Mark Dowds

Race Plans for 2012

So I haven't used my blog much this year. The basic update is that I had a major accident on my road bike leading me to have a steel plate and 8 screws in my right tibia. This happened on June 29th and I have been in recovery since. I have decided to do no official new years resolutions for 2012 but instead am going to take it one day at a time and see where things end up. The list of races below are some of the ones I want to do. There are a few other trips and endurance races I would like to go for and will keep this post updated as they evolve. There are a group of us doing most of these races. Let me know if you want to join in on any or have any others you think I should consider. I have a lot of training to do over the next few months to get into any form of shape as I have done little since the accident. Here is hoping...

January:  The main event will be getting off the couch and prepping for a February start

February 5^th  TBF XC Race

March 3^rd  Woodside 50K

April 1^st Quick Silver Adventure Race 

April 21^st Sea Otter XC

May:  5^th either the Boggs 8 hour MTB race or Wildflower Tri

June 3^rd::  Wildest Ride in the West

June 10^th: Laguna Seca 24 hours Team Race

June 24^th LiveSTRONG Century

July 1^st  Cream Puff 100

July 21^st Tahoe 100K Leadville qualifier

July 28^th White Mt 60 - Lead by Jeff no website 60 miles or so up to 14K feet outside Bishop Ca.

August 4^th-12^th:  Leadville LT100 (race day is the 11^th)

September 1^st  Park City Point to Point

September 29^th Tinley’s Toughest

 October 14^th  Sugar pine 50

October 27^TH  Death Valley century

November 31^st -4^th  La Ruta (Costa Rica)

December: Anything fun we can think of

 

I Have Never

This week while I was in Toronto I had an idea which I think I like. I get to live quite an adventurous life and I really don't document it well enough. One of my favorite party games is "I Have Never". There are various iterations and versions of this game but the basics are that you have to think of something you have never done and share it with the group. If someone has done it then they swap places with you in the centre of the room and tell the story. There have been many bust-a-gut evenings playing this with friends over a few drinks.

The biggest issue I have had playing this game of late however is that there seem to be few things that I have never done. So I have now set myself a challenge to start blogging these and sharing stories about new "Firsts" as they surface. These will come in a random order and will all be tagged under the category of "I Have Never".

Last weekend I did my first triathlon. It was a Half-Iron distance in the Napa region. That means it began with a 1.2 mile swim in open water, followed by a 56 mile bike ride, and finishes with a half-marathon. I have avoided something like this forever as I genuinely don't enjoy swimming. I have been determined to overcome that fear however to open up a whole new world of possibilities. I almost drowned on the swim with the big waves crashing over my head but when I got on the bike I came alive and ended up finishing with a half-decent time. It is something I am going to do again but I think I have a few other things I would like to do before signing up for the next one. One of my friends doctored the picture below to give it the IronMan Glare :-)

So my challenge to you who are reading is to lay out challenges that you think I should do. This list can be anything at all. It could be a prank, an adventure, something just insane...you set the category and if I have never done it I will add it to my list and report back. So what should I do next?

You can lay out challenges in the comments section or publicly challenge me on Twitter @markdowds

The Plan for 2011

It is that time again to publicly communicate my plans and goals for 2011 as I see them today. I will likely add to this list but hopefully not subtract anything. This past year was full of accomplishments on the sports and adventure side. I came 1st in the ultra distance Coastal Trail Blazer Awards for winning and placing on those stupid long runs. I feel good about that and that the 14 ultramarathons actually won me something. I am going to continue to run ultras but not as many this year. I still have to choose which ones I am going to take on in between my other racing schedule (below).

