Friday, January 22, 2016

Coffee With Benergy...




So, I’ve always wanted to do a podcast which is basically a blog but digital. I’m no techie, but that’s about as easy of an explanation as I can give. It makes sense to me, so I figure it’ll make sense to you. 

Within the next week or so, I think I’m going to begin a podcast ranging in topics. ..mainly, about things I like, things I do, and people who I think you should get to know because they're interesting.  People like Dr. Joey Cadena at PhysioDynamix, German Madrazo at Valley Running Co., the guys from Sole Running, among others. In other words, it'll mainly be about running...and coffee, of course. 

Check out the link below and tell me what you think - especially of the name. 


As I like to say often, it’s a work in progress (kinda like me), so bear with me.

Talk to you guys soon & stay tuned.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Bandera 100K - According to me.


My buddy and I decided to “rough” it out and stay in his RV camper in Bandera for the race. We had such big plans: we were going to finish strong and then BBQ out there. More on the BBQ plans a bit later.
We decided to leave early Friday so we could get to Bandera and relax for a bit. Little did we know it’d turn out to be the longest 4 hour trip…ever.
On the way to SA, we ran out of gas. I learned that the “we need gas light” means “WE NEED GAS!!!” There was 1 positive to running out of gas. I was able to scratch off a 2016 must-do from my 2016 must-do list – hitchhiking. Luckily, we only walked for a bit before an awesome generous couple gave us a ride to the nearest gas station (which was about 5 miles away).
10 hours later, we were finally at our destination.
  
A supposed advantage to staying on site was that we’d be able to sleep in a bit, but it didn’t happen. I think we were up at 4am and ready to go.
For the last several weeks, I’d been toying around with the idea of trying to run Bandera sub 15 hours. That’s a pretty intimidating idea for a slug like myself, but Joel had convinced me that it was do able.
PR
On the drive up there, John Pelletier, another friend messaged me wanting to know if I was looking for a pacer. I’d met John and his wife before Bryce 100 last summer. It’d be good to see him again and run with him so I told him we’d love to have him…oh yeah…and that we really really wanted 15 hours.
1st 50K:
Our plan was to hold a steady pace, hike the uphills and run the runnable parts. And we did.
We finished the 1st loop in pretty decent shape and in a time of 7 hours. A bit ahead of schedule but not a bad thing considering we felt really well. The only thing hurting were my hip flexors...and my stomach. I'd been alternating between a boost/equate and a Bulletproof Bar every hour, and it'd wreaked havoc on my stomach.  
As we came in, John was ready to go.  

2nd 50K:
After doing the 1st 5 miles at a slower than we would've liked pace, we picked up the pace.
John made sure we were on pace for that sub 15. He would tell us when it was time to pick it up and when we had a bit to coast. He was also instrumental in getting us in/out of aid stations quick - something that we said we'd do (but, obviously, needed someone to tell us to do it).
We finished the 2nd loop and the clock read 14:51!!!
We were beat, but we did it. In the end, we just limped back to the RV. Joel and Joel had a beer while I just had an ambien. We were too cold to think about that BBQ. Although, I vaguely remember Joel cooking something.
This was the first ultra that I've been able to run the majority of it with no issues. Everything was on point. Calories. Salt. Everything. Every hour on the hour I was alternating between Bulletproof Bars and Equates/Boosts.
I don't know about Joel, but I'd convinced myself that if I wanted to do Rocky Raccoon 100 in sub 24 hours, I really had to run Bandera 100K in 15 hours. I know the courses are like night and day, but that's what I'd convinced myself. I'm looking forward to attempting to finish RR100 in right under 24 hours.
A big thanks to John & Joel for the lead, pace, company and great convos.
Over 5 hours faster than last year.