Race Report: Ragnar SoCal

As a sponsored ambassador for Team Nuun, there can sometimes be special opportunities to race for and with the team. One such event that I was fortunate enough to participate in was Ragnar SoCal. This is a 190.6 mile run from Huntington Beach to Coronado over 26+ hours on a 12 person coed team. The race was a blast and a success as we took first place in the Mixed Division! So awesome! And so many great people that I met as well!

Race details:
Huntington Beach, California to Coronado, California
Relay Run: 190.5 miles
12 Runners, 3 Legs each, 2 Vans

Runner 4 (me!) Legs:

Garmin Splits:

Race Summary:

Well what a fun first Ragnar! Throw 12 people into 2 vans and let them run 190ish non-stop miles... Pretty crazy. But with just the right mix of a team, it can be a blast and it was! My responsibility was Runner 4 and burning thru my legs of 3.1, 5.3 and 6.3 miles as fast as I could!

On Leg 1, you'll notice that this was my easiest leg... by a lot! It was flat and only a 5k. While that's not the shortest leg out there, it definitely was short given my recent history of running. And I basically killed it for my personal time. I mean, our team was crazy awesome with some runners with sub-6min/mi paces, but my lowly pace of 8:10 min/mi was definitely exceed for this leg. And no Josh run would be complete without a 180bpm Avg HR and it climbing to 200+ bpm levels!

Leg 2 was a little bit tougher. It wasn't quite a 10k, but it took me just as long given the elevation gain. Garmin doesn't make it look like much with the scale, but there was 1 relatively steep uphill near the middle and the finish was a grueling uphill with a switchback. I'm proud to say I powered through both without walking and actually was killing it at a pretty solid pace. And really solid considering that I ran this leg at midnight!!!

Leg 3, my last and final leg, was by far the toughest. This wasn't the case for all runners, but with it being a full 10k and with the course basically being a long uphill climb for the entire second half, my heart basically wanted to explode. Looking at the Garmin profile, it's amazing how it didn't climb above 200 bpm. But maybe I was just so tired from running at 7am on 2 hours of napping in a van that it just wouldn't get that high!

So that's the running summary part of this race. But Ragnar isn't really about running... Or it's maybe 30% about the running...

What I learned in my experience and what you'll see captured in the many photos I have shared below is that Ragnar is just about bonding 12 people together for a common cause... With that cause just being the chase of finishing a relay run. There were just so many fun times along the way. It started with bringing 12 strangers together to decorate a van and have some beers while getting to know each other. Then we set off on our journey and went from being strangers to the best of friends in no time!

We had a great crew! Everyone was pretty laid back and easy going. We had plenty of lighthearted fun and jokes were told often. Since everyone was a fitness person, we LOVED taking pictures! But everything about the group is what really made the Ragnar experience really fun!

There is one more thing tho... Well two... The first isn't as exciting, but you can tag other vans along the way. Some teams used magnets, we just used our window markers and tagged little Nuun "n" on other vans. But... there was one van in particular that started with us which had the UofA and "Bear Down" written on their van. So naturally, being a USC guy, I just had to. You can see the pic way down below of me sneaking and tagging their van with a "Fight On SC" mark. LOVED IT!!!

So the really fun part when you have a group of fitness oriented people who are competitive and fast is that Ragnar has this unofficial lighthearted idea of "kills." And yes, it's as fun as it sounds! When you're out running on the course, you can earn a "kill" by simply passing another runner and not letting them pass you before your leg is over. It's a novel concept. But our group loved the idea and loved the competitiveness of it and so we just had a blast trying to score "kills", talking about our "kills" and just generally chasing down all opportunities to get some "kills" and then discussing our funny stories about kills or how many we got. And we got plenty... Van 1 had a shorter distance to run and racked up 258 kills! But Van 2 ran an extra 30 miles while notching a total of 307 kills. So in total we scored 565 kills! Ridiculous! But soon much fun to get and laugh and talk about! Definitely one of my favorite aspects of Ragnar!

All-in-all, just a wonderfully great and fun experience! I had a blast with 11 other runners who started as strangers who I can now call friends. Definitely glad I had the experience I did and major thanks go out to Team Nuun for putting it together and the Brand Marketing Manager Brian for getting us all together and setting us up for success! We even got 1st place in our Mixed Division! Icing on the cake!

