The North Face Endurance Challenge San Francisco 50K: Bad Race Beautiful Place

      I had been training for this race for the last couple of months and felt strong and ready. I was felling strong because I had run the 40 mile Telluride Mountain Run, a few months before. And I felt fast because I had run a 16:59 5k at elevation. So between those I knew I was ready.
      To start of the trip we drove down to Albuquerque. The first thing we did when we got there was go to REI. Where I checked out the Hoka One One Challenger, and bought some things for the race. The next day we flew out to Reno, NV to check out Rope Works, and stay with some friends. After we saw Rope Works I got out for a run on some incredible trails. The next day was I trip to Mill Valley. I was siked! I had felt great on my run and knew that I was ready! Before we got to Mill Valley we had to stop in San Fran to pick up my race packet. But when we came back from getting it (it took us about 10 minutes) our car was gone! It had gotten towed! Luckily we got a ride to pick it up. All of that shook me up but I decided to put it out of my mind so I could concentrate on the race. That night we went for another run on a hill that was on the course. During that run I felt great running 8 minute miles easily. I knew I was ready.
      On race morning I put on my shoes and race outfit, and drove out to the start. But despite having good training it was not to be my day. The first hill running 9 minute miles felt terrible. I started to get pissed! This was supposed to be my day! My race! What was happening?! My training was as good as it gets! So once I got over the fact that it wasn't my day I decided just to enjoy myself. I looked at the bay, the ocean, and the rest of the course. The first aidstation I saw my dad was 9 miles and right after a nice downhill. So coming into that I felt like maybe I could get back into race mode. So I refueled and set off again. Well maybe I couldn't get back into race mode. After I left the aidstation I felt terrible.
      Well I was back to just enjoying the scenery. The miles went by quickly but painfully. And finally I got to the next aidstation. And just as I was leaving I saw Ellie Greenwood cheering me on. Which gave me a boost. The next section of the course was crazy! It was practically a slip'n'slide, a river, something almost unrunnable. And I was still feeling bad. Coming down that and running back to the aidstation where my dad was went by in a very painful,  blister, and cramping, blur. Coming into that aidstation with only 5 miles to go I was toast. But I got a hug from Anna Frost! So for the rest of the 5 miles I just toughed it out. Once I got to the finish I was elated because I was done with one of the hardest races I have ever done, but I had also just finished one of the most amazing courses I have had the pleasure of running on. And I got to meet and talk to some of the best runners in the world. And I got to watch my friend Dakota Jones get second in the highly competitive 50 mile race.
It was a great learning experience and lots of fun.
     Thank you to all the volunteers and The North Face for putting on such an incredible race! I will be back next year!

     I place 72nd overall and 2nd in my age group with a time of 5;23.

                                                                                                                                                                    

Hokas One One Clifton

If your looking for a lightweight, highly cushioned, no nonsense shoe, look no further. I truly think that Hoka struck gold with both this and the Huaka (review coming). I have put in a lot of miles, both fast and slow. And man did it impress me. So here goes the review.
                                                                             Upper


(Photo cred: Competitor Magazine)

I think that this is where Hoka really made a fantastic upper. It's lightweight, breathable, and stretchy. I can see how they took off around 3 ounces from all their previous shoes. But the upper is also where I found the most issues. It is a bit narrow. Not overly so, but enough to cause a tad bit of discomfort. But most Hoka's I have tried are bit to narrow. Why can't Hokas release wider shoes? Well I have one more dislike. The overlays started to come off the upper much to early. And I thought that it could be
 a big discomfort or fit problem. But honestly when I was running it didn't affect anything.


                                                                        Midsole
Fantastic. I am sorry there is nothing wrong with the midsole. It's light, fluffy, and surprisingly springy. I almost wish there was something wrong with it, for the sake of the review. When running uphill it launches you and when you run downhill you feel no impact. Bottom line flawless.

                                                                        Outsole
Just a basic road outsole. Some rubber but mostly exposed midsole EVA. There are no lugs making it a road only shoe. But it works on wet, dry, and dirt roads perfectly. And after 300+ miles there is very little to no wear.

                                                           Conclusion/final thoughts
This is a road shoe. And the only problem with this is I am above all a trail runner. But luckily for me and many other Clifton loving trail runners Hokas is releasing the Hokas One One Challenger, a trail version of the Clifton. I got to check it out at REI today and I must say it was love at first sight. Alright this is the best road shoe I have worn flat out. And soon I will be releasing a review of the Hoka Huaka, another great lightweight shoe from Hoka.

Telluride Mountain Run!

