M A R C H

DRIPPING SPRINGS:    ’Gettin’ Ready’

 

MARCH
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
1	2	3	4 pizza nite 6:15 PM : )  With guest sp !	5	6	7  FM 7:00 AM
8	9	10	11 pizza fac 6:15 PM run	12	13	14 FM            7:00 AM
15	16	17	18 Pizza Fac   6:15 PM run	19	20	21  SRP 7:30 AM   JESTER RUN!! See Below
22	23	24	25 RUN CNTR    6  PM run	26	27	28 FM 7:00 AM
29  8 AM DVL Mt bike: 22 ez miles	30	31	1 Pizza Nite : ) 6:15 PM	2	3	4 FM       7:00 AM

  

 FROM DOUG:  8 AM Mt bike ride around Diamond Valley Lake  Sunday 29 March -see below : )

Legend:   Pizza Fac:  Pizza Factory                   

FM :           Farmer’s Market  (old town )           SRP:   Santa Rosa Plateau

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MARCH BIRTHDAYS

03—Brian Scheff

13—Brian Harned

29—Barb Fanelli 

 

MEMBERSHIP EXPIRATION (dues due–$40)

Dan Detienne

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MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE AT DVL

 

Next Sunday, March 29th, at 8am what’s ya say we all make like Magellan and circumnavigate Diamond Valley Lake.

Dig out your Mountain bikes and put some air in the tires, blow the dust of the seat, maybe lube the chain and show up Sunday morning in the Marina Parking lot on the East end of the lake. Ive got one extra bike in case someone would like to go but doesnt have wheels.

For those that havent ridden DVL with us before, we ride at an easy conversational pace. We take a few breaks as needed. Bathrooms are every 5 miles.  The entire ride is just under 22 miles and normally takes us from 2.5 – 3.5 hrs.  So we should have you back in your car by Noon O’ Clock. Dont forget a bottle of something to drink, and maybe a snack.

Its up to you but a helmet and gloves are always a good idea.

If you can Id appreciate an email confirming you plan on coming…so I dont go and find out Im the only one   dgstephens26.2@netzero.com

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NEW FUN:   THE JESTER RUN:  RESULTS, and Noni’s great photos and award winning captions : ) ,   Ingy’s Black  mt X terra race,  Below Eric’s Coyote 2 Moons data comes data  from another person engaged in insanity – a friend of mine’s take on racing up Haleakala  volcano on Maui. He took one look at Noni’s photo link to Eric’s race  and E mailed that the Coyote race looks like “FUN” to him (Did they share the same  Mom from outer space or somethin’??) and he may try it next year.  BEWARE ERIC:  He says the HURT race in Hawaii he’s done makes: ” Coyote look LIKE A PAVED PATH comparatively”  Did I just hear a challenge??

     Other stuff below:  _PHOTO LINK TO:   Eric’s write  up on THE COYOTE TWO MOON 100 MILER –  Dripping Springs High Tea with photo link : )….and Don’t forget the Jester Run coming this Sat. at SRP!!   And uh, Victor, oh Victor…before I start making stuff up  about you and Dan in Florida…did your input get lost  in cyber space?

COMING IN APRIL NEWS LETTER:  

                                       TEMECULA  RUN and TRI:  You all  saw me out there with my cam corder:  Slight problem…just about every one of you waved at  me as you ran past but I’m just learning how to use the cam corder and i happily stood there and video taped absolutely none of you because I didn’t push the record button hard enough.  I’d hoped to have a ‘motion picture night’ of the event but it ain’t happening …tells  me I need to stick to stationary photos and writing…I did catch portions of the tri on film but mostly that involved those screaming fast U turns on the bike and the screetchin’ halts at T-2, punctuated by  Tino’s oOOpsie and Doug and Barb’s dash to the splash finale’.

 I think about 80% of the club  showed up for either the run or the tri and despite freezing, everyone seemed to have fun.  At some point I’ll post the pre race stationary photos I took matched with great, good or even bad commentary from anyone whose willing to write it.  I’ve also decided that the club needs to   invent a new award for the Redliner that spends the most time in T-2 pealing off the most layers of clothing in slow  motion during a race…currently it would be a tie between  Barb and Tino…and I’ve got it on tape to  prove it : )

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BROOK’S NIGHT:  Wed. night’s run saw roughly  13 Redliners pop over to the shop to sample the shoes (or not).  We ran  a really nice route (per Barb, Noni, Kim K, myself and probably everyone else) compared with the high traffic routes we’ve done in the past from the store. This route took us past the double dog parks located in the new YMCA complex off Margarita, then up Solano to I think it’s called del Rey, swung a u turn, then returned.   Route was a bit short compared to our usual 5. but could easily be extended up del Rey.   I loved the Brook’s Adrenaline shoe I tried, with it’s  nicely fitted heal, comfy wide toe box in the size B width, and special fluid filled toe and heal gel pads.  It was light but provided plenty of padding and the shoe’s sole was very flexible.  Other comments I heard:  females seemed to like the snug heal/wide toe box bit except one female with narrow  feet found the shoe a bit too wide -maybe needed an ‘A’ width since we mostly tried b’s I think.  One male found the toe, which slanted very slightly upward (Theoretically to help  one’s stride) to feel ‘odd’.  (I didn’t feel the slant at all, other’s did with mixed feelings.) 

       Post run, we provided some verbal feed back about the shoes and got goodies like barefoot shaped key chain/can opener, decals, and quite a nifty gun metal grey shirt with saying “Are You In A Trance?” on the front.  That refers to the Trance shoe but it cracked me up.  I’m thinking I need to cross out the “Are You” part and substitute, “Am I”  for it then wear it next year if I try the shorter  more user friendly 100K version of Eric’s Coyote 2 moons race :  )

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SRP “Jester” Handicap Run:   photos by Noni,  Frivolous extra comments by your editor.

