Yr2008 is coming to a close. A new year is fast approaching. It's time to hit the trails again. Let's go for a long, slow run. It's great to be out and about. I'm looking forward to a new year with some new adventures.

Happy New Year!!! Be Safe.

long time...

"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."
-Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder

I'm ready to get out and run again... leaving negativity behind, and focus on the positives. Have fun everyone!

Route 66 Marathon - 2008

Sunday, Nov. 16th, 2008. A week after a 100 miler finish, I am doing pacing duties for 5 hr group. I really enjoy this, because I get to help out people who intend to finish in 5 hrs. It was a blast!

Route 66 Marathon pace team... brrr..it was chilly at start.

Finishing in 4 hrs, 58 minutes.

Mother Road 100 Miler (II) report

Mother Road 100, part II
Nov. 8th/9th, 2008
Elk City, OK to Ft. Reno, OK

Three weeks before the big run, I got the “bug” that usually comes with the fall season. I was doing everything possible to prevent it from becoming a full-blown crud. The week before the race, my stomach was still having some issues. I was eating fine, but it just wasn’t settling right. Two day before race day, it seemed that everything was finally backed to normal. I was ready to take on the Mother Road again.

This time my target finish was sub-20… but I wanted a 19 hr finish. I had my pace chart done, worked out all my splits to each aid stations, had my crew all lined out with what I was gonna need thru-out the race. I had also driven the course 2 weeks before, so there wouldn’t be any surprises. I was well-prepared.

My crew was my brother and my aunt. They had drove up the day before from Arizona, and met us in El Reno. I also had my son with me. He’s only 7 now, but he’ll be pacer in few more years. I had really thought about a pacer this time, since I was contemplating a sub-20 finish. I figured I might need someone to push me abit in the last 20 miles. However, it was not in the cards this time. I had never had a pacer before in any of my other 100’s. So not having a pacer didn’t really bother me; I’m usually in a zone anyway.

Saturday morning, 8 am, people are gathering near the start line. I got my time chip, and chatted with few people. It’s pretty awesome to see people from different states and countries to come and run the Mother Road. Two years ago, we ran another portion of the Mother Road, from Acadia, OK to west Tulsa. That was supposed to be first and last of such a race. The race directors then came up with a three part series of the Mother Road. This is part II, from Elk City, OK to Ft. Reno, OK. The third segment is to be determined at later date.

9 am sharp, the gun sounds and we’re off. The day looks great for running. Temps were about 50 at start, highs expected in mid-60s, nighttime lows in the 30s. Normal for this time of year in Oklahoma.

The first few miles, everyone was still working out the kinks. I settled in with a small pack, and we head out of Elk City in no time. At 5 or 6 miles, it’s starting to spread out a bit. I rolled into the first AS at Canute (mile 8). I kept on going since I had a crew. I was on pace at this point, doing about 9:00 per mile. I felt good, and I try to keep a slow pace.

The next segment was an 8+ miler to Foss. Everything seemed to working great. I was starting to throw in a few walking breaks here and there. There were some long stretches of straight road, and very narrow at some parts. A few times I had to get off the road for on-coming traffic. But for the most part, traffic was very light. I get into Foss (mile 16.5) about 10 minute ahead of schedule. Again, I bypass the aid station, and kept on trucking. Off we go to Clinton, just over 14 mile segment.

At about mile 22, I was beginning to feel abit sluggish. I thought, I’m eating fine, and drinking Heed. Then it hit me, I haven’t been drinking any straight water for about 15 miles. Immediately, I downed a bottle of water, and kept drinking water for the next 2 miles. I was on the verge of dehydrating. I’ve covered as much as I could with my crew the day before. But I failed to cover when I should switch between water and Heed.

I finally rolled into Clinton aid station (mile 30) just over 5 hrs. My 10 minute cushion is gone. But I was still on track. I took a short break to eat and regroup. Time was now past 2pm, it was starting to get pretty warm. After a 10 minute break, I head on out walking. Next stop was Weatherford, about 20 miles away.

There was an unmanned aid station at mile 39. I rolled in at 6 hrs,46 min., I was now 15 minutes behind. It didn’t really bother me, since there was still more than half the race left to go.

I continued on to Weatherford, about 11 miles to the halfway point. Time was now about 4pm, I was beginning to feel the chill in the air as the sun is making its way down. I reached the point where there is a detour outside of Weatherford. We had to run a short section of I40. It was a good thing it had wide shoulders; on-coming traffic was very fast. And it was pretty busy going through the town of Weatherford. The aid station (mile 50) was on the eastside of town. I timed-in at 9 hrs. 24 min. My goal was 8:41. I was now about 45 min. behind. Yet, I was not to bothered by the time. I took a 20 min. break to eat, and change into my night gear. The temp was getting pretty chilly now, and it’s only 6:30pm.

