Activity Page

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Table Top Mountain run via Platteklip Trail

Old Bust Head Benefit 5k

Race Report: Dahlgreen 50k

As I’m flying to Denver, Colorado I type this post. I haven’t written or even posted much 

content here in a long time and what better way to spend the next few hours by writing this.This year I’ve completed multiple races ranging from 5k’s to 50k’s, and in this report, I’m going to write about the Dahlgreen 50k.

After I ran the North Face 50k in April and came short of my sub 5 hour goal by 

just 8 minutes, I decided to sign up for the very flat Dahlgreen 50k. Fun fact, Mike Wardian ran the fastest trail 50k in the country last year in 3:10:26.

I tried training for the heat in this race because being held in August, you can expect it to be very humid and in the upper 80s to lower 90s. I did a lot of hard ten mile runs in the afternoon and felt tired, but good. When I tried to do my 20 and 25 mile runs, I had to stop both times at mile 19 and call it quits. I could verily hold into a 9:30 pace and had to add a lot of walking breaks. So I went into this race without doing a long run, which I wasn’t scared because I’ve done it multiple times, but I didn’t know if I could get a good time. I had no expectations for this race; yes I would have liked to get a sub 5 hour PR, but went into the race calm and hoping to keep a sub 10 minute per mile pace.

I got to the race, did my morning routine, and started running with 57 other runners. The race is mostly dirt and gravel, 15ish miles one way to the turn around and then the same route back to the starting line. Miles 7-13ish are brutal on the way back; it’s mostly pebble size rocks that eat your ankles and I kicked the ground a few times. The first 18 miles went just fine; I kept getting 8:45 minutes per mile or around that time, which I knew was too fast, but I wanted to see how long I could keep that pace. By mile 22 I had hit the wall and slowed down to a 9-9:30 pace and a lot of walking breaks. After the first aid station, I ran the whole race by myself, nobody passed me and there was nobody to pass. It was a little boring because there are not a lot of runners and the view is just the same dirt road with trees on both sides, but it’s a very easy race to concentrate and run hard. The lack of elevation makes it an event that I will train for hard next year. At mile 28ish, I was walking and turned around to see if anybody was catching up, when I 

spotted a dog running towards me very fast. I got a little scared and thought it either wants to play or bite me. I didn’t want to find out and started running as fast as I could, looked at my watch and was doing a sub 6 minute per mile pace. When I got to the next road cross a few minutes later I told the volunteers stopping traffic what had happened and continued with my race. Once I got to the finish line, I heard the dog was caught. I’m glad it didn’t bite me or any of the other runners. I ended up finishing the race with a new 50k PR of 4:54

I recommend this race to first time ultra runners or anybody looking for a new 50k pr. Be 

prepare to run in the heat.

(Photo taken by Justyn Cox and Kim Boshela)

-Keep Running

Race Finish

I love finishing races with friends.

Kroger's Canteen - Salomon Running TV S4 E06

By far the best Salomon Running TV episode.

GoPro Trail Run Video

Brought my GoPro out for the first time on a run up and down to Mary's rock

Exciting News...

Today I got my first sponsorship and I am very excited that it's from one of my favorite brands out there. Honey Stinger has been putting out great nutrition products for athletes and I am very excited to be part of the family.

I've been eating different types of food for breakfast before I set out for my morning run, from oatmeal to fruits. Everything would upset my stomach, until I started eating the Organic Honey Waffle and I've been performing great ever since. In the upcoming months, I will be doing product reviews from more of their energy line up.

-Keep Running-

New PR

Yesterday I ran the first race of the Fredericksburg Area Running Club 'Grand Prix'. I was hoping for a better time than last year, which was a 25:22.

I want to increase my milage this year, so I did 2.5 miles before the race and 3 miles after.

During the race I was a little tired but tried to keep an even pace. These races have a lot of fast people and it motivates you to do your best.

I finished in a new PR of 24:47 and 14th place overall.

-Keep Running-

Juan

Winter Speed Work

Speed work in the winter time is a little tricky. When running outside in subfreezing temperatures you never want to push too hard.

The key in winter speed work is to warm up appropriately. If you are able to bike inside, do it for about 15-30 minutes if not then run at a slower pace.

My speed workout of choice to do once a week is:

2 mile warmup

8 repetitions of 20 seconds each sprint (sub 5:30 pace)
10 second rest in-between reps

Cooldown for 1.5-2 miles

-Keep Running-

Goals for 2015

There are many running goals I would like to accomplish this year and that includes updating this post more often.

My 5k goal is to be able to run it under 18:00 minutes. I was very happy with hitting my 5k goal last year of under 18:30, but seeing how close I got to a sub 18, I know I can accomplish it this year.

Another goal for the year is a sub 3:15 marathon. I would like to qualify for Boston one year, but I’m in no kind of a hurry.

My final objective for 2015 is to do the JFK 50 Miler. I don’t like to say I’ve done ultras because I feel like a 50k is not much different from a marathon; so being able to finally do a 50 miler, I would be happy to call myself an “ultra runner”. 

This year I will try to do 2 50k’s and a few marathons as my training runs for the 50 miler. In the past, I’ve avoided doing a lot of long runs and it has hurt me once race day came around. This year, I will slowly increase my milage until being able to hit comfortable 20-30 mile weekends.

2014 Recap

This past year was amazing! 

I didn’t update the website at all and I felt pretty bad about having a blog and not writing much. Hopefully with this post, things will change in 2015 regarding updates.

In 2014, I ran a good amount of 5-10k’s, 3 ten milers, 2 half-marathons, 1 marathon, and 1 50k. In those races, I came in first place overall 5 times and a few age group wins. It felt so nice to finally start winning more races, including the Molly’s Irish Pub 5k, which is one of my favorite races to do. 

It was a very fast year for me. I dropped times on almost all the distances I’ve raced. My biggest accomplishments were shaving off almost 2 hours from my previous 50 km time and 33 seconds off my 5 km time. My PR’s were:

5 km 18:09

4 miles 25:29

8 km 31:43

10 km 39:01

10 miles 1:04:41

Half-Marathon 1:26:47

Marathon 3:25:01

50 km 5:51:10