Before the start of the Inaugural Jester Handicap Race at the Santa Rosa Plateau

Frivolous extra comments:

Kim, Dina, Tino, Victor’s 1 and 2 = this will be a blast.

 Taimi:  How fast should i not go?? What if I see a  Mt  lion eating a coyote?  Is it OK to leap  over rocks with a single bound or should I take a step in the middle?? Does horse doo doo come  off shoes?? Can Tarantula’s fly??

Ingy:  Don’t worry Taimi, this is a piece of cake,  first the path goes 50 feet straight then ya see that bush, ya make a little  left by it then ya go  like 40 feet and turn south and the path goes up a ways then ya go like maybe 3 blocks through this grassy area and then ya just…

Glen:    “I think one of Taimi’s flying tarantulas just crawled up my shorts”.  (Note that  Victor instantly  in-acted  anti-tarantula measure)

Eric:  Suddenly decides his jester run might be harder to orchestrate than expected.  Can be seen here trying to create falling domino effect to see if his leaning on Glen will cause everyone to fall over. Why is he doing this?    As usual,  I have no clue.

Write up by Eric, edited by Noni :

We had 8 club members and future club member and Jester missus, Noni, show up for the handicap run.  When asked for predicted 4 mile times, most people were ultra-conservative even though being warned about penalty time if they run much faster than predicted.  Even though no one had to race, most everyone had someone within sight ahead of them and that helped motivate the pace.

Dina takes off with victory in her heart and hands!

(Ingy’s hopin’ she gets her head up and eyes off the ground real fast…form like she’s showin’ here could threaten his course coinage collecting)  See link below for start  photos/Noni’s commentary for each runner.

 Winning the sandbag award (no points) is Taimi who predicted a 4 mile time of 36:00 or a 9 min/mi pace.  Since I do not think Taimi is capable of running 9 min/mi even while dragging a tire behind her, I called her on it but she felt timid about the terrain and was worried about going off course, among other things. (See editors above list of  ”Other Things”)

Here comes Taimi with her pony tail barely keeping up with her!

Editors note to Taimi:  See that thing behind you?  It’s called a bench, it is inanimate, and it can not chase you. Some people even sit on them half way thru runs. 

 Glen Koch, however, showed up ready to go – getting into the real spirit of the event.  He started trash talking immediately and to back it up, predicted the fastest time so he got to start last and try to catch everyone.  First off was Dina at 7:50 am, then Ingy took off chasing her at 7:51.  Ambassador Victor Lopez chased Ingy at 7:52 not realizing that all his relay training is starting to kick in.  Kim Koch and Noni took off together at 7:53 and just cruised, gabbing all the way.  Then Taimi, starting way too far back at 7:54 caught Noni and Kim at about 1.5 miles into the course.  (We know the spot because Noni was able to point out to Taimi the spot where Noni saw a bobcat on a run at SRP last summer.) (Editors note:  OK,  now THAT explains Taimi’s extra burst of speed!)  Then Victor Flores took off, determined to catch his missus, with the 5 minute lead,  left at 7:55.  Tino also tried to match Glen’s bravado however he knew he was going to run another long run on the trails after the jester run and so held a little something back.  Not much though and he predicted a time fast enough to let Victor F. have a four minute lead before he pursued at 7:59.  Then Glen was off at 8:00 flat to try to catch them all.

Glen is worried that Jester Man won’t get his start time right since he has to take his photo at the same time! 

It was no surprise to see the sandbagger, Taimi, come in first with a run time of 31:54 well under her predicted 36:00 time.  She received a time penalty of 2 minutes for an official time of 33:54 which made no difference as she had the 3rd fastest time with or without the penalty.  However with the penalty assessed she was not the first to finish but was 3rd.  The next runner in was Victor Lopez who also sandbagged to a lesser degree and received a lesser penalty to actually take the win.  If he had run 18 seconds faster he would have been assessed an extra minute and Ingy would have won as he was the next runner in and he was also flirting with a time penalty but just under the “redline”.

Here comes Bob looking fit and ready for another loop!

 Noni, being more familiar with the trail and course, finished just ahead of Kim K. who was fifth officially. Kim was the first person to run sort of close to but still faster than their predicted time.  Noni finished just ahead of Kim but as she is not a club member yet doesn’t count for points.  Dina came in 5th, less than a minute and a half from her predicted time with hubby Victor right on her heels in 6th – a hair over a minute faster than his predicted time.  Glen came in 7th having a hard time making up so much time on the rest of the field, catching only Tino, who came in 8th running close to Glen’s predicted time.

Jester Man with best guesser Glen and worst guesser Taimi

(Ed. Note:  Based on expressions, I believe Jester is patting Glen on back for job well done while simultaneously pinching Taimi for miscalculating her time so badly.  From Jester’s expression, this is like trying to rub your belly and pat your head at the same time)

 Every runner in the event ran faster than predicted.  (Ed. note:  Just think how much more ‘under predicting’ would have happened had everyone been doing Ingy’s track workouts!!)   In the future time penalties will be more severe with one minute assessed at two minutes faster than predicted then two more minutes on the third minute and three more at the fourth minute and so on so that a runner running 4 minutes faster than their predicted time would have 6 penalty minutes added to their time.(Editors note: They will also be fed to the nearest Cougar. That should solve the problem.)  Of note – there is no penalty for running any time slower than your predicted time. (ED Note to Taimi:  SEE, that’s what that bench is for!!) So for handicap points Victor won 15.  Glen, who aimed high, got 9 points for his finish but since he was the closest to his predicted time (41 seconds) he gets an additional 15 points for a total of 24 points.