Half the race is over, now it’s nighttime…time to kick it up a notch. Hydro is the next aid station, only 5.5 miles away. I walked about 2 miles before getting back into a steady pace. I get into Hydro checkpoint in 10 hrs. 47 min., about 1 hr behind my predicted time. I downed some chicken noodle soup and head out again.

Heading towards Bridgeport, I was able to catch some people. I was finally getting back into a pretty good clip. Now, temp had really dropped, and time was around 10:30pm. I get into Bridgeport (mile 67) at 13 hrs. 27 min. Since I had a good clip going, I just go thru the checkpoint and continue on. I was still in good spirits that I’ll make my sub-20.

I finally reached the long Pony bridge. I thought that bridge would never end. I reached the Tatur aid station (mile 73) in 14 hrs. 37 min. I take a short break to eat some poTATUR soup, and switched to my trail shoes. The next section was a 6 mile dirt/gravel road to Geary. I get on the dirt road, thinking I’m gonna make up some time here. It was NOT HAPPENING! I’d tried to run, but the footing was not feeling right. I guess after being on hard surface for 73 miles, the traction was not there. It took me 1 hr, 45 min. to cover that 6 mile dirt section. I was exhausted. I thought…finally, back on some hard surface.

Geary aid station (mile 79), my time was now at 16 hrs, 23 min. Twenty-one miles to go, and I’ve got 3.5 hrs for a 20 hr finish, my 19 hr finish was not going to happen today. Calumet was the 12 miles away. I head out into the dark again. And it was still getting colder. I added another layer of clothing and put on another pair of gloves.

Just me in the dark cold night. Temp. 29 deg.

Coming out of Geary, I finally started going at a pretty good pace again. I managed to catch 3 or 4 people. I was passed by only one person in this section. I rolled into Calumet (mile 90) in 19 hrs. 7 min. I wasn’t really hungry, but I thought if I could eat some soup, then go all out to the finish. I realized in short time that the soup turned to bricks in my stomach. I was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. I walked about 4 miles, before I could start running again. At mile 95, I was now at 20 hr mark. My sub-20 was history. Sometimes, things just don't work out. I was now just focusing on finishing, my legs were hurting, bottom of my feet was on fire, my stomach was just turning round and round.

I finally reached Ft. Reno entrance. It was getting light, but the sun was not up yet. I have about mile and a half…and I’m was determined to beat the sun. I would run some, then walk a short distance, then run again. I kept this going all the way to the finish line. I crossed the finish line in 21 hrs. 54 min. 37 sec. I was sooo happy to be done. Some say that the finish line is not exactly 100 miles, but rather close to 102 miles. Guess we'll never know.

And I did beat the sun, with just minutes to spare. Mother Road 100, part I was done 2 years ago. Now, Mother Road 100, part II done. Part III is up in couple of years. I will be there again.

This is my crew, my brothers (right and left of me), my son, and my aunt. Awesome crew!

Congratulations to everyone who finished.

Mother Road 100 (II) Finish

I'm finally crossing the finish line. Mother Road 100 (part II) is done. It was a great run. As usual, there were lots of ups and downs, some things worked well...while some didn't. But that's 100 milers.

No matter how bad it hurts, the end is still sweet.


A race report coming soon. Congratulations to everyone who finished...and even to those who didn't...running on concrete is painful.

Road Does Not End

3 more days to the start of Mother Road 100, part II.

"GET YOUR KICKS ON ROUTE 66"

I'm getting antsy!

cool pictures

Sunday,,, the plan is to do a slow 10 miler at turkey mountain. I needed a change of pace...I really needed to do some trails.

The fall season is great at TM. Temp. was abit high today (about 80F). I'm feeling alot better now. My stomach is finally feeling great. However, my throat is still quite not up to par yet. Another day or 2, I think I'll be back to normal. Just in time for MR100 next weekend.

I was really sweating last week if I'll be back to good health this week. I'm thankfully that the "crud" didn't completely take me down. Now, the prep for MR100 this week. I can't wait to get started.

A view from TM

Just me out on a slow 10 miler at TM. It was hot out there.

Saturday.... TATURs are holding Route 66 mock marathon/half-marathon. It's been 4 days since I ran at all. I've been trying to get myself back to good health. I'm doing everything except make a trip to the doctor. The good thing is I'm not running any fever. My stomach and throat is giving me all sorts of heck.