          I said it last year and I will say it again this is hands down the best race that I have gotten to run. Maybe its because it has the coolest race directors or its because in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Last year I did the Hill Climb (5 miles up and 5 down on on Telluride ski slopes) last year, this year I decided to go for the big 38 mile run. Between the uphills where I was cursing the RDs Reese and Dakota and the quad destroying downhills it was a spectacular day in the mountains. A short description of the course would be. Five giant climbs and five giant downhills for a total elevation change of around 28,000.
         I felt good on the first climb and descent, the day was still cool and I was eating and drinking well. The second Climb my body started to fall apart and I was starting to have problems with food and any calories for that matter. I started to get better on the 7.5 mile downhill but that was short lived as we soon started climbing one of the biggest climbs of the day. By this point it was already super hot out and food wouldn't go down. so for about 8 miles I just suffered through and once I got through those 8 miles of pain I got to the aid station at mile 25 and was able to eat and drink a little bit. From there I felt good and ran along all the way to about mile 32 where the final climb begins. This was by far the toughest part of the race for me because of the eat and only being able to get in a few calories. But once I started the downhill and knew I was almost there I got sorta of revived and ran the downhill as hard as my tired legs would let me. It was such a great feeling to cross that finish line in 14th overall and sit down.
        Thanks again Reese and Dakota for making this race so much fun.

Leadville Trail Heavy Half. Try number 2

         I will start off by saying even though I didn't have the race I wanted I still had a fun great race and came away with 13th overall (last year I was 30th overall.)
         Sometimes I have nightmares where I will be midway through a race and suddenly my legs stop working and all I can do is watch my competitors run away while all I can do is stand there. Later you will understand why I mention this. Anyways the morning of there race I tell my dad about these nightmares and say that luckily I hadn't had them last night.
         Now in the actual race I started upfront and the early pace felt much easier than last year (not at all like my nightmares) so I was feeling very confident especially since the day before my dad and I had run the technical part of the course and I was able to all out sprint the very very rocky old jeep road easily on the downhill. For the first 4.5 miles the race was just on road and was all just a blur, It went kind of like I am in 3 place now 4th now 3rd again "hey there's my dad". Then we got to the fun part. I was an 4th place at the start of the big climb to mosquito pass and felt amazing. So I just started chugging up it. I was eventually passed by two people but it didn't matter because I could tell they weren't in my age group. But I could look down and see two kids that looked my age just a couple minutes behind. But I wasn't worried because once we got to the downhill thats where I would really be able to do well. Finally I could practically smell the top and I was sitting in a comfortable 8th place. But this is when everything starts to go wrong. My quads start to get a weird feeling as a summit mosquito pass with a kid obviously under 19 close behind. And as I start the very technical downhill the section where I usually shine my legs just stop working! Just like in my nightmares. And just like in my nightmares I watch competitor after competitor fly by while I can't even walk. So I am sitting up there punching and stretching my legs for minutes while 3 kids clearly in my age group are flying down the hill. But finally all my punching seems to work and I am able to start down the hill at a snails pace but slowly getting faster. I than suddenly they work fully and I start passing people and just trying to make up time. And right when we hit an aid station I am able to pass one kid in my age group putting me back on the podium. Alright now the cramps and the non working legs are starting to come back. To bad to I was having such a fun time on the downhill. soon I am at aid station "B" only 4.5 miles from the finish and in 12 overall 3rd in my age group. Then there is a blur and I am at aid station "A 1/2"  only 3 downhill miles to the finish but unfortunately my legs seize up again so I have to start off slow and have intense pain. But unlike the earlier cramps these wouldn't go away so I just had to grin and bare it. So I still wasn't going my full pace and I knew it was only a matter of time till I was passed. Than of course with a mile left I was passed by a kid in my age group and all I could do was watch while he ran away. The last 1/2 mile of asphalt felt like it took years but I was finally able to cross the finish line in 13th overall and 4th in my age group. Also all 3 kids that beat me in my age group were 16.
           Now I know what my nightmares fell like in real life and I now know that you get very sore after running 7.5 miles down hill on clenched muscles. Although my race did not go as planned I still did a lot better than last year and I learned a lot. Next year I will be looking to try again at this tough race.

Hoka One One Stinson

I am lucky to say that I have had the pleasure of running in the Hoka Stinsons. I love almost everything about them and only have a few complaints. When you first look at them you think heavy, and clumsy. But these are actually light and nimble. These weigh about 12.2 ounces at size 9.0 mens so they are heavier then most shoes I run in but they don't feel like they way that much. They have a 6mm drop which is the highest drop that I generally run in.

