This year on June 2nd we will be running the San Diego Rock N Roll marathon in preparation for running the Black Mountain 50K Ultramarathon on June 29th. So what exactly is an Ultramarathon and why would you do such a thing? That is a very good question!!!

 

 

 

But it takes more than one person to make up a team and that’s why I’m asking you to donate to my TNT fundraising page for TNT!  

 

By participating as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) TNT, I am raising funds to help find cures and ensure access to treatments for blood cancer patients.

 

Your donation will help fund treatments that save lives every day; like immnuotherapies that use a person’s own immune system to kill cancer. You may not know it, but every single donation helps save a life with breakthrough therapies such as these.

 

Patients need these cures and they need your support.

 

Please make a donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and help get us all closer to a world without blood cancers.

 

Thank you!

TK

P.S. Just in case you want to run a 50K I will be documenting our training plan below.  Please check back each week to see all the fun!!!

 

EVENT DAY - 2019-6-29

THIS WEEK: 32.52 miles 
TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN: 4,601 ft
TOTAL TIME: 9 hrs 34 min

 

We did it!!!! I can’t believe it is over. It is the same for every event, there is so much excitement and nerves leading up to the event, then you do it and then after there is this kind of sadness that it is over. 

 

Anyway it was an amazing experience!!  We came in 131 out of about 154 total runners.  Nine of them DNF’d  (did not finish) the race. Our goal was to finish and we did that and we managed to not be last, so it was all good.  As best I could tell we probably left between 30 – 40 minutes on the trail.  15 min for TNT stops for selfies, then probably 5 min for the FB Live video from the top and Karen may have had some overheating issues that probably caused about 10 mins of time.  But again the only time that matter was the 10 hour cutoff for us.  We made it in 9:35 so we still had time to spare 😊

 

Team was sooo awesome!! They were out on the course at mile 10 and 16.  Coach Al ran with us from mile 10 to mile 22.  We had our crew (Alan and Jane) who picked us up in the morning (at 5am) and managed our finish line gear (chair, beer and burritos) also caught us at about mile 26.

 

I felt we were very well prepared going into the event as far fuel and hydration. We did a good job keeping on top of fuel and hydration along the way.  The course has 3 sections, 2 on the mountain which is super steep, single track, super rocky and technical.  Then a valley part which has hills but it is not as steep and you can actually run. The sun came out around mile 8/9 (as we came off the first mountain part and headed into the valley). I think the combination of the heat and we may have pushed the pace a little too fast for that heat and Karen may have gotten slightly over heated but Karen's personal mister pack really saved the day ;)

 

As far as fitness we were totally fine.  The whole race (besides mile 13-22 when the sun was out) we felt good and physically fine.  We saw a lot of people out there that looked just terrible. They were just grinding it out and suffering a lot.  At least we were generally enjoying ourselves and were not in that state 😊

 

The 3^rd and final section was kind of mean (8 miles). They have you go up the back side of the mounting come back down and then go back up to the summit.  I will be honest I thought we were never going to summit.  But we did and still had enough energy to pull off a FB live. Once you summit it’s all over its 2 miles downhill.  We finished strong, with tired feet and blisters but no injuries 😊 Our awesome crew had our beach chairs, six pack of Swami’s IPA and a big ol bean and potato burrito 😊  We kicked off our shoes drank a few beers ate a burrito and watched the final people come in. 

 

The next day I was a little stiff and sore but I probably felt way better than the last 2 marathons for sure.  When we were running with coach Al he said he had information on this race that he would share after. He sent us a note last night saying that one of the people involved in the race (who has done a bunch of Ultras) said this was one of the most challenging 50ks there is, which explains a lot 😉  Ignorance is bliss sometimes 😉

 

Well we do appreciate you following our journey and all your support!!!! #GoTeam

 

 

 

WEEK 28 - 2019-6-28

This week was backdown week. It was all about recovery, sleep, hydration and nutrition.  I spent the week getting to bed on time. Making sure I drank my water. Hitting all my meals. We actually tried a new plant based meal service which worked out really well.  The meals were smaller than what we normally do for dinner, so it forced us to eat our salad (which we normal do but in a bigger way this week).  This made me very regular in the mornings which is key for race day!!!