I woke up saturday morning around 6am. I felt ok, and started preparing for a long, slow run. So I thought I'll go and run at least 15 miles. If I'm feeling bad, I'll just shut it down.

I started out slow,,,started at the very back. I kept up a steady pace up to 11 miles...felt pretty good. I was doing a 9:13 pace...I thought, dang it... I'm going to fast. 11 mile was our turnaround. On the way back, I slowed down quite abit..specially the last 3 miles. I ended up with 9:53 pace for the last 11 miles. Dang it again... I was still going abit fast. At the end, I felt good. My stomach did give me some problems around mile 18, I walked it off, and it did get better later on. I went home and took a long nap. Finally, I'm getting better.

Sunday, I'll do a short 10 miler.

the fall crud

I like the fall season. But with the fall season comes with the usual "crud" that hits just about everyone... the flu, stomach virus, allergies, etc. With one week to go, I need to be back at 100%. The past week has been terrible. Almost flu-like symtoms has hit me. So with that, I've stopped running, and concentrate on getting back to good health. It really sucks when you have a big race coming up, and you're slammed. No matter how healthy a person can be, a simple cold can put a person down.

I'm coming back slowly. Lots of fluids, good nutrition, plenty of rest, and lots of patience. I'm positive I will be back to normal in the coming days.

Happy Trails everyone! MR100... in 7 days.

Monday... I didn't get to run. I had too much stuff going on. But I was abit sore from sunday run. Just as well.

Tuesday... my legs feel good. I went to LaFortune park, and did a half marathon in 2 hrs. just putting in the miles.

Happy Trails!

18 days to start of Mother Road 100 miler (part 2)

It should be nice and cool for a long run.

"What was hard to do is sweet to remember." - Seneca

click image button for MR100 course

It's been 5 days since I ran. Life just gets in the way sometimes. :) But not all is lost. I drove out to Elk City yesterday, and drove the MR100 (II) course back to the finish at Ft. Reno. (pictures on the way)

Sunday, I thought I just stretch my legs and do about 15 mile run...slow and easy. My plan was to run the Creek turnpike trail... some good ups and downs. I started out at 101st and Garnett parking lot. I took it easy along the turnpike trail back towards Jenks. After going about 7 miles (at about 96st and Riverside parking lot), I thought.. since I'm feeling pretty good, I'll do about 18 or 20 miles. So I trucked on the riverside trail to 71st street. TM was looking awesome with leaves turning. I thought I'll just go to the parking lot and turn around. I then took a turn on the bridge, and headed towards TM. Instead of TM parking lot, I went back to Jenks and around the airport. I like running this loop... not much shoulder to run on, but still good. I made my usual stop at Mickee Dee in Jenks, and ate some fries and a coke... yummy, after going about 15 miles.

I went back across the Jenks bridge and back to the Creek turnpike trail. I took it easy all the way back. I ended up with 24 miles back to 101st and Garnett parking lot. It was good to get out and put in some miles.

Tomorrow, I'll do only 10 miles. My goal for this week is do about 70 or 80 miles. Weather is finally nice now.

Mother Road 100 - part II is coming up next November 8th/9th. Fall weather is here, which means cool temps.

Get your kicks on Route 66!

training runs... last saturday, short 10 miles at 10 min/mile. sunday... legs are finally feeling good, but took the day off. monday... 5.5 miles at 9.5 min/mile.

Happy Trails!

AT100 race report

Arkansas Traveller 100 miles
Perryville, Arkansas
Oct. 4th/5th, 2008


It’s 5am, dark and cool. The weather forecast calls for mid-80’s daytime/60’s at night, with 30% chance of rain. Well…the weatherman was way off. Lightning flashes in the distance. I figured it’s way off some way, and probably won’t come our way. Well…I was way wrong too.

Since I didn’t make the pre-race meeting on Friday, I had to be there before 5am for runner check and weigh-in. I drove up into Camp Quachita, and cars were already lined up along Hwy 324. I’m making my way to race HQ, and I hear some strange sounds in the woods… like sounds of animals being tortured. Maybe it was some sort of warning of what we are about to endure for the next 20+ hours. I thought… bring it on! I don’t get nervous anymore about 100 milers. If I get some good night’s sleep 2 or 3 days ahead, I’m good to go. And if I know that I’ve covered enough mileage to prepare, then might as well get the show on the road and have some fun.

I came into AT100 with the notion of a long and enjoyable training run. As always, I shoot for sub-24. I went over the race material, made out my pace chart, and anticipated a finish time. For AT100, if it happens…great. But in my mind, I was just going out for a good long run. That’s gotta be abit insane I thought... an easy 100 miler, and making it enjoyable? That’s nuts. Only some crazy person would have a mind-set like that. I have learned that you can make anything you want of trail running, or any 100 miler. You can give in to the rigorous terrain and eat you up. Or you can go out and enjoy what nature brings your way.

