Last weekend I ran the beautiful Sedona Marathon with my brother. Racing together has been in the works for a long time. Our schedules finally aligned, and we met in Arizona to take on a very challenging marathon course together (or at least until the very end).

The race start and finish area was staged at the Sedona Cultural Park, which provided panoramic views of Cockscomb, Chimney Rock and Coffee Pot Rock. The Red Rocks were glowing as the sun rose from the east, while we made our final preparations before the race. This is when I crossed paths with San Diego native, Nick Hollon, a freshman at Northern Arizona University who made the drive down from Flagstaff that morning for the race.     

My brother and I started the race with a comfortable sub 8-minute mile pace, and we both noted that the 4,500 feet of elevation resulted in an heart rate of about 10 bpm higher than at sea level, where we both live and train. The out and back course changed from pavement to dirt road near mile 7 when we entered The Coconino National Forest .

Here were our splits for the first half:

1     00:07:58       

2      00:07:25      

3      00:07:55      

4      00:07:36      

5      00:07:33      

6      00:07:40      

7      00:08:03      

8      00:07:31      

9      00:07:31      

10      00:07:59      

11      00:07:43      

12      00:07:18      

13      00:07:39

1:40:45 half marathon split

We were less than 2 miles out from the turn-around when the race leader passed us going back the other direction so I began counting the runners going by and at the turn around point we were in 21st and 22nd place. 

Despite the hills we climbed on the 13 miles out, my brother and I agree that the return trip was way harder. Check out the elevation profile below and the spikes (yes, walking) in my pace. (aka mile 23).

During the final 5K of the race, my pacing was off from the climbs so my brother pulled away to finish in 3:37: 49, 21st overall and 4th in his age group. He rocked it and finished strong after 4 solid months of training in the cold climates back east. I finished next in 3:39:32 for 22nd overall and 4th in my age group.

Here were my splits for the second half:

14       00:07:54       

15      00:08:26      

16      00:08:31      

17      00:08:19      

18      00:08:11      

19      00:08:56      

20      00:09:27      

21      00:08:41      

22      00:09:19      

23      00:11:32      

24      00:09:33      

25      00:08:51      

26      00:09:42      

It’s hard to explain the silent understanding my brother and I had as we ran together—he would pull ahead on the climbs and I would go ahead on the downhill only to regain our pace together again on the flats. We had such good energy flowing and being surrounded by the majestic beauty of the Red Rocks added an exciting element to the experience.

I’m currently focused on recovery so I can make my 2009 Southern California Ultra Series debut on 2/21 at the Orange Curtain 50K and keep working on my consistency. This incredibly flat (aka boring ) course features a 5K out-and-back on paved bike paths which will enable me to closely track my splits and build a strong foundation before a significant increase in mileage in the months ahead.

Thanks to all of you out there for the encouraging comments and emails during my trip to Sedona for the race. It feels good to know people besides just my Mom are reading about my shenanigans If you want to keep up with my updates, check me out on Twitter @TobyGuillette. Or subscribe to my RSS feed to receive auto-updates (if you haven’t already) on my latest posts.

Last night the Triathlon Club of San Diego kicked off the 25th anniversary year for the club with the January club meeting and a visit from 2008 Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander. Dr. John Martinez hosted over 300 athletes at the Coast Wellness and Sports Center in San Diego for the meeting where Bob Babbitt of Competitor Magazine and John Duke of Triathlete Magazine interviewed "Crowie."

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Left to right: John Duke, Craig Alexander, Dr. John Martinez

It was a great event and I was impressed by Craig Alexander’s class. When he spoke about the team of people, who are responsible for supporting the daily grind in an endurance athlete’s life, it really hit home. He is the real deal and has worked incredibly hard, “blue collar” style, for many years to earn his place at the top.

Other highlights included a cameo appearance by Active Expert and 6-time Ironman World Champion Dave Scott plus I got to meet and chat with Xterra triathlete and coach, Trevor Glavin , whose blog I’ve been following for the past few months.

Stay tuned for my next post with views from the red carpet at the Endurance Sports Awards this weekend!

Mount Whitney rests at 14,505 feet above sea level, making it the highest summit in the contiguous United States and a highly coveted ascent to hikers and climbers alike. There are multiple routes to the top ranging from day hike to alpine ascent.