 

We did all our fuel prep on Thursday so we could just relax on Friday.  Here is what it all looked like.

 

THIS WEEK: 14 miles (6.5/2.5 OTF/2.5 OTF/2.5 OTF/0/RACE DAY/0)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 656 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 0 training days remaining

 

Picked up our bib and swag on Thursday.

Prepared our fuel: Nuts, fruit, our homemade gu and coconut water.

Pre race dinner: Salad and Sweet Potato Kale bake (we eat this before every race).

The best part, post race fuel: Pinto bean & potato burittos and Swami's IPA ;)

The game plan ;)

 

WEEK 27 - 2019-6-22

Managed to get a full week of training this week which was nice. Still recovering from my sinus infection but I think it will be fully cleared up for race day.  We ran the last 8 miles of the 50K course on Saturday.  It went well, this is one of the last pieces of the course we have not seen yet. It was steep as they have you summit Black Mountain at the very end.  It is good to know what the end will be like :)

 

We have done some analysis based on all our different runs on the course and estimate we will be running a 16:42 pace but will use a 17 min per mile for our finish estimate. We are estimating somewhere around 8 hrs and 30 min.  We are feeling good about all the pieces of the course now we just have to put them all together and get it done in under 10 hours. There are 2 cutoff points at mile 7.9 (2.5 hours) and mile 21  (7 hrs). Based on our training we feel we should not have any issues meeting the cutoff points. 

 

The rest of this week is all about, sleep, hydration and nutrition. There is not much more we can do on the training front at this point it is what it is.  Check back next week for the full rundown :)

 

THIS WEEK: 30 miles (6.5/3/6.5/3/0/11/0)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 642 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 7 training days remaining

 

WEEK 26 - 2019-6-16

Well after almost 6 months of training this was not the plan for the last 3 weeks of training. The last Black Mountain Run made my sinus infection even worse.  I felt terrible after Sunday's run and then a little better on Monday but still really bad (I just did not feel like I wanted to die), Tuesday was the same so I called TeleDoc and got myself on antibiotics, I just could not take it anymore. I think by Thursday night they started to kick in and most of the congestion was under control.

 

Thursday was my dad's funeral and that was a very nice and honorable event.  So not much to report on the training front. It did give me some time for my blisters to get better, I still may lose my left 2 middle toenails, but we will see. Next week we will just have to do our best to get back on track but we have missed our last big run. We were supposed to be running 26.2 mile run this last Saturday but I was not well enough and Karen is fighting it off as well so she did not want to get more sick.

 

Got to spend some nice time with each of my gilrs on Father's Day as well as spent a little time with my sister at Enternal Hills visiting dad on Father's Day which was nice.

 

THIS WEEK: 0 miles (0/0/0/0/0/0/0)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 612 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 13 training days remaining

 

WEEK 25 - 2019-6-9

This post is late but and here is why....Man down!!!! This time it was me!!!!  The Rock N Roll half was a super strong run for us, we both felt great. If it were not for all the selfies and extra-long potty stops, it would have been sub 2 hours PR for us.  I think it was all the high-fives with perfect strangers, or maybe the porta-potties. Regardless around Wednesday I started becoming suspicious.

 

Thursday night I started to get worried, and come Friday morning, I knew I was in trouble.  I skipped Friday's spin class and took a rest day.  Friday night Tyler got engaged and so we went to diner to celebrate that.  Saturday we were scheduled for a 21 mile trail run, a do over so that Karen can make sure she could run trails without falling. This was an important run, this run would be the final decision if she was going to run the race.  I was too sick on Saturday so we pushed the run to Sunday. I rested the whole day. Sunday I thought I was feeling better and could do the run so we went for it. 