It's almost 6:00 am, runners were assembling at the start line. 6am sharp, RD Chrissy Ferguson yells... “GO!” And we’re off into the darkness. The first 8 miles was on well-maintained roads. It was abit hard to tell if the road was gaining elevation. About an hour into the run, it was beginning to get light. We were gaining elevation. While it was not steep, it was a gradual incline for some more miles. After hitting a couple of aid stations, we were off into the woods on a single track trail. I liked this part. The ground was really soft, covered with leaves and very few rocks. Light rain started coming down. And temperature was staying cool. And throughout the day, the temperature did stay cool. For a couple of hours in afternoon, it did get a little bit humid, but it was bearable. As we continued thru the woods, the rain was getting heavier. This would last for a few more hours. The rain was welcomed, but I was thinking… I really don’t want to run the next 20 hours soaking wet. My thought went back to “you have to deal with what nature gives you”. So I went on.

I reached Lake Sylvia AS (mile 16) in good shape. From start to this point, the course was not to be covered again. From here, it was basically an out and back course. I changed my shirt, and ate some food. Brian Hoover (aka Head Tatur) told me I was on pace for sub-24. I felt good about that. But in reality, I didn’t really want to be faster than that. Now after covering 16 miles of this race, I knew there was going to be more ups and downs…especially Smith mountain area. So my plan was to slow down, and not risk injury… because I will be running another 100 miles in a month.

The rain was still coming down heavy, and I’m off to the next aid station. While we were still running jeep trails, there were some areas that had large pools of water in the road, and you had to go straight thru them or around thru some bushes. It was abit tricky at some spots. For the most parts I manage these spots and maintain steady pace. My shoes are now completely soaked. Running over 20 miles in soaking clothes was beginning to bother me in some sensitive body parts. This made it kinda tough going. I was just hoping to reach mile 48 so I could change into some dry clothes. I had extra pair of shoes there too.

TATUR tent at AT100 aid station.

The rain would eventually stop after 6 hours of running. The sun peeked out for a short time, and it got a little bit humid in the afternoon. However, the temperature stayed cool most of time. The footing was a different story. The ground was all soaked, and very slippery on rocks…and there were lots of rocks. Even some parts of the roads were slick. The bottom of my right foot was beginning to feel it…a hot spot. I’m still 10 miles away from Powerline AS (mile 48). I continued but stepping gingerly so the hot spot doesn’t get worse.

Coming into Smith mountain AS (mile 42), I was still on a sub-24 pace. I took about 10 min. break eating some soup and crackers, I was now facing the big climb of the race. And most of it was just straight up with some poor footing due to heavy rain early on. I walked all the way up, and just barely shuffled on the way down into the next AS. My pace had really dropped off on... somewhere around 20 min./mile on this section. From there, I was just moving along and not really pushing to gain time. I was still trying to protect my foot. The hot spot was still there. But fortunately, it didn’t feel like it had gotten worse.

I reached Powerline AS (mile 48) around 10-1/2 hours. I was back on some good gravel road again. Again, I thought…I’m still on sub-24 pace. I kept thinking, should I continue at this pace and do sub-24? Or should I just slow down and stretch it out for 26 hour finish? My legs were beginning to tire more now. And off I went to the next AS. I reached the turnaround point (mile 58) just under 13 hours. OK… I’ll just take it easy on the way back.

At Lean Horse, it was a different story. From turnaround point, I was focused on catching people. I pushed myself all the way back to the finish. Here I just let people pass and not even think about keeping up with them, but gave them a “great job” they were doing. Through the night, I kept trudging alone. I was basically in a zone though. I was now doing about 18 to 22 min./mile. Trust me… going at this pace really hurts. As matter of fact, I was really hurting myself going at this pace than pushing the pace abit. My legs were beginning to hurt a lot more... especially my IT bands. Going downhill’s were now killing me. I could do the uphill’s much easier than slight downgrades. Strangely enough, I was looking forward to any hills. But we were now heading to the finish, which would mostly be downhill.