In the video below, my good friend Albert Yu-Min Lin and his climbing partner Charles Ince, embarked upon what may have been the first winter “ukulele” ascent of Mount Whitney’s East Face. Enjoy this one-of-a-kind video of that climb…

[Whitney East Face Winter Climb | http://vimeo.com/] from Albert Lin on Vimeo .

They made it look easy, didn’t they? What about you – what would you bring with you to the top?

Check out more punishment reports from the Pullharder.org crew at www.pullharder.org

Overview: The ‘toughest’ 140.6-mile triathlon in North America: 2.4-mile swim in Lake Mead, 112-mile bike ride through Nevada desert with over 9,500 feet of climbing followed by a 26.2-mile run through Henderson with 2,500 feet of elevation gain. The extreme weather conditions made this brutal course even more difficult.

Silverman: All 50 states and 12 countries were represented at this years race. The pre-race events, event management, support from volunteers and energy from participants was world-class.

Swim: The swim was great because the water was close to 70 degrees which is 10 degrees warmer than the ocean in San Diego where I train. It was a nice change to swim in fresh water, but when the 35 mph wind gusts started up on our final approach to land, the conditions closely resembled a choppy ocean swim. The swell plus the rain made sighting a challenge too so I was relieved when I finally got to shore in 1:25.

T1: I transitioned to the bike in less than 5 minutes. I wore a pair of cycling shorts over my tri shorts for extra cushioning thanks to Airey’s suggestion. This made all the difference on my long bike ride. Note that my swim gear bag didn’t show up at the finish line so I’m still missing my wetsuit.

Bike: It was raining and wind was gusting when I got on the bike. My legs were cold but responded to fast spinning in an easy gear. I maintained this technique for all of the climbs and took full advantage the free speed on each descent that carried me into the next climb.

56: It rained for the first few hours of the ride while winds were steady from 20 to 30mph all day. The scenery during the ride was a treat and was even nicer when the rain let up. I did my best to take in the bulk of my calories during the ride, rotating between liquid calories in the bottle and gels as my primary source and had a clif bar at mile 95. It was great to see Paul and Carrie at mile 30ish but it was a long day out there and I didn’t see many people in front or behind me until the lead pack hit the turn around and were headed back the way we came. 

112: My neck and shoulders were tight from the 7.5 hours of riding and my sit area was sore from the bike seat so I was excited to start my run and be done riding.

T2: Paul and Carrie were at the transition where I handed off my bike and left the tent to begin the run. I also saw Eric who was already done with the half-distance race that started 2.5 hours after the full-distance race. That was a good sign for him to be done that early as he ended up 2nd in his age group! 

Run: The run for me remains my strength and the cycling training has helped my legs get even stronger and better balanced for running. I felt great to start the run at my goal pace but I could have been more conservative and remained stronger longer.

13.1: I maintained an 8:37 pace for the first half of the two-loop run course for a 1:53 half-marathon split. I crossed paths with Austin who was on the final quarter mile of his run and about to finish his race. It was great to see him but I knew I still had a couple hours left.

26.2: The final loop had me digging deeper for energy because the sun had gone down, I slowed my pace so a sub-4 hour marathon was out of reach and a sub-13 hour finish was gone too. The bright yellow shirts of race volunteers stationed at each mile of the run were a welcoming sight. I was very impressed with the amount of support the city contributed to the event.

140.6: I crossed the finish line in 13:10:49 as the 36th overall finisher. It was an exciting finish under the lights with the final run through a corral with flags from the 12 countries represented at the race. I met Paul, Carrie and Austin at the finish line, snapped some pics and then headed for the massage tent. During this time the lactic acids flooded my bloodstream and I got pretty nauseas. It only took 30 minutes on the massage table for this to pass thanks to the volunteer masseuse. Next we had to claim all of our gear bags and this is when I discovered my swim bag was missing. I was too tired to deal with it at the time so we decided to head back to the hotel/casino and sort things out with the race staff after the event.

(Not feeling so good in this shot)

Recap: This race was the final step in reaching my 2008 season goal of training for and completing both a 100-mile ultra marathon and a 140.6-mile triathlon. It is still hard for me to fathom how far I’ve come in such a sort time and what possibilities this will bring for the future. For now it’s back to the drawing board to dream up another year of goals and finish this year off in the company of my friends and family who have been there for me every mile of the way. Thank you for joining me on this adventure!