Tino and Glen did finish in style; so much so that Camera 1’s batteries died from the heat they gave off as they blitzed through the finish line.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. 

Ed note:  SO HOW COME THE JESTER DIDN’T GET THROWN IN THE HORSE’S WATERING TROUGH??? (Those of you sharing my military past know what I’m talkin’ about.)

Everyone was able to follow the simple and well-marked (if the Jester does say so himself!) course and despite being a little chilly and grey, it was a fine running morning and everyone had a lot of fun.  Tino and Taimi had so much fun they went out with run coordinator, Jester, for an eleven mile circumnavigation of the Santa Rosa Plateau.  Do I detect a little regular team vs ultra team competition going on?  Below are complete results:
 
runner               start      finish     place     run time  rank   predicted time   time difference   points
 
Victor Lopez        7:52 8:26:13+1   1      34:13+1     7     37:40               3:27               15
                                   8:27:13(official)    35:13(official)
 
Bob Ingertson      7:51    8:27:17      2      36:17        8     38:48               2:29               14
 
Taimi Schweighardt7:54 8:25:54+2   3       31:54+2   3     36:00               4:06               13
                                   8:27:54(official)    33:54(official)
 
Kim Koch           7:53     8:28:19       5       35:19       6     37:00               1:41                12
 
Dina Flores         7:50     8:28:36       6       38:36       9     40:00               1:24               11
 
Victor Flores        7:55    8:28:58       7       33:58       4     35:00               1:02               10
 
Glen Koch          8:00     8:29:19       8       29:19       1     30:00                 :41                9+15=24
 
Tino Soria           7:59     8:29:37       9       30:37       2      32:00               1:23               8
 
Noni Nierenberg  7:53      8:28:08      4       35:08       5      37:00                  1:52  

THE BEST PART:  NONI’S PHOTO LINK: 

http://picasaweb.google.com/noninierenberg/JesterHandicapRun32109?authkey=Gv1sRgCMqiuqTYveXL6QE&feat=directlink 

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BLACK MOUNTAIN 5K/15K   …The answer to  why Ingy wasn’t at the Temecula Tri…as told by INGY to my computer:

Black Mountain Regional Park is very large and quite pretty, esp. now when everything is green. I encourage anyone thinking of a trail run, or just a weekend hike—give the place a try.
That said, anyone who has ever ran an Xterra race learns quickly not to trust their course descriptions. This race was described as flat and fast, “the fastest trail run of the year and great for beginners”. Totally deceiving as the only flat was the last 50 meters across grass to the finish.
The first mile of the 5k was mostly downhill and you had to pay close attention as there were many ruts and washouts on the 10 foot wide trail. At one point I glanced at my Garmin and I was at 6:20 pace. The second mile was rolling with several hundred yards of single track trail. At two miles the course took a right turn and we started to climb. At about three miles I took a look at my Garmin and I was doing 19:00 min. pace! Of course, true to Xterra, the course was long also, measuring 3.61 miles on my Garmin, with the last 1.6 miles all up.
The best part of Xterra is always at the finish! Everyone gets a finishers medal and a great breakfast. Bananas, oranges, watermelon, 4 kinds of muffins, scrambled eggs, and coffee, and since their races are generally limited to around 400 runners there is rarely much of a line and plenty to go around. Normally, they also have lots of give away stuff. On Sunday I won a 48 count box of Gu——pretty cool, it’ll last me a long time!!
Xterra age group medals are also quite large, about the size of most marathon finishers medals. Since this was the first race held on the Black Mtn. course I also get to be the 60+ course record holder for at least a year—–my first record!!!! 

Ingy

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Wed meeting notes: In  abreviated non nonsense format:

1.Ingy and Beth arranged for Dr Alex Espinoza from the OUCH clinic to run and speak to us.  He did, provided interesting data on glycosumine, most forms of which apparently haven’t been proven to do much. Summerized what the clinic does -not just bone/joint work but also deals with lung/heart type issues.    Plus he gave out a number of nice T’s and the two wounded  warriors ( My hubby Bob and Kim P.) got nice AUCH clinic swet shirts 

2.  Jester Eric discussed the  ”Jester run” at SRP on 21st -recommends Ragnar folks make that a double and maybe even triple run day plus he hopes to have Ragnar team meeting that day.  Iain:  Show up. Please. See below for SRP run details.   People old  enough to drive are needed as Ragnar  volunteers.  Discussed the need to pin down group’s general collective speed to determine start time.  Start time determines also if folks may need to  spend previous night near Ragnar start local or be able to drive up there race morning.  Noon start time makes driving up on race day practical.   

3.  Noni discussed her Dripping Springs social briefly -see below.

4.   Ingy and Victor collected $$ for our new shirts -Plan to order them next week.  Ingy still has some left over Trotter and Brooks high tech shirts -buy from him at the Running Center.  OK to pay him for the sshirts you each ordered when possible.

5.  It was universaly agreed that ‘my’ Bob looked great for someone who had the joy of a triple bypass the previous Wed. 

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H  I GH  T E A    AT  D R I P P  I N G   S P R I N G S

