Track and Field Blogs - RunDMC

If I saw a Hollywood Icon walking down the street, I probably wouldn’t even notice or know who they were. But when it comes to US Distance runners, I know the stats. I get all giddy like a little kid when I see Olympians out and about.

Saturday I did a mountain bike race at Mammoth Mountain and was looking at the “Tinker” tire at the Kenda trailer after the race. I turned around and Tinker Juarez was standing there. He is a 2 time mountain biking Olympian and he won the pro race by a wide margin.

Sunday I rode my bike along with my brother as he did a 20 mile run on the Green Church Rd (see video). He did well, but was sore so we went to sit in Mammoth Creek in the afternoon. Ryan and Sara Hall were soaking after their long run too.

Monday morning I ran the Mammoth Rock 10K (see video). Deena was out there being her usual nice and helpful self. In the afternoon I headed back to Mammoth Creek to soak my hammered legs and ran into Meb and Brian Ball (1:08 Half guy training here) and talked to them for a few minutes before they headed home to warm up.

This morning I went for a 90min run with some friends and when we finished, the Mammoth Track Club (Meb, Deena, Ryan and Sara Hall, Dan Browne, Josh Cox, and Tri monster Chris Lieto) were out at the park for 1 mile repeats. So I stayed and watched them blaze back and forth and talked to Michael from Team World Vision who will be doing the Chicago Marathon. Sounds like a good organization, check it out.

In three days I saw 5 Olympians, 4 American Record holders, 2 Olympic Medalists. Yup, Mammoth is pretty cool. On top of that, it is a fabulous place to run, bike and hike with tons of cool people who are not Olympians.

My mountain bike race was not as good as I had hoped because of a Camelbak failure. My bite valve came off in my mouth and I had to stop to keep from losing all my water and choking on the valve less that halfway into the race. I was in the hunt for my age group, but never caught back up after that. I did climb well and descended in a mediocre way as usual. I think I finished 4^th, but the results were messed up so who knows. I wrote a letter…

In the Mammoth Rock Race I started conservatively, and got gapped early by 3 guys. Soon up the 2.5mi long grinder hill, I had gapped those behind me pretty heavily so I was all alone. I managed to stave off a side cramp on the long downhill and finished 4^th, but one of the three who beat me was not entered. Hey, that’s part of the deal so I officially finished 3^rd and won my age group. It was the same place as last year in almost the same time. A former Cross Country Ski Olympian finished the next place behind me.

After a mountain bike race of 2 laps with 700 or so vertical feet of climbing each starting at 9000 feet (Avg 11.3mph), then a trail 10K at 7800ft with 600 vertical feet up and down, my thighs are beaten. Did I mention I like stats? But I’m happy with a solid weekend of racing followed up with a 90min run and seeing and talking to some Olympians.