Overview: I’m on the precipice of achieving my season goal--completing both a 100-mile ultra marathon and a 140.6-mile triathlon.

Silverman: In peak training for Silverman and fully committed to the process. The month countdown to November 9 has begun. My swimming is coming along, cycling has improved drastically and I’ve learned so much through this process. 

Training: The most difficult and perhaps most important lesson I’ve learned, which Matt Fitzgerald highlights in Brain Training for Runners, is the importance of writing workouts in pencil and not pen. This means that one should not be afraid or feel guilty for erasing/editing a training session if things aren’t working out properly. At first I would feel ashamed when I didn’t hit my target but now I realize this may have actually saved my season by avoiding overuse injuries, burnout and exhaustion. My training partner Ryan provides a perfect example of making the best of a training ride gone wrong in his blog from our ride last weekend. I’m hoping for the best this weekend but am now prepared for the worst

GreenLaces.org: In my continued effort to expand my horizons while lessening my impact on the environment, I’ve made a promise to the planet. From now on I will recycle my running shoes through the Reuse-a-Shoe program so they can be made into playground and athletic surfaces. I made my promise at GreenLaces.org and will support this grassroots movement by wearing green shoelaces in my running shoes.

I encourage you to make a promise and change one thing... So what's your promise going to be?

Recap: If you thought this year was big... stay tuned for my 2009 season preview. Let's just say things are about to get more interesting... Thanks for reading and please leave me some cool comments

Overview: Successful trip and Olympic-distance triathlon debut at the Chicago Accenture Triathlon.

Thursday: I flew Southwest from San Diego to Midway. Checking the bike box was $50 each direction. I met someone at the race who flew Delta and was charged $400 one way. Be sure to call ahead to determine if that cheaper ticket to your race is really worth it with the hidden cost. I was greeted at the airport by my friend Paul who I hadn’t seen in over 3 years. He took me into the city to get checked in to my hotel, and then we had Gino’s East legendary Chicago-style deep dish pizza dinner before calling it a night.

Friday: First thing I did on Friday was make coffee and build my bike. I wanted to get a ride in early enough before the race Sunday to check if any parts were damaged in the transport or if I put it back together incorrectly and needed to make adjustments. I found that being super organized when packing the bike for the trip out helps speed this process up. Plus, taking the bike apart goes much faster than building it. I even took pictures of my handlebar and aerobar alignment with my camera phone to double check.

I had a fast and flat eight-mile ride on beautiful Lake Shore Drive to my friend Paul’s apartment. Coincidentally, Paul and my co-worker Trish lived exactly one block away from each other. Crazy, right? After a year of working together over the phone, through email and IM, Trish and I finally got to meet in person and to top it off, we did a swim in Lake Michigan. Trish was also signed up for the triathlon on Sunday, racing the sprint distance. 

After a delicious and nutritious dinner with Paul and his girlfriend Jenny, I headed back to the hotel for the race reception. There I met a colleague, introduced myself to Sarah Reinertsen and chatted with pro triathlete Kevin Everett and his wife who were incredibly genuine people and all racing Sunday.

Saturday: I met Trish and her friends Brett and Santiago at the hotel race expo. We got checked in, body marked and found our wave assignment for the race, After checking out the gear at the expo, Trish and I headed north on the L so I could get my bike from Paul’s place. I rode the 8-mile Lake Shore Drive route back to the hotel and prepared my race gear while watching the men’s Olympic marathon on TV. I also packed my non-race gear because I had to fly out after the race.

Sunday: My alarms went off at 4:15 am and my crazy day started. I went through my pre-race ritual of hot shower, coffee and music headed out the front door of the hotel on my bike with backpack full of gear for the day. I set up my transition area amidst a sea of bikes, being sure to note certain landmarks for the transition that would help me quickly locate my area. 

I set up next to Team Goody StayPut triathlete Laura McDonald from Denver, CO, who would later place 77th overall and win our age group! She was super cool and we hung out while we waited for our wave to be called. After close to two hours, it was time to race. 

The Swim: I lined up near the front inside of my wave, wanting to get out front during the 380-yard swim to the turnaround buoy. The swim start was super chaotic and I was kicked, climbed on and dunked underwater all the way down to the turnaround point where I finally broke free, found my rhythm and pulled ahead of the pack. It felt fast but I preferred going harder and using more energy on the swim to being apart of the mess that was back behind me. The water was warm, around 70 degrees, and I started to feel good. It was really cool to see the spectators above on the lake wall when taking breaths during the swim. I exited the water and had trouble calming my breathing down at first, but there was a really long run to my transition area during which I settled my breathing. I passed the timing mat in 27 minutes and had a 2-minute, 30-second transition.