Noni and Eric instigated a Run, Hike N’ High Tea event at dripping Springs Sunday.   They put this on for visiting friends of theirs. Their friends are clearly pretty unique  since there aren’t a lot of Americans in the grey haired dept. for whom The Drip Springs elevation gain and plunge would qualify as  ‘What I  most Want to Do on my Sunday’.  A few moments talking with their friends proved their uniqueness.  These are people who call double crossings of the Grand Canyon “fun”.  I guess that means they come from the same planet as Eric though I note they have dropped that planet’s style of attire and adapted to ours much better than Eric has.   A slew of Redliners  joined in on this Trail to the Sky.  Some hiked, some jogged, some ran.  Most of those who hiked headed out the less rocky more undulating left fork of the split while the runners headed up the steeper ups of Dripping Spring trail.  I wasn’t there so I can’t give much commentary on what went on before the High Tea part BUT let me activate my imagination and here’s what may have happened: Everybody takes off fresh and smooth at the start, accompanied by the involuntary thumbs up of Kimmie. Kimmie’s thinkin’, “Can I hike fast enough to burn off last night’s  huge lettuce n veggie salad, the one with no dressing but there were those 3 crutons”; Barb’s thinkin’, “I’m gonna make Mark hang with Kimmie’s  speed come hell  or  high water”; Steve A. is thinkin’ to himself,   “This can’t possibly be as fast as that super sonic 2 hr 55 minute run up here two weeks back but over my dead  body am I gonna slow down in front of Monica and Taimi”.  Ingy’s brain’s going,  “There’s a dime in my future and the future is gonna be in the next 10 minutes”.  Mean while Noni is happily  chattin’ away to  her friends about flower species endemic to the hills and Eric’s  thinking who knows what because it’s  impossible for me as a  human to  think like an alien.  Iain is target locked on just keeping up and so is Kim K. who’s headed up the steep route at quick time with Glen, hoping to reach the top for her first time. With those thoughts everybody heads up at various paces and as they do Doug chats 100 sentences to Mark’s 2.5.  This distracts both of them from aucho prone bodies and their speed’s pretty good because it’s embarrassing to have two females topping out at 5’  3” tall smearing two 6 foot tallers into the dirt. Eventually, some where near the clouds, half the fast group decides to search a rabbit warren for dead protein or something I didn’t quite get.  Maybe Monic’s idea since Eric being an alien,  he doesn’t get protein from meat.  They split  off from Taimi  and company.  Taimi’s busy finding out she really does dig this trail run stuff more than expected. Her turbo charge function kicks in and Steve goes into O2 deficit in .3  seconds and remains there for the next hour. Everybody makes their way back toward where great food awaits and as they do Ms. Wind Beneath Iain’s Wings, aka Alejandra (did I finally learn to spell that right??) has managed to do the impossible:  De-energize their two sons.  Every female out there can tell every male out there that that takes twice as much energy as any male ever spends doing anything including running Dripping Springs.  Doug to Ingy:   I wonder how many calories the group burned off this day.  Anyone wanna try and do the math?? Wait, it’s  on my garmin for  me..I could  just   multiply that by the number  of people who hiked that path, add 10 calories for  each 2 quarts of water each person carried, divide it by how little the gal’s weigh then add the distance and speed Taimi’s group blah blah blah…… Everyone hikes, jogs, dashes or in Steve’s case draggggssss then drops back into the parking lot.  Steve has just learned that given sufficient motivation he can do Drip Springs 15 minutes faster than he thought was his fastest possible pace.  2 hrs 40 minutes. Gasp whew gasp.    That’s if he doesn’t mind looking like a dead fish whose mouth is poofing in and out trying to suck oxygen molecules out of the mountain air. Noni:  I did this test thing:  I made 2 huge pans of brownies and my friend made 2 coffee cakes and we thought we’d see which of them Tracy ate…you aren’t gonna believe this:  SHE ATE some of each and 3 brownies!!     3 ??  NO!! didn’t ya see? it was more like 6!!  She made  this brownie sandwich with a blondie and a sprig of lettuce in the middle, then she opened wide like this and just popped them all in at once!!  it was just  like those Hipppo pics you see on discovery channel.    it was amazing!! Everyone then proceeds to eat great food and I take an instant liking to Noni’s friend because she understands the importance of putting large quantities of brown sugar streusel atop coffee cake.  While I didn’t bring anything besides Bob, I felt I contributed to the High Tea by eating large quantities of Noni’s brownies.  We certainly didn’t want the kids eating it and going into hyper mode, right Alejandra??  Living proof that Doug DOES eat!!….BUTTTT… Over whelmed by the 3 tablespoons of cous Cous, 1 tablespoon of pasta salad, 2 potato chips, and 1/3 of  one brownie he ate, Doug’s enormous  meal leaves him sleepy and ready for a nap.  About 1 Pm, everyone splits up to go get cleaned up, Steve drags himself up off the ground but is still looking for spare O2 molecules.  Last to leave was probably Ingy who did the parking lot sweep, you know, just  in case someone lost  some change. FROM ERIC: could you please put a short line in the newsletter from noni and me thanking all who attended and brought stuff.  we really enjoyed the morning, it was such a great day and super companionship.  and, btw, we have someone’s fold up blue chair that says “Z communications” on it and will return it when we know who’s it is. harpy tails,  jester       O              \ __\__                                                                        \   \                    \               ___^             /          \____                _ /                    \    PHOTO  LINK FROM NONI: I sat down shortly after returning home and downloaded the photos I took to a Picasa album and even added goofy captions.  Here is the link to the album:   http://picasaweb.google.com/noninierenberg/DrippingSpringsRunMunch?authkey=Gv1sRgCLj_gpD5q6aEogE&feat=directlink.    PS I think Eric already wrote to you about this, but just in case, would you please put a note on the website to everyone who joined us for today’s adventure that we are so happy they could come and we want to thank everyone who brought goodies to share as well. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ First quarter Jester Event   Mar. 21, 2009 at Santa Rosa Plateau same bat time, same bat channel (7:30 am; horse parking lot) we ask everyone to show by 7:30am and since this a handicap run slower runners will start around 7:45 w/ the faster runners starting around 8:10   format:  handicap run course: fairly benign 4mile run on trails marked w/ flour dots at intersections; approximately 8 w/ only 5 being major turns. method: on arriving everyone will provide a time estimate for the course.  