 

The first 6 miles I think is the most challenging of the actual race course. If we could get through that injury free I knew we were good.  We crushed it, we came up with a strategy that worked.  We would run when the trail conditions were conducive and then we would walk when it was too rocky and there was too much risk of falling or twisting an ankle. It worked like a charm and even though the elevation gain was huge about 1,200 feet in the first 5 miles we still managed keep about a 16 min pace.

 

We completed that first 6 miles section, we were to run the 11 mile loop (that we had run before) and then finish off with a new part of the course (which was around another 4 miles). I think by the time we started on the 11 mile loop I knew I was in trouble. I think it was mostly due to being sick, but also probably not being properly fueled and hydrated from the beginning, plus I think I had a fever, and it was hot outside and to top it off I ran out of water that last 3 miles. I did not want to share Karen's (as I did not want to give her my germs).

 

The other important thing I learned is my left shoe was not laced tight enough, so by the time we finished the 11 mile loop I had 2 huge blisters on my left heel and one on the bottom of my left foot.  I mentally could have pushed through the last 4 miles, but it would have made the blisters way worse, so we called it at mile 17 and called a Lyft back to the car. 

 

Over all it was a success, we have our running strategy nailed down, we learned that we need to pack in band aids, and some tape in case blisters pop up. Since I was sick I think it was not a good test of the fuel we brought (I was just not hungry due to being sick).  But I think we will be good on fuel for race day. The only down side is I was sick as dog after.  I have not been so sick in as long as I can remember.  I can fill you in on this in the next entry :)

 

THIS WEEK: 30 miles (Free Weights/3/7/3/0/0/17)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 612 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 20 training days remaining

 

 

WEEK 24 - 2019-6-2

This was Rock 'n' Roll weekend, always a highlight of the season and this one did not disappoint!!!  Such an awesome weekend spent with awesome people, I will let the pictures speak for themselves :)  Originally we were going to do the full marathon as a training run but we decided we wanted to be at the finish for as many of our Team members that were running the half for the first time. It was a spectacular weekend!!!

 

Our training is coming down to the line.  Next Saturday we are going to try the 25k Black Mountain Run again and possibly add another 10k to get some more time on the trails.  This would put us at about 21 miles of trails. IF we can do that we will be feeling good about the 50k on June 29th :)  Fingers crossed!!!

 

THIS WEEK: 33 miles (7.2/3/6.5/3/spin/0/13.3)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 582 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 27 training days remaining

 

 

 

WEEK 23 - 2019-5-25

This was an unscheduled backdown week for sure.  My dad passed away this week on May 23rd, so I was out of town Tues - Friday to be with him and my sister. Saturday we had our final Black Mountain 25k practice run.  This run was on the most challenging part of the course and that was no joke.  It was hilly and rocky, some parts you could barely walk safely.  

 

Karen took a 2 falls and got scraped up pretty good.  Lesson taken away was we for sure need some first aid.  Karen does not fall so there may have been some issues with her glasses or combination of her glasses and contact lenses.  Regardless we are going to reconfigure our training plan in the final weeks to spend more time on black mountain so she can get her confidence back and we can workout the kinks with the trail and our gear as something was for sure off.  But we will figure it out and will get our plan in place for race day.

 

Also you will notice the run tracker is different. I started using Strava this week.  Why did no one tell me about Strava sooner!!!!

 

THIS WEEK: 16 miles (6.2/3/0/0/0/6.7/Free Weights)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 549 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 35 training days remaining

 

WEEK 22 - 2019-5-18

It was a big crew this week, we were joined by the tri team, which was fun. This week was also a backdown week and we had a lot of backdowns durning  the training. "Backdown" - run up that hill and then go back down.  We did about 1,600 feet of elevation.  But the good news is we did only have to run 10 miles, and we got to see peacocks :)  

 

There was a lot of trail time so I got to break in my trail shoes some more. Next week is the last Black Mountain training run, we will be doing 25k of the 50k course and it is suppsed to be some of the most challenging. It will be our last chance to test our all our gear, fuel and hydtration planning. It should be a fun day!!!

 

THIS WEEK: 28 miles (Spin/8/6.5/3/Spin/10.5/Free Weights)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 533 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 42 training days remaining

 

 

 

WEEK 21 - 2019-5-11

This week I hit all my training runs with no substitutes which was great!! Today's run was a doosie 21 miles on week 21!!!  It went well for the most part, just the normal tired feet, Karen had an issue with the bottom of one of her feet, she might have some bad shoes. Other then that we fetl great, the feet are just super tired right now.  It actually rained on us but it was still very fun.  We paced at about 10:42 which was good for us for a longer run.  We learned that we should not forget our gu. We tested out just using coconut water insteda of APEX and that worked fine as well.  

 

Next week is a down week and we do not have another long run until June 8th, we are targeting a 26.1 mile training run. We will be doing this on our own and I am starting to think about the route.  I want to make it a destination.  Thinking Oceandside train station and then run back to a brewery or something. As soon as I work it out you will be the first to know.

 

It is hard to believe we will be running 10 more miles and all on hills/trails but I do believe that the training process works!!!

 

THIS WEEK: 39 miles (6/3/6/3/Spin/21/Free Weights)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 505 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 49 training days remaining

 

WEEK 20 - 2019-5-4

This week was a backdown week, we were also in Ventura this week so I missed Monday's normal run.  Saturday's run was a nice relaxing 10 mile run in Carlsbad. This week we are wramping up for the longest run of the season so far, 21 miles!!!  This week will be all about hitting all training, sleeping, eating right and hydration, hydtration, hydration.  

 

Also the 21 mille run we will use to practice packing in our own nutrition and hydtration for our 50k.  See how our gear works for longer periods of time.

 

THIS WEEK: 22 miles (Free Weights/3/6.5/3/Spin/10.5/Free Weights)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 466 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 56 training days remaining

 

WEEK 19 - 2019-4-27

This week was the "Train Run".  This is my one of my favorite workouts of the season.  We meet at the Solona Beach train station and catch the 6:33am train to Oceanside then run back and then have Vegan Pizza and Beer at Pizza Port.  I am renaming it the Pizza Port Run ;)  To get the full 19 mile we did have to run north a couple of miles but then the rest of the time was due south. 

 

I like this run because it is a combination of many of our runs that we do during the season but it is just all stiched together.  All went well, no injuries, just tired feet after.  The train run is nice because both Central and North teans run together so we got to run with the other part of Team Costar. The other nice part of the train run is all the hardcore team members come out to support the runners so you get to see people you havae not seen in a while and that always makes for a nice break.  It was an AWESOME day!!!!

 

The weelk leading up to the train run I did not run on Monday. I wanted to give my knee one more day of rest, so I did 55 min Peloton spin class.  I think adding the spin is helping with my lung capacity.  

 

Oh yes and we saw kittens along the way!!!!

 

THIS WEEK: 31 miles (Spin/3/6/3/Spin/19/Free Weights)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 444 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 63 training days remaining

 

 

 

WEEK 18 - 2019-4-20

This week was a backdown week!  After last weeks 18 miles I did notice my right knee was, not sore, but was just sending that sigal.  After 6 miles on Monday I decided to take a real backdown week and take Peloton classes instead of my normal mid week runs. It was a nice change of pace.  In general I have added a Friday spin class to the mix and I am liking that addition, although that means there are no days off :/

 

The Saturday run was a blast, it was a 10 mile run but coach had a special trail for us to mimick what we will see on Black Mountain.  It was AWESOME!!!  The trail was hilly and technical and a ton of fun.  It was only about 2 miles but it was straight up most of the time.

