Spring musing

After 109 posts on this blog, here is a new genre, a poem. No rhymes, but an acrostic and 24 alexandrines! To recount my day. Here you are...

March 21, 2009

Spring reached the Bay, blooming flowers gave the signal!
Pounding on the road came the poem idea,
Rajeev ultra poet inspired my musing.
In school was the last time I wrote some poetry,
New experiences keep thrill into our lives,
Greg's recent poems, another inspiration.

Sprinting I reached lonely Black Mountain this morning,
P.R. by 10 seconds I celebrated Spring,
Records I like for my Farther Faster mantra.
In 2 weeks, A.R. 50-mile will test my shape,
No asthma this time should make Agnes and Greg wait.
To you my blog readers, I wish a happy Spring!

Brooks are obviously the shoes I strode in today;
Reviewing the Trance 8 model I will blog next,
In 9 pairs of Trance I ran 9,000 fun miles;
New Cascadias 4 I also received this week,
Ground and dirt they will meet on many miles this year,
Speed and placing they will help me achieve again.

Smiles were countless in the musical last evening.
Max excelled and delighted the crowd in Ted's role,
In a flashy white tux he flew over the stage.
Lights, sounds and set, Alex was involved in, backstage.
Exhausted Max was after leading stress-less week.
Show, excitement and smiles go on for four more nights!

And some notes and explanations as a bonus:

1. I ran to the top of Black Mountain this morning. Because of the pain in the hip I did not plan to go out fast but I got caught into the excitement of passing bikes on the steep Montebello road. By the school I was still under 8 minutes/mile pace and did not slow down. I passed 11 cyclists total and reached the top in a personal record of 1:30. A great run to celebrate Spring.
2. Rajeev acts as the Managing Director of our ultraholics Yahoo! group and has titled his blog The Poetic Runner. In addition to his inspiration, I discovered Greg's talent for writing peoms at school last week. They are funny and clever!
3. I received the latest Trance and Cascadia models from Brooks this week, and I will blog soon about these great shoes (I am part of Brook's Inspire Daily group) and a big fan of this brand which focuses only on running, and in which I ran more than 13,000 miles.
4. AR stands for American River and is a very competitive 50-mile race which I ran for the first time in 2008. I ran only the first 15 miles actually before being hit by one of these exercise-induced asthma crisis. I then walked for the remaining 35 miles, finishing in 8:53, 3 hours and 10 minutes after the winner, Tony Krupicka. Hope to shave at least two hours off this time this year.
5. Then, last night was the premiere of the musical Smile, at Cupertino High School (in addition to performing and singing, Max helped making costumes, and created the grapical design of the tickets and website). The musical has been written by the same author as Chorus Line but didn't get nearly the same success: it only stayed on Broadway for 40 days, a very brief tenure. Yet, it was well played by the CHS cast and we spent a very nice evening. And Alex was on the tech team, from the creation of the set to the sound and light operations during the show.

Happy Spring to all!
PS: in Brooks, from top to bottom. Note that the grass already needs water, and rain came this afternoon, just in time! (Mt Hamilton is all covered with snow, for the fourth or fifth time this year!)

Ohlone Wilderness 50K: Chasing... myself!

[More pictures from Agnès and I - As usual, don't forget to download the ones you like before I clean up my Picasa space]

Wilderness. The nirvana of trail running. The perfect recipe to find your inner self.

The race actually started the night before, with a pasta party at my house. We were 23 to celebrate the visit of Leo in the Bay Area this weekend. Leo has moved to Eugene, OR, last year. We were used to do tempo runs on Saturday morning at the Los Gatos High School track with Derrick, Bob and Tony (see Bob and Tony in my Boston Marathon race report). In 2005-2006, we extended the workouts with two speedwork sessions at Homestead on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:50 (am!). We still hold these sessions when we are not traveling, with Bob, and everybody's welcome. I named our group LEATHER for LEo Athletic Track Homestead Early Runs, so LEATHER we celebrated that night. I had also invited other running buddies from my club, the Stevens Creek Striders, as well as Tim and Amir (see Human Race). Perfect company to enjoy Agnès' pastas and deserts. Just passed on the wine and beer, not part of my pre-race diet. Leo and Bob in the hot tub:

Because Ohlone is a point to point course, there is a bit of logistic around. Runners are asked to park at the finish in Livermore, and take the bus (sic) to the start line. A bus? You must be kidding me, I thought a moment I joined the wrong race, after all, Bay to Breakers was starting at the same time, that same Sunday morning. Look at one of the limos! I don't think there is another ultra in the world offering such amenities...