these times can be based on one’s fastest attempt or whatever pace they choose to do therefore it is not really a race per se where the fastest runner wins.  to prevent sandbagging, any runner running more than 3 minutes faster than their predicted time will be penalized 1 minute per minute faster.  so a runner trying for an advantage w/ a slower start who runs five minutes under his predicted time will be penalized 2 minutes. a runner predicting a time of one hour for the four miles (15 min/mi) will start at 7:45 while a runner predicting a time of 20 minutes (5 min/mi) will start at 8:25.  theoretically both runners should hit the finish line around the same time.  points will be awarded as such:  15 points for the first finisher (not the fastest time), 14 for the 2nd finisher down to 2 points for the 14th finisher.  there will also be 10 points awarded for the closest to the predicted time done.  watches are allowed, we just ask runners to abide by the spirit of the run and not run the clock out to win the closest to the predicted time.   all math will be done by the organizers, just show up, predict your time and run the course when told, and we’ll handle all the point awards and timing.  full results with finishing order, points awarded and a ranking of times from fastest to slowest will be posted on the newsletter tho no points awarded on the basis of fastest times; it’s just a race w/in the race kind of thing.   also, for ragnar relay team members this is our tentative day for our triple workout.  hang around after the four mile handicap event for the second run of the day starting around 9:30am, distances to be determined depending on whether runners are on the regular or ultra team and non-ragnar relay team members are encouraged to join in the fun.  let’s run wild out there! harpy tails, JEster          O            \ __\__                                      \   \                    \               ___^             /          \____                _ /                    \   the coyote two moon 100 miler ….Just the fact that ‘100 miler’ is in the title tells you this comes from Eric: (Even if you don’t read this, check out the great photo link and Noni humorous captions at bottom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)   for those of you that are planning on attending this month’s jester run, the handicap santa rosa ramble, imagine, if you will, instead of predicting a 4 mile time over a fairly benign dirt course and having a staggered start over the next half hour you instead predict a 100 mile time over a mountainous course and having a staggered start over the next 9 hours. “Yi Yi YIKES!!!  I’d rather hang out in my den than even think about doing that”  that’s the way the coyote two moon race was set up.  the only 100 miler (and 100k for the wimps out there) with a handicap start.  it is also the only race i know of that adds and/or subtracts time from your “raw” time in the form of boner or bonus minutes done mostly on the whim of the rd.  boner minutes are awarded to people being rude or just doing really stupid stuff while bonus minutes were awarded based on being colourful, perky, friendly, participating in pre-run activities (like bowling), spending money in the host city (ojai), and sucking up to the rd.  so full results will not be fully tabulated until later this week tho minor awards are given out after the race for the top fastest times and all finishers.  so you get the gist- it’s a weird, fun race if that can be said of any 100 miler. Pre race activity:  Howling??   for all who have been introduced to the joy that is the dripping springs trail imagine, if you will again, doing the full up and down and then repeating it 6 more times for the distance of 100 miles and you will have a very good sense of the coyote 2 moon course. (Editor’s note:  Guess we ain’t talkin’ flat)  however, for feet of climbing to be equal you would have to repeat dripping springs a little more than 9 times to equal the 28,100 feet of climb in coyote.  at ojai, ca there is a mountain ridge, nordhoff ridge, just north of the town.  there is a truck trail that runs the length of the ridge east and west and there are single track trails running from both north and south sides and the west end up to the ridge and the truck trail.  the coyote course is really simple- run 6 miles up to the ridge, run along the ridge a wee way then take a different trail and run back down to ojai.  get to the bottom and turn around and run about 9 miles back up and go to the highest spot you can find on the east end and then return down 1.5 mile and run along the ridge for a half mile and then plummet down 8 miles to rose valley on the north side, turn around and run back up (but skipping the highest peak point) and run back past where you got on the ridge originally (and only 6 miles to the finish line but way too soon as this is only the 40 mile point) continue on the ridge to another trail that leads back to rose valley from the west but instead of a long gradual descent of 8 miles as done earlier the course drops the same elevation in only 3 miles.  once you return to the rose valley aid station and can face going on the course goes back up to the ridge via the steep 3 mile dirt road that was just done down.  back on the ridge again head west for another mile or so and, you guessed it drop down again off the ridge on the north side to howard’s creek, only four miles of fairly nice single track trail and again get to the bottom and turn around and go back up then follow the ridge west some more for a bit more than a mile again and hit gridley top aid station.  from there 8 miles with the first mile being uphill to the watchtower then 7 miles of mostly downhill plunge to the cozy dell aid.  turn around and return to gridley top and then turn right and head down gridley trail to gridley bottom 6 miles away back on the south side of the ridge.  following that head right back up to gridley top and then follow the ridge all the way back (about 6 miles) to your original trail and run back down that to finally reach the finish line just 6 miles away.  man, it was hard just typing that, it’s gotta be easier to run it, right?  …right? “I’m so confused…where was I supposed to go??”   due to the staggered start and the fact that once upon a time i used to be fairly good running hundreds i was in the last start group for the 100 milers which was 3am sat. morning.  a good time for me as i am a night owl.  the first wave started at 6 pm fri..  there were seven of us in our group, four guys and 3 gals.  as was my wont i cruised up the first climb in the lead intent on trying for a fast time.  i had karl metzler’s 19:24 from last year to shoot for tho i thought that unlikely given my training.  in any case i was hoping for the fastest time for the race.  by the first turn around i had a comfortable 5 minute lead and was not pushing.  everything was still going well at my first appearance at rose valley.  i had been seeing runners from other start groups coming back up the mountain and had already caught a few of those on the long downhill into rose valley.  the sun had risen and it wasn’t so cold (around mid to upper 20’s on the ridge and northside overnight).  at the aid station i drank about 6 oz of pickle juice as i had a pre-cramp feeling in my calves on the downhill and a full nestle chocolate milk plus some coke and a chocolate donut hole and headed back up.    it was hard getting back going as that was the first time i had had to see noni and really refuel and i stayed put a little long.  but my lead was still around 15 minutes so i felt pretty good.  headed back up the mountain doing ok.  energy was great but i noticed i was gradually slowing.  i still caught a couple of other people from earlier starts but looking way down the mountain i could see my pursuers and they were not still 15 minutes back.  by the time i got to the ridge aid station ray sanchez caught me and he was in and out and gone.  soon after on the downhill roch horton caught me.  i was thinking that those guys really didn’t know how bad that 3 mile steep downhill and then 3 mile steep uphill going back to and from rose valley was going to effect them and i thought i could run conservatively and eat them up later.  knowing while i was thinking it that race strategy never, and i mean never, has worked for me in the past but since my legs were feeling all pounded and tired what choice did i have?  going mincingly down to rose valley francesca passed me.  i stayed fairly steady from then on but not fast tho i think i actually went up the 3 mile hill better than most from rose valley as i still caught more people and no one else caught me.  when i got to the howard’s creek trail i was happy.  this is my favorite trail on the course.  four miles and just a gradual descent (and ascent) mostly soft dirt and single track.  i stretched my legs out and ran with some flair down.  no mincing just a relaxed cruise.  at the bottom i met noni and again spent a little too long time there and i stiffened up.  luckily she convinced me to carry a small head lamp for the next section even tho it was only about 13 miles to the next time i’d see her at cozy dell and i had 3 hours before dark.  one of the most amazing things i have discovered about ultras is how slowly i can go while actually racing.  i have clocked myself running, yes-running, a mile in 25 minutes during one 24 hour race on a flat 1 mile paved loop (i found i could walk the mile during the same race in 20 minutes so yes there are times when i can walk faster than i can run).  in any case wendy from my group passed me on the climb back up to the ridge on my favorite trail tho close to the top.  we stayed together and talked  for the next few miles but then when we started descending to cozy dell she pulled away.  Two Coyotes chattin’.  Note they are smart enough to pause as they do so, unlike certain human runners in this race.  my downhill legs were shot.  i could go up about as fast as anyone at this point but everyone, and i mean everyone, was going faster than i was on the downhill.  then about halfway down it got dark so i got even slower.  i did have my lamp so not all was lost.  just before the bottom the last two from my start group passed me and i was in last place from my group.  a position i solidly held from thence on to the finish.  noni got me food and more lights at cozy dell and nicely suggested the joys and comfort of just staying in place and letting the race go on without  me.  it was not an unkindness, she just knew i was fairly miserable at being so slow and that there were two more horrible climbs ahead and over 50 kilometers left in the race.  however, i had dnfed the year before at near the same point and as i have not finished a 100 miler since 2005 and especially since i was feeling ok, energy levels good and no significant pain like i was breaking something i was determined to carry on to at least the next aid station where i could see her, gridley bottom at 80 miles.  again, i stiffened up at the aid station and starting back in the dark was hard.  especially as i kept tripping on rocks and stumbling about.  i went thru my whole profanity vocabulary within the first mile until i figured out ( it takes awhile for my brain to work out things sometimes) that my LED light was not giving me the depth perception i needed so on rocky sections i used my hand-held flashlight and i don’t think i tripped ever again.  also after a bit more than a mile there was a fog coming over the mountain and the LED headlamp just reflected back from the fog making it very difficult to see.  it did not seem to slow many people down tho but once again i was going uphill and only two late start 100kers passed me going up.  to give you a sense of the speed needed to do 100s let me tell you i did the 8 miles uphill to gridley top in 3:26.  not exactly blistering.  and that was non-stop in case you thought i might have pulled over for a nap or something.  running down to gridley bottom was a painful chore and i got passed by a few more people but everyone was very spread out now even tho with lights one could see runners literally 8-10 miles away once above or below the fog layer.  i guess i shouldn’t call it fog as it was really a cloud cover that the mountain was higher than.  at gridley bottom, 80 miles, i had 20 more miles to go and noni let me know that she wouldn’t be horribly crushed if i called it a day there.  well, since her job was pretty much done as i wouldn’t see her again untill the finish anyway and i had done 7 of the 8 mountain climbs i concentrated on thinking just one more uphill and one more downhill to go rather than ten miles of mostly up and ten miles of mostly down for 20 long miles.  i set off and had only one guy pass me from a 100k start before gridley top.  going back up i saw that there were only a handful of people still racing behind me.  i knew the race was officially over by 10am sun morning and given that i was taking around 2 and a half hours for every 6 miles i knew it was going to be a close thing for me to be an official finisher.  i knew i was finishing as there were no good dnf options after 80 miles but i had worked so hard it would have hurt to not be official.  so i pushed my walking pace from 80 on doing the 6 miles back up to gridley top only 15 minutes slower than i went down.  at the gridley top aid station we were above the clouds and the moon was out and bright and the mountain ridge looked really cool with the ocean of clouds below us.  there was a bit of a backlog at the aid station and since i had really tanked up when i last saw noni six of us left the aid station withing a minute of each other.  so we had a little race w/in the race.  feeling pressured by time and knowing the last 10 miles of downhill to the finish was going to be slow for me i power walked past this group.  