. That was the only point in the race when the sun actually became an issue
Nothing really exciting to report from mile 60 to 76 as my focus on steady and pace was solid. Still 76 miles in my one person crew was on top of their game and I was more impressed with the crewing than my running. That person has been with me before but not as my only support out there so that was a new experience as well and it was handled very well.
(Grabbed these two hot talented runners, Natalia and Jenny to find Brian and close it out )
(Met up with Brian with Natalia and Jenny at mile 76 grabbed his old gels and ready to bring him in strong!) At mile 76 my mood got even better as Bob Gentile appeared out of nowhere with gels and two other crewmembers Natalia and Jenny. The crew for closing out the race would be a 4 person crew and they kept me in line for those last 24 miles.
This is where I picked up my pacer superwoman Jenny; Bob said she can run a 9 to 10 min mile easily (3:30 marathoner) and thought it would be a great fit, she was game so off we went. We started out making a lot of small talk at keeping a pretty good pace with a few walk breaks scattered in between.
We would make stops every 2 to 3 miles depending on crew access and would take whatever fuel and caps Bob thought would be best and man gels never tasted so good. I kept asking the team to let me know where the next runner was so I could make any adjustments necessary and that is when it happened – they lied!!
My lead was down to 45 minutes they informed me and superwoman and I did not even look at each other and instead left the aid station in a shot. We were running 7:30 to 8 minute pace for a while until I thought I was going to throw up as I could not hold that pace much longer. Miles 87 to 99 seemed to take forever and really do not recall much of it other than a lot of road construction and one final gel – chocolate and was that nasty but it gave me the final boost that I needed. I really wanted to walk across that finish line with the entire team that got me from Key Largo to Key West because without them I would still be in Key Largo pushing my food and water to Key West. With about a tenth of a mile left though I heard from my team to sprint it in and somehow that is just what I did. Someone mentioned that my last mile was done at a 5:30 pace!
POP TART Finishing celebration because Brian doesn't eat sugary snacks BUT TREATED Himself - lol
A lot of HAPPY Tears at the Finish Line!
Da Crew :-) with the Champion!
Next day Brian said HMMMM Cuba is only 90 miles away, maybe I will go for a swim -- LOL
I had a great time out there and met so many wonderful people from the east coast and to all of you thank you but once again especially to my one person crew for the first 76 miles I do not know how you did it.
Well that was extremely boring and all over the place. What can I say I work with numbers and next time I will have my brother (the writer and creative one) do a better job. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Congrats to all the KEYS Finishers it was a BLAST ... PS: My Training is going well for Vermont 100 in July.
OK time to eat less and taper for Vermont now- haha