Oh and I got an extra medal! Yay!!! Because I did the LA Marathon and the Ragnar SoCal, there was a Golden State Double Medal for doing them both. 2 races, 3 medals... My kind of deal!!!

Pics:
Van Decoration:

Race Start:

My Legs:

Van Transitions:

Finish Line:

Food Pics:

Van 1 Candid Shots:

This pic I'm throwing in for humor! I obviously ran with Team Nuun which is a hydration and electrolyte supplement product. So as part of an April Fool's joke, I sent this picture to our leader and Nuun Brand Marketing Manager with the quote "we got our ice and hydration!" He def wanted to (jokingly) kick me off the team before I said April Fools! Haha Just part of the lighthearted fun of being part of a Ragnar Relay team with some cool peeps!

Race Report: Los Angeles Marathon

The second race of 2016 went A LOT worse than the first. No PR this time. No flying to the finish. And def no defeating the Pain Cave. Between blisters and injuries, the race was quite the struggle despite probably the best conditions the course has seen in years. But I persevered and kept going and finished and that's important as well.

Race details:
Los Angeles, California
Run: 26.2 miles

Course Reported Finish: 4:08:12

Garmin Splits:

Race Summary:

This race was a real tough one. Coming in, I was already nursing some really sore feet. In addition, I got a pair of blisters on the balls of my right foot, one of the worst places ever. So I had some really big mental blockers. And as the days got closer, I started to feel other lingering, annoying pains on my body (hips, knees, everywhere). So the signs weren't good to start. But I may never run this race again, so I felt like I had to run it, especially since I could take a few months off.

Race morning was okay. I slept well and had breakfast and coffee all on time. I couldn't find my friends at the shuttles so I started to get nervous. I got to Dodger stadium and pooped and it started to seem real. Then the smiles came! I saw Waldo, heard Dave and then Pat popped out. It was a great moment. They really lifted my spirits up high and it felt great. The guys were so pumped and I really fed off their energy! Then we found the mountain main Yurko and the main crew was together at last! We even got a couple pictures together!

We said our motivating words and good lucks and I headed to Corral B. There I waited as they did the usual. The chilling Star Spangled Banner. The few words of thanks to sponsors and some from the Mayor. Then the blast of the gun for the start! Here we go!

I tried to settle in at a slow pace. Everything was good. The vibe of downtown really lifted my spirits. From Dodger stadium to Sunset/Caesar Chavez to Chinatown and Little Tokyo. It was great to run through such iconic places I've seen and visited before but not with empty streets and screaming spectators. And by mile 8, I heard a familiar voice. It was none other than Mr. Yurko himself! The beastly mountain man had stormed through the open corral. He shouted "daizbiz," told me how the got stuck for about 10 min and then said stay strong as he whizzed by. The man is beast. He ended up finishing a strong 3:15 marathon time. Amazing.

We kept going through towards the rest of Sunset and Hollywood and the many sights there. I was so focused on running and pacing and staying positive that I can barely recall the many clubs and theaters we passed by. But even as we passed by Hollywood towards West Hollywood, I felt upbeat and hopeful and the run seemed familiar.

Then as I approached Beverly Hills, the wall hit. I started to feel the pains more. At some point, I actually felt my blister pop in my right shoe. My pace was slowing and yet my heart rate wasn't. The signs were not good. I tried every mental trick in the book to stay positive, to push past the pain cave. But really I just couldn't. Right around mile 17ish, I just decided I had to walk. I couldn't fight no more...

Then a smack on the ass! It was none other than Dave himself! Dave put in a great time, but I had totally calculated that he would pass me much earlier. I was actually quite surprised (and proud) that I held him off this long. He gave a positive "c'mon man, run with me" and I really tried for about a quarter mile. Then I said "not happening bro, push on" and I never saw him again until he had crushed his goal time! Dave was such a beast for a first time marathoner!

The rest of the race was just a battle of wits. From here I did a lot of walk running. I was actually still relatively positive at this time. I was so focused on seeing my friends just outside of Westwood at mile 20. I knew I was going to have a bunch of friends there and, of course, Amanda would be there. So I hurried along to get there and see everyone. I found them and it was just happiness. Just so glad to see everyone and even gave Amanda a quick kiss for Valentine's Day. Of course, she and everyone else just yelled at me to keep running and not stop! Haha. But I had already knew this was not my day and why not savor this moment.