        The shoe's upper is a great upper but could use some work. The tongue and the area around the ankle are great. They are made of a soft material and just feel good on your feet. I can wear the shoe without socks without getting any blisters, that is something that I always look for in shoes. And the upper is super durable. I have put quite a few miles on these shoes and have had no problem with them wearing out. My one complaint is that I really have to cinched down the laces to get a good fit.                                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                                    

 The traction on this shoe is almost to good! It practically suction's itself to any surface. Its amazing that I can feel that safe on any terrain road to extremely technical mountain trails. The midsole is very responsive and very protective. For a while I was hesitant to to get Hoka's because I thought they would mess with my stride but I have yet to have any problem of the sort. But once again I have one problem. When I am going fast down very rocky technical trail I feel like I am going to roll in ankle. So on that type of terrain I generally will go with my Hoka One One Rapa Nui.

Stinson Compared to the Rapa Nui

Stinson Compared to Salomon S-lab Sense

 Overall this is a fantastic shoe and I look forward to some of Hoka's new models specifically the Huaka and the Clifton. I can't wait to get my hands on The Hoka Huaka due to come out in July.
Sage Canaday has a great review for them.

Shiprock Half Marathon 2014

I ran this race last year and had lots of fun, it kick-started my life as a distance runner. Last year I got 22nd overall and 3rd in my age group with a time of 1:34:45. This year I knew I could do much much better, and that's what I did. This year I got 11th overall out of 550 with a 1:26. I broke my age group course record from  last year but I still got fourth in my age group, the reason for this was that the Dine College team were racing and my age group is 12-19. So even though my time was 8 minutes faster and my overall place 11 places better I did worse in my age group. Just goes to show that competition is constantly getting better. This year my plan was to go out slower than last year but not burn out. And it worked really well. Although my mile splits did slow down it was not nearly as much as last year.
Here is my splits
Lap 1: 6:09
Lap 2: 6:14
Lap 3: 6:22
Lap 4: 6:25
Lap 5: 6:37
Lap 6: 6:28
Lap 7: 6:35
Lap 8: 6:18
Lap 9: 6:27
Lap 10: 6:36
Lap 11: 6:44
Lap 12: 6:43
Lap 13: 6:54
Lap .1: 0:27
Last year my first three miles were 6 minute miles flat and after mile 7 were all above 7 minutes.
This course is all flat so it is fast but it is painful because of the road. It is harder on my legs than any other race I have done so far.

I was very tired afterwards.
Over all I was very happy with my race it was an 8 minute PR and lots of fun.

Antelope Canyon 50K: my first ultra

One of the best race courses I have run to date. But the course was not well marked. I traded off being in 3rd and fourth for a long time until I got lost. Picture the scene I am a 13 year old kid with a huge desert landscape around me and a huge drop to the colorado river. And I couldn't find the next marker so you can imagine I was freaking out a little bit. I ran around for about 40 minutes looking for the next flag I covered quite a bit of ground while doing it. Than I saw a human running towards me from the other direction. I thought I was imagining the person because to me it felt like I had been out there for days. finally a lot of racers showed up and we started finding markers. After what felt like forever we got to the aid station. Me and two other people who I didn't catch their names a but were very nice headed out of the aid station to run the slot canyons. Running in slot canyons is one of the funnest things a person can do but once again I got lost. They had marked the course behind us. we added on a lot of miles from that and 2 at the start and I had added a lot on the rim. I than got back to the aidstation on the home stretch me and the other two people I was running with decided to run the last bit together no matter what. Finally after 8:30 hours and 45 miles instead of 31 and about 40 minutes running around the exact same spot we finished. I really liked the race because even though it wasn't well marked everybody knows MORE MILES=MORE FUN. I finished ninth but none of the pack that had been leading the entire race by a lot got a high place. Beautiful area and 14 extra miles made this very very very fun.
  
 

Hoka One One Rapa Nui review

These shoes are amazing. When I first learned about Hoka I wasn't sure about them but some friends of mine gave me The Rapa Nui I fell in love with them. Now onto the review. The upper is made of a very comfortable mesh that so far I haven't experienced any uncomfortable rubbing from.The laces a speed laces which is perfect because I have had speed laces on all my shoes for a while. The tongue is quite then and the only problem with that is you can feel the laces a bit more. But so far it hasn't bothered me. The bottom has a crazy amount of cushioning but they are still the least cushioned Hokas. The cushion really keeps my legs fresh though so its great. The tread is very reliable. I have been running on snow and ice for a while now and they haven't let me fall yet. They only have a 5 mm drop so they are still a forefoot midfoot running shoe. I don't think I will ever be able to go back to a regular shoe.
Thanks Tex so much for getting me into Hokas.