Lulled In By the Bulldog 25K Trail Run Again This Year

The Bulldog 50K and 25K trail races are on Saturday, August 25th this year at Malibu Creek State Park in Calabasas.  Don't know what it is about this brutally tough race, but I'm signed up for the 25K again this year. Last year it was the hottest day of the year and I didn't fare too well, feeling dehydrated most of the race. Hoping we get an overcast morning.

Today I did my longest run so far of the year, a 2 hour run mostly on the trails in Sycamore Canyon. Ran up Danielson Road, turned up the Old Boney Trail (which gives some really nice views of Boney Mountain), down Fossil Trail down to the bottom of Sycamore Canyon. From there I ran a handful of other trails and road to achieve a total time of 2 hours.

Did something I would not recommend. Swigged down a bottle of water, put a couple candy bars in a fanny pack, and took off. Didn't carry any water with me this morning as I felt I was able to drink enough down to get my through a 2 hour run. I'm not a big fan of carrying water. Started the run at 7:20 a.m. and it was nice and cool. Temps only reached about 70 degrees. Worked out fine for me. My backup plan is that I knew of 3 water fountains on my path. Didn't need to stop for them though.

But I did stop briefly to take a few quick pics of the view!

Australian Hurdler Michelle Jenneke's Warmup Dance; You Can Get Away With This if You're Good at What You Do!

After sucking in some oxygen, I thought, is this too overtly sexualization of sports? But I paced myself, watched the whole video...29 times...and though, heck no. This 19 year old Aussie Michelle Jenneke demolished the competition so if she wants to do a little dance show to warm up, by golly, let her!

While she won't be at the Olympics in London next month, perhaps we will see her smiling face and wiggly, jiggly moves at the 2016 Olympics in Spain.

More at www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/19/michelle-jenneke-dancing-australian-hurdler-video_n_1686230.html.

Video Footage of June 28th U.S. Men's 5,000 Meter Olympic Trials in Oregon

On June 28, 2012, 26 year old Galen Rupp of Portland, Oregon broke Steve Prefontaine's 1972 5000m trials record, running the race in 13:22.67. Galen's career best time in the distance was set earlier that month on June 2 at the Prefontaine Classic in 12:58.90, where he finished in 3rd place. This will be Rupp's 2nd appearance in the Olympics, finishing 13th in the 10,000 meters in Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.

Rupp will be joined by 38 year old (ancient by 5,000 meter standards) Bernard Lagat, who finished 15/100ths of a second behind Rupp, and 3rd place finisher Lopez Lomong. This is a great finish in what was a very tactical race. Looking forward to seeing these guys compete in London next month.

Waking Up My Body Once Again With a Local 5K Race on the 4th of July

With no particular race plans and no real focus to my running these days, I don't have a lot of motivation to run fast. It has been 3 1/2 months since I started back with my running after 5 1/2 week hiatus. I've been running consistently, but not spectacularly.

Part of my problem continues to be lack of adequate sleep...getting to bed too late. I'll have to work on cloning myself. Too tired in the morning, my daily runs have been slow. My long runs in the 8 to 9 mile range over the last 3 to 4 weeks.

In any case, I thought it would be fun to do the local Miller Family YMCA 5K in Newbury Park on the 4th of July to give my body some shock treatment again. When you don't do speedwork on the track or in your training in general, I'm a fan of running a periodic 5K to force a little speed with peer pressure surrounding you in a fun environment.

There were over 400 runners on hand for the 5K. The weather was overcast, the course was semi-challenging. I felt decent. Not speedy, but not bad.

As usual for pretty much any local 5K/10K, there were dozens and dozens of teenagers toeing the line. Although I know most of them will be out of the gate like a sprinter, then fizzle out before the first miler marker, I don't bother trying to squeeze into the front where I know I belong (I did, even at my advanced age of 47, still manage to finish 9th overall). I chose standing in the 2nd/3rd row and relaxing, though slightly annoyed, to jostling with a pimply 16 year old for a spot.

The race starts and, sure enough, 50 people bolt out ahead of me as I work my way into it. But within 1/2 mile most of these folks are behind me as I slowly but surely reel them in. At that point I was pretty much in the spot I'd end up at at the finish line.

While the speed that carried me to 17 1/2 minute 5K times 2 years ago was not there, I felt more competitive than the 10K I ran 2 1/2 months ago. So I was able to keep a couple teenagers on their toes most of the race, trading positions with them a few times. At the end, they were able to accelerate while I stayed in 2nd gear, and they beat me 8 seconds.

The results show me in 9th place in 18:31, roughly 5:59 per mile. The first mile was uphill, which forced me into negative splits, which is a good thing. The two kids in front of me were 14 and 16. The 10th place finisher, 25 seconds behind me, was 15. WTH?? I'm older than the combined ages of these 3 guys. Too much fun!