Here is what I have set out for this coming year:

1. I am going to be a better husband and father.

2. I am going to lead Brainpark to become very successful.

3. I am going to do my first Ironman in Cozumel Mexico on Nov 27th.

To accomplish these 3 significant goals is going to take even more discipline in my life. The old adage of early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise is going to be a mantra this year. I have already taken steps to formalize this discipline by spending $900 to join a Masters Swim class that starts every morning at 5.30am. I plan to swim and run 5 days a week before work then bike every day before dinner. I bought myself a very nice Kestrel bike a few months ago which I am really enjoying. This year will have a lot of mountain bike and road bike racing. Here is the schedule so far:

1/23: Pacifica 21k trail run (may upgrade to the ultra)

1/29: Dam Run in Lafayette

2/6: Chanoko Duathlon

3/13: Dublin St Pats run

3/19: Mount Diablo Challenge 50K Trail Run

4/2: Boggs 8-Hour Mountain Bike Challenge

4/30: Napa Valley Vintage Triathlong (Half-Ironman Distance)

5/15: Bay to Breakers

5/22: 12 hours of Weaverville

6/18: Best of the Bay 125 Mile ride

7/9: Downieville Classic

8/7: Shasta Summit challenge or Howell Mt Challenge

8/13: Tahoe Sierra 100 Mile Mountain Bike Ultra ride

Sept: Tour De Tahoe

10/2: Whiskey Town 9-5

10/16: Diablo Challenge

11/27: Ironman Cozumel

12: Hark the Harold 25K

This time I have a couple of friends who are doing most of the races with me (except the Ironman). I am excited to build up the bike skills and have some fun. If any of you are interested in joining me for any of the above races please let me know. I am going to tie a bunch of this together to raise some more money for my friends in Haiti. The details on that will follow on MileASmile.

 

A Lifesytle of Adventure

It has been a while since I posted anything here as I have been doing more writing on the MileASmile and Brainpark websites. A couple of years back I made a personal vow that I would look for something adventurous to do everyday even if it only took 15 minutes. I have been true to doing this for the most part and wish I would have logged it all down. Well, there are somethings I couldn't write publicly about but it would have been good to have a record of events.

Adventure for me is when my heart pumps a little faster and I am reminded that I am still alive. Over this past season I have ridden motocross, jumped out of a plane, won an ultramarathon, ran 100 miles, biked Mt Diablo, Jetskied Shasta Lake, got a tattoo, sang karaoke, mooned a restaurant, turned 40 and laughed until my heart is content to name a few. I think I may start doing some shorter posts to log some of the stupid things I get myself into.

I hope that I can still keep this rolling as old as I become. I always want to be caught with a sparkle of mischief in my eyes. I have met too many people who get focused on money, career, fame, or wanting to be liked. I hope that I can continuously navigate around these things without getting stuck and boring. This post was prompted by someone who I haven't seen for 20 years asking about me and whether I was still "mad". The response is a resounding "YES".

For this next season I am not sure all I am going to try. I am doing my first triathlon next month and think I will try an IronMan somewhere within a year. This means I need to re-learn how to swim properly and buy a road bike and learn how to do that as well. On top of this I am noodling on a very stupid running adventure that will make 100 mile race look tame. All this will precede the day I get to ride a motorcycle around central and south america for 6 weeks.

Oh, forgot to mention. I do work as well.

Sequoia Ultra Trail Run

When I woke up yesterday to the sound of rain my heart sank. My last ultra 3 weeks ago was in the rain and mud and I was hoping for something different this time around. The event was 25 minutes from where I live but I had never been in the park. The event was run by Pacific Coast Trail Runs again, these folks are amazing.

The elevation gain was over 5,000 ft throughout the duration of 50KM. This being my 4th race I am getting more familiar with what to expect. This course was a tough one and very technical in places. The majority of the course is single track in the midst of trees. It has breathtaking scenery which is what I enjoy most about trail running. 

I did well and was keeping up my normal pace for the most part. Then I was faced with some really tough and slippery climbing which burned out my quads for a while. I never stopped going but I felt this one physically more than the previous ones. This course was slower due to climbing under trees, navigating boulders, traversing streams, and at one point wading through a small lake (caused by the rainfall). The rain stopped just before the race began which made the temperature perfect but the trails treacherous. There were so many times I slipped and tripped that I thought for sure I would get hurt or end up on my ass in mud somewhere. I did witness several people going down in it so there was no shortage of cuts and blood. The worst scene I saw though was one guy with half his shirt soaked in blood all from one nipple. I almost stopped to ask him for a picture but then considered it somewhat inappropriate...