So I had a bit of momentum to run past the Veteran's hospital. As I passed, my college buddy Quinn shouted my name. We had a nice little chat. We discussed how we both were feeling some injuries and that this marathon, despite both our struggles, still felt better than our marathon runs during the Ironman. After some other words, I told him to push on for that sub-4 time as I couldn't make it!

From there, it really was the pain cave. The walking came quicker and the running was shorter. My pace was bad. There was times I looked at my watch and it said my Avg Pace was going to be 11 or 12 minutes for the mile. I was sad. I had self pity. But I tried to stay positive. I kept telling myself that I was wearing the CTF shirt and I couldn't quit. I didn't quit the Ironman, I can't quit the marathon. So walk and jog I kept going. Everything was familiar. I had run down San Vincente before, I could surely do it again. It was even all downhill. So I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

At the last stretch, I got a "surge" of energy. I write it like that because it really was only a slight boost, but it felt like a huge uplift. I "ran" every step of Ocean Blvd to that finish line. My ego had suddenly kicked in and it told me that despite the pain, despite everything, YOU ARE NOT WALKING DOWN OCEAN BLVD!!! And I didn't. I kept a good stride and I made it all the way down what seemed like miles of Ocean Blvd to that finish line and just wanted to collapse!

And that was it. I came in at a "slow" 4:08. But time wasn't the goal once the race had started. The goal just became to push through, to never give up and to finish what I started. I think that's the biggest character building part about a race. No matter how much you prepare, no matter what your fitness, no matter how the course is laid out... Every race is you against yourself and the unique challenges you'll face along the way. Who you are is defined by what you do. It's a great parallel to life. You'll have challenges, you'll want to give up and quit, you'll want to take the easy route. But the strongest people push through, they fight to the finish and, if they can muster it, finish strong!

Pics:
Packet Pickup Sights:

 Pre-Race Meal and Gear:

Race Morning:

Race Photos:

Post Race Photos:

Race Report: Surf City Half Marathon

And so the 2016 Race Season begins! This one was surprisingly good, but still a little rough. Still trying to nurse and recover from some significant foot pain that really feels like stress fractures. So really just kinda limped into this half and going to be limping into next weekend's LA full. But let's take a look at the surprising first race of 2016 for me!

Race details:
Huntington Beach, California
Run: 13.1 miles

Course Reported Finish: 1:48:03

Garmin Splits:

Race Summary:

The race went surprisingly well as the data above shows. I had two goals for this race: don't walk (except maybe through the water stations) and don't get injured. This race was simply a warm up and precursor to the LA full marathon next weekend. So I just wanted to go long in a race and be ready psychologically. And both of those things worked out (save a blister on my right foot which hopefully heals in a week).

From a pacing standpoint, I hit my goals pretty well. I wanted to stay right around 8 min/mile for the first 10K which I pretty much hit on point. I then wanted a slower mile 7, a mid 8s next 5K and then a really solid, dropping the hammer type final 5K. And I'm happy to say that I pretty much hit all those goals!!! I mean I didn't quite "drop the hammer" that last 5K, especially when I was holding 8 min/miles for the first 10K. But getting in the low 8s felt comparatively fast when you're struggling to hold on at the end and can psychologically feel a blister coming on. So I was pretty happy with how I ran the race more than the sub-1:50 results!

But that's the benefit of having some goals and trying to maintain a plan! You get surprised by more PRs!!! 1:48 (with a chip time of 1:48:03) is a new Half Marathon PR! My first couple years of racing, I only did the Boney Mtn Trail Half, so I definitely had a very slow time! But Avengers was my first half and this my second, so the PRs came right away! It did help that the course itself was almost as flat as Long Beach, if not flatter. It seems to be the theme in the Beach Cities Challenge Races.

Now that I've been through all the good points, I wanna hit the one sad point. And that's my relative performance. Yes I did well for myself. Awesome! That's great! Setting PRs is wonderful! But gosh when I look at my rankings it feels pitiful. I mean I was in the top 11% here vs. the top 7% at the Long Beach full. Looking down some of the results and the number of competitors, there were significantly more people here than at Long Beach. And I guess that makes sense with the shorter distance being a bigger goal for most people. And I guess that proportionately means some more fast people exist at the lower races. But it still hurts... So what does that mean? Just gotta get better I guess...

Pics:
Packet Pickup Sights:

Pre-Race Meal:

Gear (and #AmbassadorSwag):

Post Race Funny Pics:

My Supporter and Post Race Meal: