Sunday, September 28, 2008

Rio del Lago 100-Mile brief blurb

What a scorcher!  Highs in the mid to upper 90's in some parts yesterday, took a beating and heavy toll on the largest starting field ever.

I missed my primary goal (aside from running Rio again for the hell of it) of beating Jean Pommier for the 132 PAUSATF Ultra Grand Prix points, as he was able to come through with a solid run commensurate with his speed.  So I'll lose the 50% race discounts for next year, but maybe this will help me get out of my "PAUSATF rut" as fellow ultrarunner has called it.  Even after I figured I wasn't going to catch Jean, I came up with other goals to keep moving. At one point I really thought that just finishing would be a major accomplishment.  4th place in my 4th running of this race.  3rd time not quite able to come under 20 hours in a 100-miler this year.

Plenty of great blogging fodder-- numerous mishaps, amusing moments that I didn't think were amusing at the time, race director Norm Klein's signature confrontation/pep talk/thrashing, some in a toilet stall) with/of carpool buddy Joe Swenson and his wife, terrorizing the wildlife, volunteers crouching to do special favors for me.  (NO, NOT WHAT YOU'RE THINKING!)  I met a couple of new up-and-coming runners (two would later pass me for good).  Despite the extra nasty stench and recurrent low grade nausea, had an ultra-fun time.

Instead of pulling a STORMY or a Tahoe-- that is, still not having posted yet weeks to months after the fact because I can't find the time to get it completed, but please read them if and when I do them-- I'll blog this race in installments, sort of the way you sometimes have to mentally break down these monster races into smaller segments to get through running them. 

7 comments:

Rick Gaston said...

I heard about the volunteers doing special favors for you. Leslie told me all about it, helping you with your shoes because you couldn't get to them yourself because of a shoulder cramp or something. I also heard of a runner giving you a shoulder massage to help, you are spoiled!

I saw you head out on the second loop as I excited the gym. It was good to see you again out on the trail later in the evening. Still no pacer or crew you animal. Good for you. You survived another race where the weather was a major factor.

Donald said...

Sounds pretty exciting, Mark. I'm already looking forward to the report.

Donald said...

P.S. I forgot to say - congrats on your finish!

CoachJimmy said...

Hey Mark!
I got your message, but can't sign onto Facebook here at work. Go figure. Luckily, it comes in as an alert via email. I would be happy to give you the update/latest. You can email or call me, if you like...

Jimmy@EnduranceLiving.com
310.902.4240

Thanks for the quick response, BTW!

Jimmy Dean

Paul Charteris said...

Great run Naka-Man!!

Looks like the weather was really stinkin hot over there for you but you pulled out a great finish nonetheless.

Cheers, Paul

Rajeev said...

Congratulations on a fine run. It was very hot but you pulled it off. :)

Rajeev

Anonymous said...

Mark,

Like CoachJimmy, can't login to Facebook from work.

Glad to see you may be running "other" races this year, sorry the discount has come to an end. Great run at Rio, especially given the circumstances.

Yes, the knee still hurts, but dumb me has DNF'd everything I have entered this past year and now am forced to run(and finish) Firetrails 50 to get my "Two Time Looser" Western States qualifier(as if it freaking matters). I'll be picking up a Patella strap and an IT band strap this afternoon.

Let me know what races you add to your calendar...