they appeared to be out for an evening stroll just chatting among themselves and having fun, it sounded like.  since we were on a smooth(ish) truck trail and on the top of an open ridge with a bright moon i did not have to use my lights at all from there to the finish so i was in “stealth” mode and i could watch everyone else ebb and flow from their lights.  i put some serious distance on the group fairly quickly and by about 4 miles in i had close to a half mile lead on them.  but then the downhill started.  it was quite gradual for awhile but i continued walking hard but it was not long before the crowd passed me just cruising along.  i did notice however that all conversation had ceased and everyone was down to business.  not long after that my second sunrise occurred.  well, i should say the next daylight happened as the cloud cover rapidly rose to meet the sun so that before it could crest the mountains to the east i was below the clouds so it was not until we were almost home that the clouds cleared enough for me to see the sun.  about a mile out from the last aid station 7 miles from the finish another guy caught me.  he left the aid station looking strong altho he was also walking like me.  i followed him to the last section of single track trail, the one i had started up more than a day ago and he disappeared quickly.  the first mile and a half down was very technical,  lots of rocks big and small and several switchbacks.  i tried running ever mindful of the 10 am deadline but it was just too hazardous given my state of mind and physical dexterity or lack of both.  hearing noise above me i look up at a switchback and see a lady catching me.  as the trail was  narrow with little passing opportunities i picked it up looking hard for some sort of pull out so i could let her go by w/out slowing her down too much but, of course, nothing and when she got close she seemed content to maintain at my pace  we were quiet for awhile but then we started talking and she was in the 100k but was about 2 hours slower than her last year’s effort and was just trying to get it over with.  finally we hit a campground and i let her pass and she pulled away.  about a half mile further the last guy that had caught me was coming back to me.  maybe he tried to hard to put me away but his wheels were certainly falling off and bouyed by the run with the lady and passing the guy i was able to run almost all the last trail down to the finish.  i get to the soccer field where i had to run a lap before the finish line,  a nice little insult after all that we had gone thru but at least it was flat and soft grass.  noni walked beside me as i ran my loop before skipping ahead to get a finish photo.  people with energy and spryness make me sick.  but at least i was finally done finishing at 9:28 am for a time of 30:28:48.  can you imagine doing anything that you love for 30 and 1/2 hours?  i won’t know how i did overall for about a week but i know i was the slowest of my start group all of whom finished the race with the top two fastest men’s (ray had the fastest with 25:16) and women’s (francesca had the fastest i’m guessing around 27 hours) time coming from my group.  and i also know that when it comes to really hard courses (at least at non-significant altitude) i can persevere.   there is so much left out of this account which is really a bare bones mile by mile replay.  it does not express the amazing feelings being on a mountain top after working hard to get up there (several times) and seeing the view 360 degrees around with the whole world seemingly below.  missing are all the feelings of going from cold temps to fairly warm (upper 20’s to mid 70’s) and back again.  and the spirit of comradery in the face of competition  which is really the greatest thing about ultras that i know cannot be expressed adequately in words by me.  out there on the course all racers are like a close family.  we may be racing but people are always willing to help each other be it batteries for lights or food or fluids or advice or just companionship and conversation.   harpy tails, “That race was worth howlin’   about” jester       O              \ __\__                                                                        \   \                    \               ___^             /          \____                _ /                    \ FABULOUS PHOTO LINK WITH GREAT NONI CAPTIONS:   I finally finished the photo album of C2M.  Here is the link to it:  http://picasaweb.google.com/noninierenberg/Coyote2Moon2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCITbhPivyOmxqAE&feat=directlink.           Editor’s note :  Reading that had an odd effect on me….it made  me both interested in what it would be  like to experience this sort of race  myself and it also made  me interested in never experiencing a race  like this!  Maybe  if the cut off could be extended to about 4 days and they provided a really nice camp ground with hot showers for one each night  ( I know: Whimpy whimpy whimpy!) ————————————————    HALEAKALA  RACE,   MAUI: The below race write up comes from a talented 59 year old friend who ’specializes’ in ultra’s and adventure races. His name  is Ed Bugarin and he is an instructor (as is his wife Carol) of the POSE method of athletics.  This method teaches one to use gravity to help one’s performance.  (He did Eco Challenge Borneo for those of you aware of the eco challenge series).  Note he and Eric have a few things in common -like race foot wear…do they know something we mortals don’t?? I did the Haleakala “Run to the Sun” this past Saturday (March 14) on the Hawaiian island of Maui.  As usual, it was a grueling uphill run to the summit.  About 5 minutes into the 4:30 am start it dumped hard and long enough to get everyone soaked and wet.  Then it stopped and did not rain until we reached the 8,000 ft level.  At the beginning of the Haleakala Road, where the switch backs begin (about 14.5 miles into the run) there was a strong headwind blowing at 40 MPH.  That really slowed down the runners.  We were also told at this point that the 36.2 mile race to the 10,023 ft summit was shortened 3 miles due to the high wind conditions at the top. The park rangers closed the summit off to everyone, including tourists due to the windy, cold and limited visibility of about 200 yards.  At mile 31 aid station we were encouraged by the volunteers that we had only 2 miles to go.  Then at the mile 32 aid station we were told we had only 2 miles to go.  That confused all the runners, especially since it was very cold, 35°, and with stronger winds.   With only 4 miles to go, my buddy, Tom, and I were walking at a sub 20 minute per mile pace because of the grade and windy condition and it seems like the lack of oxygen.  Damn runners in front must have used up most of the oxygen.  We were also freezing.  It was a good thing that my wife Carol was following us in a rental car because she stopped along the way and gave us clothes and gloves to put on.  If she wasn’t there to give us clothes, I would have dropped out early on.  It was so cold that about 3/4 of a mile from the finish line, I was shivering pretty good and was contemplating getting in the rental car Carol was driving.  