Anyway, Agnès was nice enough to drive us (Peggy and I) to the start line, so we saved 1 hour of sleep. Everything counts for a long day on the trails. At every race there is more people I know, very enjoyable. I said it in other blogs, it is so special and different from the anonymous marathon crowds, and also from the pride of some runners in short(er) distance races. With Agnès at the start I could enjoy using the camera and taking pictures of familiar faces. Including the long line to the porta-potties, less than 15 minutes to the start... At least, this we share with marathoners! ;-)
Here are a few running buddies from our Saturday morning Mid-Penninsula runs, also called the "Pierre Tardif" group: Mike, Greg, Chris, Jean, Craig, Denise, Charles.

Also, from the Striders: Mark, Peggy, Christina, Charles, Terry, Dennis, Anil (and I! ;-). Peggy and Christina:

Agnès took control of the camera for the start. Among some great pictures, I particularly like this one, as we are taking off and all focusing on starting our clocks. No false start and, despite taking off for several hours on the trail, every second counts!

Just before the start, local runner (and body builder!), Will Gotthardt, stopped to introduce himself has he had left a comment on my Miwok post. He shared some tips about the course profile, which happened to be precious for me. Basically he told me the first hill was really really steep, but the second more gradual. Although so knoweldgeable about the course, and it was his first ultra, he started upfront and took the lead on a trail so steep, it seemed like we were climbing stairs. 2,000 ft in the first 4.5 miles, that's almost double Rancho San Antonio's PG&E (a South Bay park). PG&E (the trail, not the company!) is my favorite hill and mental training. Before Miwok I had done 4 of them (4x8 miles). According to the elevation chart, Ohlone represented 5 to 6 "PG&Es" in terms of elevation. Here is an overlay of Ohlone's elevation profile, with a simplisitic one of Rancho's PG&E, and the (in)famous Quad Dipsea.
After the first "PG&E" (1,550ft), we had a nice recovery down hill through some Alpine meadows. Cows on the side of the trail were wondering why we were rushing climbing to Mission Peak. A bull, right in the midle of the trail, started getting upset and nervous with the traffic, not sure how he behave with the rest of the pack. This reminded me of some runs in the French Alps, great memories. Very different from the woods we run in, on the other side of the Bay.
I passed Will after the meadows, getting in Kevin Sawchuck's footsteps, not far from Mark Lantz. Alterning power walk and jogging like us, Graham had already a few hundred-yard lead. Right before the sumit: Mark (Lantz), I, Try, Kevin, chasing Graham (photo credit:
Jeremy Graham, a student photographer, shot from the Mission Peak summit, courtesy of his friend Will Gotthardt):

Before the summit, we passed Lee Jebian who had taken an early start. Lee turned 65 on Monday, so a nice way to celebrate, with Winnie volunteering and crewing throughout the day. Such a nice couple, so dedicated to ultra, and appearing at so many events, to either run or help out!
Troy Howard passed me right after Mission Peak, in a section a bit too technical for the road shoes I had picked for the day, betting the cushioning will help on the downhill fire roads (Brooks brand, like Graham, but the Trance model for me). A bet which proved good quickly as we were flying down to the Laurel Loop aid station on a nice fire trail. Seems like I was the only one stopping to the aid station, albeit shortly, so I had to sprint to catch-up with the others. My marathon training gave me quite some speed in this first downhill and I caught up with Graham just before Sunol. Grabbed a peanut butter/jelly sandwich and got off as he just stopped for fluids.

So here we were, at the beginning of a 10-mile 3,200 ft up-hill. As we started the climb I told Graham that, if he'd wait for me at the finish, I'd like to interview him for Ultrafondus, a great ultra magazine in France. Nice stop at Backpack Area, greeted by legendary Ann Trason and Carl Andersen. Some food again for me, but not for Graham. Here is Ann, all smile at photographer, runner and blogger, Chihping Fu (more pictures of the course and runners in Chihping's Ohlone photo album):

I was quite intimidated to be in the race lead but felt the slope was not as bad as I feared from the profile. So we kept going and, by mile 13, Graham let me take the lead. Was nice to find the Goat Rock aid station, at about half way to the summit. Yet another 1/4 of a sandwich, electrolyte refill, 2 glasses of coke. All the way up I was thinking we will top at 5,000ft. So I kept looking at my GPS thinking we had way more to go. At the top, we had a short loop, allowing to see other runners. I saw Troy, Graham and Mark Tanaka, I was not sure where Mark Lantz was. We were still at 3,500 ft, so I was expecting another "PG&E", especially as I remembered the warning "at this stage you are not done with up-hills" in the course description posted on the web. Indeed, yet other steep climbs before and after Stewarts Camp and Schlieper Rock aid stations, making the presence of the volunteers in bright orange t-shirts even more welcome. Then, from the last aid station, Stromet Spring, a "chute" of 2 miles to the finish. Racing against the clock, although I didn't know what the course record was exactly.

