California Makes Everything Better

After some much needed relief from the Arizona debacle, my friend Bret and I hopped a jet to Los Angeles. I had never been to California and knew I just had to make the trip while out west. Our final Destination was just north of Malibu at a campground called Thornhill Broome Beach. It is the only place on the California coast that you can camp right on the beach. We arrived after sunset, but I was able to snap off a few of many pictures to come. After scouting over a camp site or two we headed into Oxnard California for some supplies. This is where we felt like fish out of water. Everything was so busy. We had to just take everything in stride. We finally made our way back down to our campsite, we set up everything and were fast asleep in our tents in no time.
The next day, I was up at 5:00AM watching the sun come up over the mountains that lined the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Just like Arizona, the sunrises and sunsets were amazingly colorful and always worth getting up for to see. I was a little sore the next day but my back and feet were hurting the most. I was lucky enough to have an inflatable mattress to lay on the entire trip. We were quick to set off to explore our home for the next few days. We made a beeline to the closest Starbucks in Malibu for a Venti 1/2 decaf Mocha with whip. These were breakfast and possibly lunch for the next few days.
After some caffeine, we drove around checking out a few beaches. Our first stop was El Matador Beach. I had read it was an awesome beach and all the reviews didn't lie. I had a little trouble walking down to the beach as the decent was a little steep. Anyway, the beach is beautiful. Turns out a couple of days later Maria Carey was on the same beach shooting a music video. We never saw her and actually didn't know why there was such a security presence and what all the movie production vehicles were for. We even saw paparazzi staked out on top of their vehicles with long telescopic camera lenses. We asked some locals and they said it was so common that they ignore it anymore.
In fact, they were shooting a commercial right at our campground and the surrounding areas including the PCH. They had been shooting for a couple of days and we didn't know what they were doing until we were caught at Point Mugu by the camera crew and couldn't leave. We asked them and they said it was a commercial for Nissan. They had the entire Nissan production vehicles lined up driving up and down the PCH for shots to be used in the commercial. The first day we noticed this, there was a helicopter buzzing our campground at 6:00AM and the surrounding canyons and beach for camera shots.

We were out driving one day and we took a wrong turn and ended up down by Malibu High School. It was there I spotted Bruce Willis driving a Black Mercedes. He had a couple of other people in the car with him. Looked to be kids. Anyway, I wasn't sure it was him at first, but the more I thought about it, and when I talked to other people, they said it was him. Apparently they see him all the time in Malibu. There was no mistaking that face.

After El Matador Beach, we ventured down to La Peidra beach and took a look at the wonderful views the coast had to offer. All day we ventured up and down the PCH taking in the stunning views of the coast. The nights came quick and at times we found ourselves still on Ohio times and we were eating dinner at 3:00 and in bed by 7:00. We felt like old people.

I was finally here. The place I have wanted to visit since a kid. Now, I felt like that kid again. All we had were the coast, mountains, and all the views we wanted. What else could I want?

After a couple of days, my feet and back were feeling up to walking a little and I decided I wanted to walk on some trail. We went right across the street and walked the La Jolla Trail to the campground. In all, it was about a 5 mile round trip. I loved this trail as it was an unimproved trail with a lot of narrow rocky sections and drop offs. We saw signs warning of Mountain Lions and Rattlesnakes. We didn't see any, but we did see a few caves that could have been home to anything. I ended up getting a little sunburned that day and was thankful the next day brought cool winds as I had to wear a long sleeve shirt most of the day.

We went down to Point Dume and had a blast looking out into the bluest water I have ever seen in person. I was a little bummed that the Pacific Ocean was so cold. We had warm days that we could have went swimming, but apparently the Ocean around there doesn't get above 64 degrees. About all I could do was wade around in the water. One day we were there I decided to wash all my dirty clothes in the ocean.

You'll have to look through my California pictures but there are a few shots of my California Laundry Service and me getting nailed by a huge wave coming in on the beach. The seafood was a must have. I really love North Carolina style seafood and just had to try what the West Coast had to offer. We stopped at Malibu Seafood which did have decent food. By far, our favorite was Neptune's Net. We went there two days in a row. I had the Neptune's Platter. How could I not? The next day was a Lobster Roll which was incredible.