I did well in the race overall and came in what I think would be the top third. My time was 6 hrs 31 mins which is almost half an hour slower than my usual time. I am learning that you cannot benchmark one race against another as the conditions change radically from park to park.

My next race is the Mount Diablo 50K in 3 weeks time. I am looking forward to this one as it is in my backyard. It will be a tough one too but one of my best friends is running it with me. It will be his first ultra and we won't be looking at watches and times but rather mocking each other for the day.

I have no pictures this time around and no GPS stats as my Garmin ran out of batteries 5 hrs in. 

Another run in the park

Tomorrow I face my 4th ultramarathon this year. It is another 50K in the mountains. This time it is in Sequoia park which I think is near Piedmont (Oakland). My training and eating is getting more precise and I feel strong as well as fit for this one. I have ran 122 miles over the last 12 days in varied conditions and speeds to build capacity and feel good today. I really do hope it is a nice day tomorrow after the last mud bath run. It is getting gray and windy outside right now and I really want to have dry dirt under my feet tomorrow. I will report back tomorrow evening with the fine details and debrief. Wish me luck as these runs do not get less intimidating the day before.

Woodside 50K UltraMarathon

So another race down and I am learning a lot. I have deduced more about how much to train before each event and what to do for recovery. One of the big differences for this run was that I had built myself up to running 70 miles a week until the week before the race where I eased off and just did 4 or 5 miles each day. I also ate less on the morning of the race as on the other ones I had felt a little bloated. This meant that I relied more heavily on the aid stations and my intake during the run. 

 It was pouring rain from the start in the Woodside mountains (just NW of Palo Alto). I started the race wearing a fashionable bright yellow poncho (no joke) which got interesting stares. I was soaked to the skin even with this before the half-way mark so I peeled it off and donated it to one of the aid stations. My shoes and socks were soaking wet within the first half hour so I have a nice blister to show as a result. I was dreading running in the rain but to be honest it turned out to be a lot of fun and I had a blast, As you can see from the picture.

There were 117 in for the 50K (32 miles) and 100 finished. I was placed 53rd overall with a time of 6hrs and 4 mins. I was happy with this time as I know I would have been at least 30 minutes faster had it have been dry. I felt great at the end of the run and was ready for more. I drove myself in and out and haven't suffered many aches or pains this time around.

Here are the details and stats of the run itself. My Garmin GPS wasn't picking up a great signal as it was in dense forest so the distance is a little off but it gives you an idea of the overall course:

Woodside 50K Trail Run

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Angel Island 25K Trail Run

Today's race went well. It was 25K (16 miles) and 3000ft of elevation gain. I completed it in 2 hrs and 50 mins (forgot to turn my Garmin off hence the extra couple of mins below). I got a new pair of running shoes (feet) for Christmas called the Vibram Five-Fingers which is an alternative to running in bare feet. Recent scientific studies show that for most people running in bare feet (or close to it) is much better for joints and muscles. There is an interesting section in Born to Run that highlights most of the modern runner's ailments are due to running in fancy running shoes with big padded soles. I started training in the new barefoot shoes recently and it changes the style significantly and as a result I have been using different muscles in my calves. Instead of breaking myself in I went for a decent run in the mountains earlier this week in them. The experience is phenomenal but my muscles have been worked over all week.

I say this to start the post as from the moment I started running today (in normal shoes) my calves were in agony. I almost stopped after the first 10 minutes to give up due to the pain but I am such a sucker and refuse to have a DNF (did not finish) on my record this early that I sucked it up, cranked the tunes louder and pretended it did not exist. I kept a decent speed (for single track climbs) but know I could have killed this run had I been smarter in my training. Lesson learned but I cannot afford to make too many more mistakes like that with the agenda for the next 6 months. I am learning so much about consistent running, training, and recovery. It is very different that training for one marathon. The next 50K run is in 2 weeks so I will be taking it easy and doing lighter runs (8-10 milers in the hills) and bikram yoga every week so as not to over-train.

My family and @JesseEngle and family were there to cheer me over the finish line which felt fantastic. It was a nice end to the day. Here is one picture crossing the finish line showing my big smile

Angel Island 25K

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