Welcome back to Southern Oregon

Southern Oregon is home. It wasn't before. As a teenager I had a fantasy or two about running in Oregon. It was this magical place that wasn't crowded with people and cement all over the place like southern California was to me. Over time I learned to love and appreciate both places for their uniquenesses. Having spent most of the past 2 years in Ashland, I've really come to love being here. Visiting where I grew up has also been fulfilling but its never exactly the same once you get the "home" feeling elsewhere (for me at least).

Running lately

Its great. 

Warming up with the high school before their time trial in July.

During May and June I was training for Harding Hustle 50k that was in late July. I spent my month+ in socal coaching and running with the high school and that was great too. The 50k went really well and training with the teens made me a lot quicker which is hard for me to do on my own. It was a lot of fun on Sundays too to sneak off and do a long run on my own or with whatever poor soul I could convince to come along (fellow coaches Mark and Liam mostly). After my time in Ashland, I have a newer appreciation for trails near home so I was finding I didn't have enough time to get to all of them while down south, so I did all I could and had a blast.

Mammoth Lakes

During the warmup before we tackled big smokey. A half marathon at 6000+ feet with some good vert in just over 90 minutes... And that was me holding them back for 10 miles of it.

Anyone who really knows me knows I love being in ML. I've lived there for a couple summers and spent several week long stints there too. I have yet to be there in winter but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. 

Running sweep on Mammoth Rock trail. These guys and gals were rolling down this one!

Being in Mammoth for the XC camp was a lot of fun like it always is. I really get a lot personally out of helping to foster and develop young (people) runners and share my love of trails and running and mammoth with these young budding minds.

Ah before I forget, last summer when biking everything rather than running because of a bum foot, I set the goal of setting our hill climb race course record a year later. Welp, I did it! Honestly I am just so pleased that I was able to come back a year later and be fit have fun push hard and achieve that goal I set a year earlier. Something about doing a lot of training in Ashland must have helped. Oh yea its probably the 5-12 thousand feet of elevation climbing I do per week. :)

The view of twin lakes from horseshoe, where we did a couple doubles. 

Rainbow Falls and Devils Post pile and some PCT + John Muir action. I can't get enough of it.

Motorcycle Tour

Kind of a tour. I rode my Yamaha v-star 650 up to Ashland via a scenic route I put together. Here is how it played out:
Monday: 7hrs Socal>Mammoth Lakes
Tuesday: 3-4hrs ML > South Lake Tahoe
Wednesday: 9hrs > Ashland

The total drive time was more like 16-17hrs total but those times include gas and rest breaks. 

My camp in Mammoth. Some pine cone insulation and a tarp did the trick.

On my way over the hill to south Lake Tahoe. Beautiful ride between Mammoth and Tahoe.

Being in ML especially was great. Even though I was just there for a week with the high school, being there on my own made it feel more like the times I've spent living there (even though it was only 2 months at the longest stint). This time was 24 hours of bliss.

This brings us to now.

Leaving my camp in the wilderness at horsetail falls in south Lake Tahoe. Stoked I got to wear the pack for a hot second.

Lithia Loop Trail Marathon
That's what I'm training for currently. After my success at harding hustle 50k I've decided that targeting a race and training specifically for it is generally worth the commitment. This may seem obvious but I've been more of a run by mood kind of guy in the past. That's still meant real training, but less structured and less specific. 

I started doing the Uphill challenge periodically.
Its 15 minutes at 15% incline on a treadmill.
This was the first try, I got 1.67 the next time!

I am taking lithia loop pretty seriously so my training is very specific. Its been good too lately. Coming off of the time running a bit quicker with the high school to now, I'm in about the best shape I've ever been in and that's exciting. The consistency I was missing a year ago is now my biggest asset. Combining that with specificity of training for goal races is the plan. I still have some 8 weeks or so until lithia loop which feels like a while to me so I may add a race in about 2-3 weeks just to mix it up and get a hard 20 mile trail race check up leading into the goal race.

Pine To Palm 100

I just volunteered at Pine To Palm 100 last weekend! It was such a cool experience helping out through the whole thing. I definitely learned a lot and gained more respect for the task of a 100 miler in the mountains! 

Race briefing friday evening. Hal did an awesome job keeping it short. 
With a 100 miler, theres a lot that could be said.

Dusk during my sweep from mile 42 to 50. This was definitely a NEW experience.

Setting up at 50 miles. This was a nice little buffet once all ready to go.

First finisher just after midnight (sat night/sunday morning) in 18:12.
Incredible 2nd fastest time on course on a hot year too.