I was really astounded by how friendly everyone was. I think this is due to how incredibly awesome California is. I love this place, and I cannot wait to get back there. We had not one incident with anyone. We did witness our shuttle driver to LAX nearly go "Postal" on a driver of another car who cut her off. So funny.

We had a total blast in California. Absolutely no stress at all. I had never slept so good in my life. I went to sleep and woke up to the surf crashing on the beach just 30 yards from our tents. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Seemed everything fell in place for us.

Every morning, I walked out of my tent and watched the marine wildlife go about their daily business. I saw Sea Otters, Dolphins, Sea Birds of all sorts, Starfish, etc. The first morning I woke up to watch the sunrise, I saw just 40 yards from me, a head pop out of the water and then quickly disappear only to resurface 50 yards away. It was my first Sea Otter spotting. Totally awesome. The dolphin sightings were so common throughout the day. I was so glad we didn't see any snakes or Mountain Lions. Totally cool with that.

California has a lot to offer and I am sure it will quickly become a mecca for me with Ultra races and vacationing.

Okay, this Blogger tool totally sucks. For some reason, it won't let me move my pictures around. I have wasted so many hours trying to type this up and add pictures. Please see the links below for all of my pictures. I am warning you, I took around 1400 pictures, plus they are no longer in order.

Arizona & Javelina Pictures

California I Pictures

California II Pictures

California III Pictures

Javelina Jundred Race Report

Okay, I gave a short version earlier in the week while I was in Arizona waiting for my flight to California.

Honestly, I hope this doesn't end in a long ramble, and I hope to keep it positive. Scratch that, I am going to keep it as positive as I can, thus making it a short race report. Actually a lot went right but just enough went wrong that put an end to my quest for a buckle.

First of all, I love Javelina Jundred. It was an incredible race. Jamil Coury (race director) went out of his was to make a great race happen. The volunteers were awesome. They fed us well and allowed me to harass them as I do all volunteers during my races.
This event is highly recommended.

It is a runnable course...if you are prepared for the temperature changes and are able to run in sand. Your energy expenditure is increased just with the sand alone. It gets hot and it gets cold. There is virtually no shade. THIS COURSE IS NOT FLAT! I REPEAT, NOT FLAT! Coming from Ohio and what we run here, IT IS FLAT! But, IT IS NOT FLAT! Got it? : )

Arizona is stunningly beautiful and amazingly wild. You almost forget how wild things are until you are in the dark with no headlamp and you hear coyotes about 5 yards from you carrying on with one another. I'll get to that story later.

The wildlife diversity was amazing. I saw Road Runners, Jack Rabbits, Coyotes, a Bald Eagle, Wild Horses, a Tarantula, a Scorpion, a snake (of some sort).

Pre Race

I decided to skip the pasta dinner as I didn't want another Dances with Dirt GB incident. I didn't camp at the Jeadquarters either. I am such a light sleeper that I didn't want to risk not being able to sleep before the race. Turns out, I still cannot tell you if I made the best choice either way. The night before was filled with being awaken by the freezing cold. I was not warm enough pretty much the entire time out in the desert at night. We had camped out in the middle of nowhere. There was no one else around for miles. I was in awe at how quiet it really was out there and at how cold it could get.

1st Loop:

I remember Rick Gaston reminding me, to not go out too fast. I also remembered the promise I made to Mike and Mark about taking the first loop as slow as I could.

The start of the race was like all others...except, it was the desert, and I felt like I was at a huge Jalloween party. (Yes, I know I spelled Halloween with a J.....it's Javelina! Pronounced Havelina, Confused yet?)

The sky was full of the many shades of Oranges, Yellows, Reds, Purples, Blues, etc. What a view!

The first mile was a walker as the field was slow to stretch out. Soon after a mile or so, I was running the little rollers while watching the sun rise. So beautiful. I loved it. This race was awesome. The trail was more than I had dreamed. This was it. What a freaking phenomenal experience.

I could see the front runners a few miles ahead way off in the distance making their way toward top of the first climb.