The Bike: Before I even got on my bike, I began having problems. I keep my shoes clipped in my pedals, a common practice in triathlon but what I didn’t anticipate, which no one usually does, is stepping on a piece of glass barefoot while running with my bike. I was in the bike mount area when I reached down and pulled the piece of broken beer bottle out of the ball of my left foot. I caught a quick glimpse of blood, I tried mounting my bike, one of my shoes came out of my pedal, and I bumped another racer who almost fell off his bike into someone else… I was that guy.

Anyhow, let’s fast forward 10 minutes into the bike, I was settling in, spinning well into a headwind and getting some needed nutrition after the aforementioned debacle. The ride was a tad windy, the road itself was in pretty rough shape and I began noticing more and more folks fixing flats. I began concentrating my efforts on choosing the cleanest and smoothest lines I could take as to avoid a flat tire. This seemed to work and the south-bound tail wind was a nice relief during the return loops. I was off the bike with an hour and fifteen minute split which is a 20.4 mph average and into T2.

The Run: My run transition was only a minute and a half, relatively fast considering the never-ending transition area that added quite a bit more to the day’s run total. I was greeted by Paul, Jenny and their awesome dog Ari during my first half-mile into the run followed soon after by Trish and her friends. It took me 2 miles to settle in and find rhythm on the run during which the temperature began to rise. I hydrated with Gatorade at each aid station and was able to maintain a 7:18 pace during the 10K run by sites like the Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium. I finished my first Olympic-distance race in 2:29:12 which was good for 262nd of 4,089 overall and 62 of 519 in my age group.  

Post race:  The real challenge of the day began after the race as I had to schlep my tired body back to the transition area, gather my race gear and ride back to the hotel. I met Paul, Jenny and Ari at the hotel and immediately disassembled my bike, packed it in the bike box, took a shower, checked out of the hotel and Paul dropped me at the airport. A special thanks to Paul for dealing with me in all my spandex glory

Recovery: Flying so soon after the race took a toll on my body earlier this week but now I’m good to go after lots of stretching and some body work by Holistic health practitioner, Haunani Chong.

Recap: Great trip, cool city, awesome tune-up race and relieved to have no lingering hamstring issues after the scare on the track just 2 weeks ago. There is still much work to be done to find success in the full-iron distance Silverman triathlon in November. Stay tuned as training kicks up a notch. Thanks for stopping by to read this longer post and I apologize for the delay in posting.

Preview: After a successful San Diego 100 Mile Ultra Marathon in June and rest in July, the second phase of training and competition for 2008 is here. I’ve got my work cut out for me to find success in this notoriously rugged and demanding 140.6-mile triathlon known as Silverman.

Competition: The 4th Annual Nevada Silverman Triathlon on Sunday, November 9, 2008. Stay tuned for full-feature Silverman post.

Weakness: The bike portion of Silverman can make or break this race for me because I lack experience with long rides and hills. So in effort to strengthen my weakness, I’m launching my campaign to become a more experienced cyclist beginning Saturday with the following 100-mile ride:

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Training: Here are a couple easy training rides and runs from this week:

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TCSD August Aquathlon: Thursday, 8/14. I'll aim to better last month's performance (34:17, 17th of 70).

Chicago Accenture Triathlon: On 8/24, I’m racing my first Olympic-distance triathlon. I’m stoked for the race, to see a new city, I get to meet Trish my co-worker, meet up with an high school friend I haven’t seen in 4 years and also watch the men’s Olympic marathon on Saturday, 8/23.

Angeles Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run: I’ve got a call scheduled with Eric Lee (check out his impressive race resume ) to discuss race logistics and get my pacing responsibilities ironed-out soon. Stay tuned for more on the AC100 and “pacing”.

Noble Canyon 50K: My next official ultra marathon race is on 9/27, where I’ll smash my 5-hour and 49-minute course PR Read last year’s race report.

Recap: I’ve set the bar relatively high for the remainder of 2008 and I’m excited to share this journey with you all. Please join me and share your comments, training, virtual training, blogs, stories, race reports and/or personal victories along the way!