I reached the last AS (~mile 94) in 25 hrs. 11 mins. I had about 6 miles to go. I thought...forget the slow pace, my legs are really killing me, and I want to get done now. I just filled my water bottle and took off. I picked up the pace (17 min./mile) for the last section. While it’s not blazing speed, at least I was running at a good clip for the last 2 miles. At mile 98, Cheryl Zwarkowski, a runner from CA whom I had crewed/paced at Badwater this past summer, passed me. She was also doing AT100 to get up to speed for MR100(II). (note: see my BW report about Cheryl) I wanted to keep up with her, but she had a little bit more zip than I did. So again, I relinquished the chase. I finally made the turn into the finish line. I would cross the line in 27 hours, 1 min., 13 sec. I was completely exhausted. I got some cold water, and went to my truck for a 2 hour snooze. Breakfast will have to wait abit.

AT100 is not an easy course. But with every aid stations and some TATUR’s involved, this race was a great experience. Congratulations to all finishers!

Congrats to TATUR's Robin Saenz and Ken Childress for a strong finish. They finished right after I did. Not to mention another TATUR who looked cool as cucumber on his way to another fantastic 1st place finish.... Tom Brennan.

Also a big thanks to Team Childress for helping me out. Doing 100 milers solo is kinda tuff. That's the coolest about doing these races, helping each other out, no matter who they are.

My reward for finishing. cool buckle.

Already out running again. Next Mother Road 100 (II). I can't wait.

AT100 finish

Finished Arkansas Traveller 100.

Time: 27 hrs. 1 min.

Report coming soon. I need to catch up on sleep, and let my old bod heal up.

Congrats to all the finishers! ...and hats off to all the TATUR's crossing the line. We'll beat those hogs next year in the team challenge.

Coming up this weekend... Arkansas Traveller 100. Let's Go!!!

Don't ask for a light load, but rather ask for a strong back. - Anonymous

Winners this past weekend...

Go COWBOYS!!!!

"For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. This perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one." - Souza

Have a great day!

Training runs for weekend 9-19-08

Friday training run: starting at Lafortune Park main

parking lot, around 2:30pm. The afternoon got a little toastie. My plan was to do 10 miles. After going about 7 miles, I'll just add a few more miles. So I just kept on truck'n. I ended covering about 14 miles.

Saturday training run: my plan was to start at 5am, and cover somewhere around 30 miles. The alarm went off at 4am, hit the snooze button, slept til 4:45am. Anyway, I got started around 6:30am from 31st and Riverside bridge. The Fleet Feet marathon training group was doing their long run, so I just tagged along. I figured since I was going a long way, I might as well have some company for as long as I can. We crossed the bridge to west banks, went to 11th st. bridge, back to 31st st. bridge. Then went on small trail to some street, and meander around, cover some portions of Route 66 marathon course. We came back to 31st st. bridge. FF group finished their run at 12 miles. I continued back across 31st st. bridge to west banks again. This time, I headed south towards turkey mtn. I turned back at mile 16, and came back to my start point. Since I got started a little late, I stopped at 20 miles. I had to go out of town by 12pm.

Sunday training run: I kinda took a rest day. I ended up helping my bro build a fence.

Monday training run: my plan was to do 15 to 18 miles, since I skipped sunday. I started out around 4:30pm from 61st & Yale. I just went thru some neighborhood streets... ended up doing some hills. I finished just under 13 miles. Since I did some hills, I figured 13 miles was enough. Last 5 miles, I ran 8:30/mile. It was a great run.

After all these runs, my legs feel good. I'll put in several more miles this week. Arkansas Traveller 100 is coming up soon.

Have fun everyone! It's the first day of autumn.

Training Runs

Scheduled training runs for this weekend.

Friday.... 10 miles (maybe 12 miles)

Saturday.... 30 miles

Sunday.... 15-18 miles... slow...sorta recovery.

Monday.... 10 miles

should be fun weekend. weather will be awesome. hope you get out and enjoy the weather.

Happy Trails!

Heartland 2008

Heartland 100 from last year. I'm coming into Ridgeline AS (mile 36 outbound). It had rain pretty hard for about 10 miles... why I'm wearing a windbreaker/rain jacket. It did get a little bit warm in the afternoon after the rain went away. I had a great time.. I had some issues from halfway back to Ridgeline. But I pick it up thru the night. I seem to do better at night. kinda weird.

I'll miss the race this year. You guys running Heartland... have a great time out there!

Happy Trails!

Tulsa Area Trail & Ultra Runners 10K/25K/50K

Sept. 14th, 2008

weather forecast - RAIN! and lots of it.

I'll be skipping this years race. Good Luck to all the runners.

doing some trail work

Ken, Brian, and I did some trail work tuesday evening. This area had a mud slide a few months back. The trail was pretty much gone at this section. But it should be passable now. Just in time for TATUR's Trail race this weekend. And rain is expected. Yeah!!



new path across the mudslide... passable,,, should slow down some speedsters.


a little tuff,,,short climb to get back on the nice rocky trail.


just me