The climbs here go on for miles. The trail after the first 2 miles is nearly unrunnable because of all the rocks on the trails. I did my best to focus solely on the trail and to not look around and site see as I didn't want to end up tripping and landing into one of the many millions of Cacti and hitting my head on one of a few billion sharp rocks littered all over the trail. DNS...Do Nothing Stupid was my motto during the first loop.

The first AS (Coyote Camp) soon came upon us and I was quick to exit as I am not there to socialize. The volunteers by the way are like most other Ultras. They were Awesome!

In and out as quick as possible, and down the trail as slow as possible.

This next section of trail brought us closer to the mountains and the boulder formations. There were more ups and downs, and steeper climbs in and out of small canyons. Nothing major really. Nowhere near as hard as what we run at Mohican. I was just being cautious.

The back end of the park is where it started to flatten out a bit and the decent began. I came upon the second AS Jackass Junction (JaJ AS). Below is a picture of three wild horses running behind the AS. How freaking cool! I grabbed some water and some potatoes with salt, and moved out as quick as I could.

The decent into the Jeadquarters was not too bad at all. By the time I reached the Jeadquarters, it was getting hot. It seemed I had no warning about the heat. It went from Great to Hot in a matter of minutes.

At times, I felt like I dilly-dallied as much as I could. I think I did the first loop in 3 hours and 36 minutes. My goal was to stick around 4+ hours per loop.

2nd Loop:

I grabbed my stuff from my pacer/crew guy: Bret. The loops are washing machine loops. Meaning, you go back the way you came opposite of what you started.

So, I started the long climb back up to Jackass Junction. I took it easy on this section and walked the majority of it. The heat was coming on and by the time I reached the AS, I had drank over 40 ounces of water. By the time I reached the JJ AS, I had drank over 70 ounces of fluids! I was taking two Endurolytes per hour, but I still noticed I had some cramping in my calves even at mile 25.

I called Bret when I had about 4 miles to go and told him to fill my entire Ultimate Direction pack up with ice water.

When I got to the JJ AS, I was hot. I took a few minutes to gather what I needed and took off onto my 3rd Loop. I was pouring so much water over my head I decided to fore go the camera and gave it to Bret to hold onto. Turns out, this was a huge mistake because only 200 yards out of JJ AS, I saw a beautiful Coyote within 20 yards of me. Oh well.

I didn't have any sloshing in my stomach, I felt great for the most part. I grabbed a little food and headed back out. Maybe 10 minutes for an AS stop.

3rd Loop:

The Coyote sighting was about the best thing that happened on this loop. By the time I reached Coyote Camp which was 5 miles away, I had drained the entire UD pack that held 64 ounces of water! I was so worn down from the heat. My head was thumping something awful. It was worrying me a little as I never felt a headache like that before. My back was starting to hurt from the climb up to CC AS. I decided I was going to sit down for 10 minutes at this AS and get some fluids in me. Turned out to only be less than a 5 minute break. I just hated to sit there.

I went against one of my rules and drank a bottle of Gatorade and a bit of Coke. I usually won't touch this as it gives me stomach issues. This never had any affect on me at all.

Stomach felt great, head and back was not so well. I noticed I had severe salt stains on my shirt, hat and shorts.

I pushed on down the trail over to Jackass Junction AS. It was a slow go as my back was tightening as I wound my way through the small canyons. By the time I reached the AS, the sun was setting and the temp was cooling down. My head still hurt and the back was still at it. I decided it would be a short stop only for water and some potatoes. I was really doubting myself at this point as the head pain was awful. It was like the worst hangover headache you'd ever had and couple that while running. My back pain was bad too. I couldn't run more than a 100 yards at a time without either stopping or bending forward and walking. This ate up valuable time.

I wasn't planning on taking this long on this loop and I didn't have a headlamp or flashlight available.