Of course (editors note:  Why oh why would he say “of course’….like this is something the rest of us might do?? LOL) both of us were wearing Crocs and the wind was going right through the holes in the front of the Crocs and with wet socks our toes were numb.  But we managed to finally finish in 7 hours 54 minutes.  That was the 6th time I did this race and the third time in my Crocs.  Even with a slow time I managed to place 2nd in my age group, 50-59.  Next year I move up the the next age group, yeah! Here’s a few photos of Tom and I as we were up at the higher elevations fighting the strong head wind and steep climb a few miles from the finish line which was actually 34.2 miles from the start. Edward Bugarin Pose Certified Running Coach, level 3 Pose Certified Triathlon Techniques Coach, level 1 http://poseathlete.com “Training is supposed to reveal the possibilities, not define your limits.“          Most of you know by now that Hubby Bob had the joy of undergoing triple by pass operation a few days ago. He deserves an award at next years award night for being the run club  member who was most dedicated at attending pizza night, rarely missing a single slice, who always pays our dues on time, yes, for both of us, and who himself has yet to run a single club run during our 4 years of membership.  But he has done a tri or two and many bike rides.  Fortunately his heart suffered almost no damage from the minor heart attack that occurred.    SO I don’t have  time to do a proper write up on dripping springs hike but here are the photos, courtesy Glen and Doug: Eric may be able to walk on nice smooth even water, based  on his speed getting accross the creek, but here’s proof Doug can walk on tippy pointed rocks. Which is harder?? The FASS TTTTT    Group:       Taimi: “ Where’s the pavement??” Iain:  ”There’d better be a Chili Relleno waiting for me at home after this” Eric:   “Hill, What Hill??” Steve:    ”HI Ya, Old friend  Mountain”  They’re  OFFFFFF  into the Wild Blue Yonder..Up they GOOOOOOO!!!! Into the Blueeeeee! Mean while,  Kim, Glen and I go alternate gentler second fork  of the trail Kim’s and Glen’s second Honeymoon? We return and Glen and I construct a rock bridge that no one ends up using “This should do  it!” Shortly after we  return, the fastttt group  does too.   Then Beth and her family shows up and doesn’t stay dry crossing the stream ….   Some  more voluntarily than others, as Sandy her  dog demo’s. Everyone had a  fun time -Ingy was there  too and had an exhausting trip to the top and back but found no money so chooses to wipe the experience from his  memory banks.  (Is that a pun of a sort??) Barb and Mark were there also, or maybe it was their ghosts since I didn’t see them.  They zipped up and zipped down at max pace due to Barb’s need to sell shoes at noon. ———————— BOB UPDATE:  Noni and I went to see my Hubby  Bob today in the hospital  and he was up, moving and smiling.  Lot’s  of smiling.  His  injected pain meds were replaced with a  magical ” little pink pill”.  Asked if he was in pain, he said only when he breathes in.  Isn’t that like 20 times per   minute?  His leg, which now lacks a vein it formerly possessed, felt fine. He comes home Sunday and may learn the location of every pot hole between here and the hospital. That’s about 70 miles. I haven’t decided yet whether I should try to to hit them or avoid them.  Next time there’s a  bond issues aimed at pot hole repair, pay attention to which way he votes. Then you’ll  know which I chose to  do.   Lesson Learned from this:  Health via Osmosis doesn’t work.  In other words, you can possess all the exercise equipment in the world and belong to all the gyms within 15 miles but if you don’t make the time to use it, it  does you no good.  ———————– Monday PM:  Bob’s a great patient, continues to do incredibly well, and down loaded calorie counter into his I phone today…and used measuring cup to find out what half a cup  of sauce looked like at dinner tonight.  The food God’s   may have rolled  over  in their graves about this sudden interest in calories and diet : ).   His  words of wisdom on awaking this morning to the reality of multiple upcoming doctor  appointments and 14 pills a day,  most with various restrictions about how to  take them, and insurance phone calls:  THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A ‘MINOR’ HEART ATTACK.  Every one has a  major  impact  on one’s life and the life of one’s  immediate family.  He thanks you all for  all your wishes.    ————————— BOB UPDATE: FRIDAY March  the 13th:  Food for thought for any of your friends that might be heart attack prone:  Bob is recovering MUCH faster than the norm, probably due to his athletic past BUT his surgeon still won’t release him to work full time until 12 weeks from his date of surgery. So you might want to ask those who are over weight and love their food more than exercise who are in their 50’s if they can afford to skip work for 12 weeks.   If that thought doesn’t scare them, the staples used to hold the skin together over the incision should: They run about  9  inches long. (They came out earlier this week).   Bob is permitted to drive again starting next week. Look out fellow drivers !! His aucho factor goes down bit by bit.  The most painful part is from a vein that was relocated from inside one part of his chest, removed from it’s ‘normal’ local, and re routed to form one of his bypass spots. The other vein was removed from his leg.  Interestingly, that process has caused him very little pain -interesting because others we have spoken to have said the leg aucho is usually high.     I never knew how stress contributed to heart attacks.  This is how it works:  Stress makes your veins/arteries (whatevers) contract.  With time, they stay contracted and don’t bounce back ‘open’ again.  The smaller they are, the more likely an obstruction like plaque build up or a blood clot will be able to fill up that narrowed space, causing the heart attack.  Whether the solution to the heart is stints or a bypass depends in part on location. location, location.  In Bob’s case, the attack was extremely minor with virtually no heart damage but the local of his blockages were such that stints couldn’t be used.  Doug tells of a friends of his who had a heart attack a few weeks before Bob’s,  same  general age range. His attack was   massive with lots  of damage but stints were used to  repair his problem.  When a stint is used, the plaque causing the blockage is not removed -apparently it’s  just kind of  shoved back out of the way and the stint forms a tunnel for the blood to  go through again. Bob’s Mom had a stint put  in but it didn’t work ‘right’ and she later had to have bypass done.  My Dad had a stint put in 3 years back at age 80 and his is working great. Unfortunately,  once the heart is damaged from the attack,  it can not be restored -it stays dead- and then the rest of  the heart has to build itself up ‘extra strong’ to make up for the damaged parts inability to work any more.    ======================