A thrilling experience to finish first of course, but a lot of respect for Graham's performance who finished 2nd, shaving 35' off his 2005 winning time, passing Troy after the summit, all that after setting a course record at Quick Silver 50-mile, a week ago! Troy, Mark T and Mark L followed, under 5 hours. Kevin was next, happy to keep the (new) course record with a 101" margin. As for me, I did improve by 30' the 40-49 age group record, set by Mike Topper, whom I train with on Saturday mornings, and who completed 5 consecutive top 10 Western States finishes between 1998 and 2002. Records are meant to be broken, and will continue in the future for sure.

Great post-race buffet with an amazing and entertaining chef, who is now an artist, sculptor, yet remembers very well his cooking years!
Caren was the top woman, improving the course record set by Kami Semick in 2004, quite a reference! Interesting how Caren and I were both the Dick Collins Rookie awardees at Fire Trails 50 miles last year. Caren complained she was not feeling well at the start and the finish, but rightly noted that the steep profile may suit our short sizes better. Here is our "little" secret! ;-)
Graham was kind enough to respond to my interview questions, I learnt a lot on such an accomplished and cool athlete. Will work on the transcript shortly, although maybe only after next weekend WS training camp. Although meant to be published in this French magazine, some of you have asked to see it in English, so stay tuned...
A big thank you to the RDs, Rob and Larry for keeping this Ohlone Wilderness 20 year tradition so enjoyable, the outstanding support of the volunteers at every 5 miles, despite very remote locations, and the friendly ambiance among this 150-runner field.
Overall, it was hard on the legs, as expected. Wonderful Alpine landscapes. Good mental training, accumulating the "PG&Es". Good fluid and food management experience. Thrilling experience to run strong when asthma is not kicking in like at Miwok or Way (not) too cool. And with all that, I'm still amazed at how yesterday's Silver State must have been so much more brutal with 20,000ft elevation over 50 miles. If you look back to the above elevation charts, seems like there is no easy correlation between elevation and time. 4:20 last November at Quad Dipsea (a way more technical trail with hundreds of stairs), 4:30 in a 4xPG&E training run last month, 4:40 at Ohlone. A good potential "business intelligence" problem for mathematicians and physiologists. No matter what, there is alway farther and faster achievements in ultra. And back to the title, countless challenges to find your inner self.

Ready for more miles at training camp, then tapering in June!

10,000 miles in Brooks

This week, as I'm tapering before my first 100K on Saturday, I passed the 10,000-mile mark in Brooks shoes. Yes, shoes, I mean several pairs, not just one, I'm not Forrest Gump ...

I have had a few other brands (New Balance, Salomon, Nike, Montrail), which I still use depending on the terrain and conditions, but Brooks has really worked best for me. 15 pairs so far and counting.

A few of my Brooks: 5 pairs of Trance in the back, 3 Burn and the Racer T3 (flat) in the foreground

The Trance

It started in 1998 when I visited MetroSport of Cupertino, a great place to receive personalized and expert advice for such a critical piece in the runner's panoply. Not the cheapest model (and that didn't improve overtime), the Trance really provided the ultimate blend of cushinoning and stability. And, as I found out a few years later, an incredible resistance and longevity as well, so the extra bucks were well worth.

That said, I regret some modifications brought to the original Trance model. I still run from time to time in my first pairs of Trance and love their simpler platform and design despite the obvious and visible wearing. Why do shoe makers have to keep inventing, when it's not bringing improvement? Must be to keep marketers and designers busy... Or to satisfy other customers, it's hard to please everyone when it comes to comfort and design/look...

With regard to the Cascadia, it may be too soon for me to judge. I wore them on two 50K training runs early January and had to take a 3-week break to treat an inflammation on the top of my foot, which I even took for a 2nd metatarsal stress fracture at some point. I must admit the shape of the sole intrigued me when I first found out about the shoe (completely flat under sole). I hope it's not the cause of the misfit so far, they actually felt so great during these long runs. I'll give it another try after Western States. In the meantime, I'd love to find out more about why they work great for Scott Jurek.