It was dark when I left JaJ AS. The moon was out and it lit up the trail just enough to get by. I was a little creeped out at times as I could hear packs of Coyotes just yards away from me scurrying around and chatting with each other. One said: "Hey that runner looks tasty" "No No, He's too fat" said another. This went back and forth until eventually a little Coyote yelled out and said: "Naw, Naw Mang, let's git him on a Stick!" ; )

Okay, no ones reading this anyway so I can put that in here. : )

The downhill into JJ AS seemed to help out my back a lot. I came into the AS running and feeling not too bad. I wasn't tired much at all just hungry and thirsty.

I had a hot spot on my right foot and I decided I'd better have it looked at. I went to the medical station and had them look at and treat my foot. I thought there was a blister but turns out there was nothing there. Maybe I'll explain this later.

4th Loop:

This was where I had picked up my pacer as I wasn't too sure what to expect on this loop. I was so bad earlier that I decided it was best to call him and have him be ready to go out.

I took about 20 minutes total at the AS stop. I grabbed extra food and drank a lot.
By this time, my headache was gone and I was feeling great. We walked a little ways out of the AS to finish our food and drink a little more.
I decided to take it slow the first couple of miles. I was running and walking until I got to the first road crossing. At that point, my back was getting really bad again. The spasms were getting too frequent and I found the best spot to be in was hunched over like a 90 year old man who broke his back 40 years earlier. I couldn't stand upright much less run.
I had to hold onto my pacers backpack a few yards at a time. By the time I reached the JaJ AS, I knew it wasn't safe to go on. The terrain in the next section was too much especially if they had to carry me out. I tried to lay down on the ground and stretch it out. Some one gave me an instant hot pack which didn't help at all.
I laid down, I stretched, I sat there, I walked around. One guy even rolled my back out. Nothing helped.
My back was hurting opposite of the side that I injured two weeks prior. This meant that the other side was over compensating for the weaker side. It had just finally had enough.

This sucked so bad. I could not believe it. This is what an uncontrollable DNF was like.

I knew I could do it but, my hopes of finishing this race was gone. Damn It!

There was nothing I could do. Over, and done with. I was in good spirits most of the time, had no stomach issues. My feet actually felt great.

Up until the point my back started hurting, I was doing well, had no issues other than it was hot and I didn't realize until it was way too late, that I was dehydrated.

I'm not disappointed in myself. I cannot be. I did what I could and gave it my best but, came up 50 miles short. Not sure my exact time to 51 miles.

Thank you to Mark, Mike, Stuart, Luc,  for calling me during the race. To my big sissy for calling me to wish me well the day before.....I forgot to call you back.

Bret, I could not have gotten to mile 51 without you. I bet that was the heaviest piggyback ride you ever gave uphill. -kidding! it was downhill ; )
Turns out the Javelina course record set by Karl Meltzer was broken this year by Dave James in 14:20! I saw him running all day and the performance was phenomenal.

c

Exactly 50% dropped out of the race for one reason or another.

I did mention the course is runnable, but if you go out too fast and don't respect the course, you will go down. I saw it happen over and over as the day went on. I saw one guy, who eventually dropped at the same time I did because of the cold. He had 1 1/2 loops to go and I was just starting my 4th loop.

I wished I knew the temps out in the sun. Standard temperature is taken in the shade. It got up to 85 degrees that day...I think. Out in the sun it was a different story.

I know I am missing a lot of information and story content I had previously thought of.

California To Be Continued.........

Javelina Jundred - Short version

Okay, I DNF'ed at mile 51. My back gave out on me when going up uphill the last 3-4 miles before I dropped.
I had it in me, just couldn't push through the back pain and spasms.
This course and race is awesome. Highly recommended, but don't take it for granted. The heat will eat you up and the cold will leave you curled up on the ground crying (as I did see).
I have some great pictures I will share later.
Coyotes within yards of us. Kinda freaky, but awesome.
I will write a longer entry later when I get a chance.
Thanks too everyone who called me and wrote messages of support.
I'm not dissapointed in myself. I was in good spirts (most of time), had energy, I knew I could do it.
I had a terrible headache between mile 30-46, and my back was hurting pretty bad. I started questioning myself, but when my headache and back started feeling better, I started running again. When I hit that long uphill towards Jackass Junction, it finally was too much.

I know one thing, I am taking a while off from any races. I need to get a few things settled before I make anymore plans.