 

Last week I was given the team spirit award, I passed on to Marshall who was not at practice so I will be handing it off to him at work on Monday :)

 

THIS WEEK: 28 miles (6/3/Spin/3/Spin/10/6+Free Weights)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 413 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 70 training days remaining

If you ever want to run a fun trail, you can use this easy to follow map ;)

 

 

 

 

WEEK 17 - 2019-4-13

This week was a tough one!  I think for me 18 miles is the point where it shifts to the mental side of things. Your feet are done and the miles after 18 are completed by training the mind to try and forget how tired your feet are.  This week is just the beginning of that type of training, good times. Next week is a back down week so we will be enjoying that.  My office building just added 2 Peloton bikes so I have added a 45min spin to my training on Friday mornings. It seems to be a nice way to flush out the legs for the Saturday long run, so far so good.

 

This week we had a Nacho bar fundraiser at work and we raised over $400.  Due to that and a generous donation from a co-worker I was the top fundraiser this week :)  Oh and I also recieved the spirit award this week, which was a huge honor coming from this group :)  Oh and on Sunday we took a special TNT Orangetheory Class which was a blast!!!

 

THIS WEEK: 39 miles (6/3/6/3/0/18/3+Free Weights)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 385 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 77 training days remaining

 

 

WEEK 16 - 2019-4-06

You know things are getting serious when the ice bucket comes out!!!  Saturdays long run was 15 miles down the coast.  Our staring  point which was supposed to be at Buccaneer Beach Park, but was rerouted due to the Oceanside 70.3 Ironman race. We started at the Lions Club Park and ran down to Encinitas and back. The weather was perfect and no injuries this week! Good news we were the last ones in and got to under the human tunnel ;)

 

THIS WEEK: 35 miles (6/3/8/3/0/15/Free Wieghts)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 346.4 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 84 training days remaining

 

 

WEEK 15 - 2019-3-30

This week was a backdown week (much needed).  We did a little over 9 miles today.  It was a nice little break but my feet are super tired today.  Team CoStar had a fundraiser this week on Thursday that Kady came out to so that was a lot of fun.  Karen was in Phoenix for a conference so you wont see any pictures of her form the Saturday Team run.  We have a new team member that ran with us last week, we are all 3 about the same pace so I had company on the run, althouogh she did  take a dive in the Carlsbad village area but she recovered and didn't miss a beat. She skinned knee, ankle and shin, there was a lot of blood but I think I was more freaked out than she was, it did not seem to phase her at all.

 

THIS WEEK: 32.3 miles (6/3/6/3/0/9.32/Free Weights)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 311.4 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 91 training days remaining

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WEEK 14 - 2019-3-23

Another week with NO rain, woohoo!!! This week was back to the full 6 days of training.  Today we did 13.1 miles, I think this is the longest distance we have done this season.  Feet are a little tired right now but no injuries and we are feeling good ;) 

 

THIS WEEK: 36.1 miles (6/3/6/3/0/13.1/5+Free Weights)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 284,1 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 98 training days remaining

 

GO TEAM!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what you love to eat after 13.1 miles....

 

WEEK 13 - 2019-3-16

This morning we ran the Black Mountain 50K - Training Run #1. We ran the Lusardi Loop which turned out to be 10.79 miles.  It was gorgeous morning and perfect weather. It was our first real trail run and yes we are officially ready for some trail shoes ;)  The route was technical and a totally different type of running compared to what we are used too.  We have a lot to learn for sure!!! Also this week my chili came in 3rd place in the CoStar Chili cook off ;)  The first year my vegan chili came in dead last, I will take 3rd as success!!!

THIS WEEK: 29 miles (6/3/6/3/0/10/Free Weights)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 248 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 105 training days remaining

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WEEK 12 - 2019-3-9

WOOHOO NO RAIN!!!!

 

This week's long training run was 11 mile and it went great!  We fueled up perfectly the night before and the morning of!  I was not hungry at all the whole run and even after.  Enegy was great the whole run.  I think our feet did get tired after 10 miles. Things are starting to get real as the miles start creeping up into the teens.  