As for the Burn, they are really perfect for me (light weight, neutral, and reasonably long stride for my size), so I use them as my flats for speedwork and road racing. I like the soft cushioning in particular, I need at least this one on marathons. And I can't believe I've run more than 1,000 miles in each of my first pairs of them, yet they feel so comfy.

The original Burns: some signs of wearing but still great after 1,300+ miles!

10,003 miles and counting

10,000 miles logged, just in my Brooks (out of 15,000 miles). A car service and oil change milestone! Here is how the miles spread over the 15 pairs, in the order I got them (2 of which I haven't wore yet):

1. Trance (original): 715 miles
2. Trance (original): 1,321 miles
3. Trance (original): 775 miles
4. Trance (original): 1,249 miles
5. Trance NXG: 1,002 miles
6. Burn: 1,314 miles
7. Burn: 1,084 miles
8. Trance NXS: 966 miles
9. Racer T3: 116 miles
10. Trance NXR: 864 miles
11. Burn 2: 419 miles
12. Cascadia Pivot: 0 mile
13. Trance NXR: 0 mile
14. Cascadia Pivot: 91 miles
15. Racer ST2: 88 miles

The brand

As you know, I was quite new to running back in 1998, as well as just settled in the US. I knew about Nike and Adidas, never heard about Brooks. So that was not a trendy-motivated pick for me.

I later found out that Brooks was actually reborn in the 1990s. 80 years after its creation (1914), with ups and downs in the meantime. Famous shoes in the 70s when marathon crossed the chasm, almost disappeared then because of too much diversification in other fields and too stretched while competing with Nike in particular. Even Brooks' website is very discrete about all these years in their corporate history page. They definitely turned the page, maybe they will highlight again this legacy when celebrating their century in 2014! Hope so. Like in ultra, you learn from your mistakes and it's ok to talk about it.

In the meantime, you can read more about Brooks history thanks to FundingUniverse.

So, am I paid or sponsored to advertise this brand? Well, having picked Scott Jurek as their marketing "showcase" is setting the bar way too high for us, mortals, to join Team Brooks. No, I'm not sponsored, I buy my shoes or win them as race prizes (a special thanks to the Runners High for their generous support of local events in the Bay Area). I'm just an extremely satisfied customer, loyal to a series of shoes which have been good to me so far (few injuries).

Is there a Brooks for you?

Try their nice shoe advisor online. And more importantly, here are some tips:

1. Try before you buy. Do not buy without trying a model in a specialized running shop, which let you practice/run, at least inside the store.
2. Perfect fit. Do not pick a model if it doesn't fit right, it won't get any better over time (there was a time where shoes, in leather, were living and getting fit to your foot, but this time is over; if you feel anything wrong, you'll feel the same thing 500 miles down the road).
3. No universal shoe. The model which fits best your best friend may not be good for you, you need to make your own mind and experiment.
4. Rotate shoes. Pick at least 2 different models and use them for different workouts during the week (a corollary of this rule is that you have to vary your workouts during the week, e.g. alternate speedwork, easy run, tempo run, long run, hill work).
5. Take a half or full size extra. The longer (distance) you plan on running, the more room you need to give to your toes. That's particularly important for the down hills (not to discount a tight lacing of the shoes).
6. Don't be greedy. It's true that one of the great things about running is that it's a cheap sport. Yet, don't try to save on the shoes, that's the most important investment of a runner. Extra $10 or 20 are usually well worth, getting you a model which will protect your joints better, help prevent injuries and will last longer anyway. Especially if you are serious about training for races which will cost quite more than that.
7. If you find a model which works great for you, buy a few extra pairs before they disappear. Running shoe companies cannot make a shoe which fits everyone and they need to modify design and look to keep up with competition. This may not work to your advantage in some cases, so better plan ahead. Besides, older models are usually nicely discounted, as long as your size is still available.

I found that Brooks really offer a broad, I should say an amazing, variety of shoes: Racer (ST and T) , Burn, Addition, Glycerin, Beast, Adrenaline, Axiom, Vapor, Radius, Dyad, Trance, Cascadia, just to name the running shoes, skipping the spikes, and the walking models--sorry I don't like walking... ;-). Worth giving it a look and try if you are in the shoe hunting.

Farther and faster, in the right shoes!

PS: make no mistake, if you are working in a semicon fab, I'm not advertising for Brooks software here, my company is actually competing with them with a much more innovative and performant product, ILOG Fab PowerOps!