 

THIS WEEK: 32 miles (6/3/6/3/0/11/3+Free Weights)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 219 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 112 training days remaining

 

 

 

 

 

 

WEEK 11 - 2019-03-02

This week was the first week back to hitting all training sesions.  Have been sore all week and really enjoyed taking Firday off from any exercise! The Saturday run was a wet one, luckily it was a back down week.  Also was able to grab a Team Costar picture this week at work. Another 4 miles tomorrow (Sunday) and this week will be in the books.

 

THIS WEEK: 27 miles (6/2.5/6/2.5/6/4+Free Weights)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 187 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 119 training days remaining

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WEEK 10 - 2019-02-23

This week was almost back on track.  Monday was a holiday, had a heavy weight lifting session wihch caused some of the back pain to come back so I skipped the run on Monday.  The rest of the week was on track. The weather was perfect for running and we had a really nice 10 mile run out in Escondido.  We gave the nutrition clinic to the team before the run which is always fun to do :)  Here is a link to the nutrition info:
http://www.thekitchenskinny.com/what-to-eat-when-training-for-a-marathon-with-team-in-training/

THIS WEEK: 27 miles (2.5/6/2.5/10/6+Free Weights)
TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 160 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 126 training days remaining

 

 

 

 

 

 

WEEK 9 - 2019-02-16

This week was a forced down week due tweaking my back last Saturday ;( I was forded to take the entire week off.  I did one OTF workout on Thursday but that was it!  Good news is I think I am back to normal!!! 

This weeks long run was supposed to be very simple 9 mile out and back, easy peasy right?!  Well Karen walked the first 2.5 miles to be with her possy, she was going to meet up with me on my way back. Well as it turned out the 9 mile turn around spot was at the base of the infamous "Torrey Pines hill". When I got there it was like the hill was mocking me, so I did what anyone would do, I crushed it non-stop at about a 10:30 pace, I guess it was the pent up energy from taking the week off?  Anyways this week is back to a full training scheduled, stay tuned and GO TEAM!!!

 

TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 160 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 133 training days remaining

Run coach run!!!

 

 

Team Costar (North Team)

Made it!

View from the top of Torrey Pines.

We met up at the base of Torrey Pines, she missed the hilll and she was so upset ;)

 

Its a little steep in the begining ;)

 

WEEK 8 - 2019-02-09

Well managed to avoid the rain agin this week but it was close!!!  We were supposed to run 8 miles but accidently ran 9 miles. A bit slower this week as I tweaked something in my lower back when I was puting stuff back in the car right before the run :(  Needless to say we lost some speed off our normal pace, but we got it done! We also got to run with the Central team, it was nice to have a chance to run with some of my Team CoStar - GO TEAM!!!

 

TOTAL VOLUME (since 12/22/2018): 147 miles
Black Mountain 50K June 29: 140 training days remaining

Go Team CoStar!!!!

 

 

We did not know exactly where to turn around but better to be long ;)

 

 

 

WEEK 7 - 2019-02-02

First official training and we managed to dodge the rain!!! GO TEAM!!!

Good old Neptune!!!

 

 

Got Ben Jr drinking the GREEN!!!! 

 

 

WEEK 6 - 2019-01-26

The last pre season fun run :)  Official training starts next Saturday! Working on the training plan and will post next week :)

 

WEEK 5 - 2019-01-19

This was a "backdown" week for us. We took a road trip to see my mom in Utah. We did some hiking and called it good.  We may have taken backdown week a bit too far ;)  Back to it next week :)

 

 

WEEK 4 - 2019-01-12

Saturday morning on the couch, pjs, fuzzy slippers and warm coffee....why would anyone think lacing up and running 10miles in the rain was a good idea?

 

 

 

 

 

WEEK 3 - 2019-01-05

A 6 mile, post holiday backdown week ;)  

WEEK 2 - 2018-12-29

A cool 8 mile run ;)

WEEK 1 - 2018-12-22

First Saturday "long" run - 6 miles!!!  You gotta start somewhere ;)  We always start with an "Out and Back" to the North Pole ;)