My peak training session for the SD100 began Friday with a 16-mile run-commute and then I purposely stayed up all night to simulate race-day conditions and started a 39-mile trail run at 3AM Saturday.

It was pretty spooky running solo because I was in a nature preserve and there were creepy sounds in the woods and brush. At one point, I saw 2 sets of really large eyes staring at me from the underbrush--I was running on the flight or fight response the whole time!

I made it alone from 3-6AM and the cool part was at 5:15AM when it was light enough to turn off my headlamp and flashlight. It felt really good to have the sun back and I’m glad I will have a pacer with me for the entire night portion of the SD100.

At 6AM, I met Carrie Smith and her friend Paul and we ran another 13-mile loop, 15 minutes faster than my first loop. I was really happy to see them and have their support.

At 9AM, Carrie and Paul left and Airey arrived. So did the heat. The last loop took longest; my feet were sore but not much else. We finished at lunchtime Saturday. I got to sleep by 2PM and slept until 7PM, woke up, went to an amazing sushi dinner, stayed up until midnight with good company, good beers and finally got to use the fire pit in the backyard.

I got up Sunday at 8AM with no soreness and met Jesse and his girlfriend at Mission Trails Regional Park. We ran a 7-mile loop together and then they left and I ran the same loop 2 more times. I was great having these guys come out to support.

Total weekend mileage, 60.

I’ve run for more than 80 hours in the last 6 weeks.

The hard part is over and my taper has begun!!!

The week is well underway; I've recovered properly from the weekend mileage with rest both Sunday and Monday and a bike commute yesterday. Today, I’m back to my run-commute and Friday, I’ll do the same. Saturday, I’m planning on another 30 miler in Cuyamaca State Park. We’ve had high winds, hot temperatures and low humidity since the end of last week but we’ve seen a quick change and its cooling off which will make the long run Saturday less of a drain.

The race is in 37 days and I'm still feeling good about where I'm at. It's hard to feel "confident" because 100 miles is such an unknown but I do know that I've been responsible about increasing my volume without risking overtraining or throwing off the balance in the other areas of my life.

The loss of SD triathlon club member, Dave Martin, has been on lots of people's minds this week. It's been surreal as it was such a blow to the local community but locals were out in the water all weekend with the hot temps and many have resumed their routines of open-water swimming and of course, surfing. There have been some interesting reports released from shark experts like in this interview with Marine Biologist and shark expert Jeff Graham from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. They were able to recover shark teeth from Martin’s body and measured the distance between the bit marks to determine the size of the Great White at a minimum of 15 feet.

Also, part of the Los Penasquitos Canyon that I ran in 3 weeks ago burned in a brush fire on Sunday. It's right below the Active Network headquarters and we can see the whole affected area from the office. The spring is off to quite the start!

On a more positive note, the Triathlon Club of San Diego published a little blurb about my half-Ironman race in Oceanside in the May club newsletter which I've attached. It's on page 3 and 6.

I hope you all are having a great week,

~Toby

My long training session this weekend marked the end of another 70-mile week in preparation for my first 100-mile ultra marathon. I’ve been training on the SD100 race course in Cuyamaca State Park frequently so for a scenery change, Marie and I got on the Noble Canyon trail located 45 minutes east of San Diego in Pine Valley, California. From the top-down, its one of the most popular downhill mountain biking trails in southern California so running up it is perfect for my training. The trail climbs over 11 miles to the Sunrise Highway for a vista of the Anza-Borrego Desert.

My beautiful view

At the top of Noble Canyon, we crossed Sunrise Highway, connected to the Pacific Crest Trail and traveled south for a gorgeous stretch on the PCT with the desert in full view. Instead of looping back on the Big Laguna trail that reconnects to Noble Canyon, we opted to run on the road for a few miles back to meet the trail. The lollipop-shaped route then descended back into Pine Valley for a total of 31.5 miles.

4/18: 14M Run-commute

4/19: 31.5M Noble Canyon Trail

4/20: 9M Mission Trails Regional Park

I was strong all day, legs never got tired and training is on right track. 7 weeks until the SD100!!!

The half-ironman workout last weekend and recovering to run 28 miles on Saturday was crucialI've broke through a mental/physical barrier. I've dialed in the remaining 60 days of my training and I no longer have any lingering doubt about my abilities. My level of preparedness was more so evident when I started and finished Sunday's 8-mile recovery hill run with no soreness. Monday was a rest day and I was strong and ready for an extended cycle-commute totaling 3 hours yesterday, run-commute today, Friday and then back to the mountains Saturday for a 43-mile training run at altitude. I'm going to couple that with a 9-mile recovery run on Sunday for a grand total of 66 miles in 3 days and 80 for the weekmy most ever.

Sunday night, Marie and I sat down and sketched out what weekend training distances need to look like for the next two months. I’ve included 14 miles of running each Friday so I start Saturday long runs on semi-fatigued legs. This way, I’ll be even stronger on fresh legs at the start of the SD100. The following schedule the basic weekend mileage until June.

4/11: 14M

4/12: 24+19= 43M Cuyamaca State Park

4/13: 9M Mission Trails Regional Park

4/18: 14M

4/19: 30M Pacific Crest Trail

4/20: 9M Mission Trails Regional Park

4/25: 14M

4/26: 26+24= 50M Cuyamaca State Park

4/27: 4M (Marie--La Jolla 13.1)

5/2: 14M

5/3: 33M Noble Canyon Trail

5/4: 20M Lake Hodges

5/9: 14M

5/10: 52M Peñasquitos Canyon (PCT?)

5/11: 18M Mission Trails Regional Park

5/16: 14M

5/17: 30M Cuyamaca State Park

5/18: 20M Lake Hodges

5/23: 14M

5/24: 24M Pacific Crest Trail

5/25: 13M Peñasquitos Canyon

5/30: 14M

5/31: 9M

6/1: 0! (Marie--Rock 'n' Roll Marathon)

6/2: Memorial Day

6/5: Steve arrives

6/7: SD100

6/8: SD100

Here are a couple snaps from Saturday in Cuyamaca State Park, home of the SD100:

Along with the extra mileage on the trail, I've been "kickin' it up a notch" in the kitchen because of a  noticeable increased in my appetite for quality grub. Thus I've been in search of relatively simple meals that pack a whole lot of power (efficiency) In addition to upgrading my go-to Rocket Fuel, now featuring Quinoa instead of brown rice, this mouth-watering Salmon dish has become an instant favorite.

Surfing Magazine presents...

Mango Cilantro Salmon

What you need:

2 pounds fresh, wild salmon

1 white onion

2 cloves garlic

1 lemon

1/2 cup cream or half/half

1 ripe mango

1 tblespoon butter or olive oil

What you do:

Combine onion and chopped garlic in a saucepan with butter, medium heat. Saute till the onion is caramelized; add mango and lemon the stir in cream. Reduce heat, simmer for a minute or two, then cover and turn off heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Now, in a separate sauce pan, add 1/2 tblspoon butter over medium heat. Add one clove garlic, chopped. Cut salmon fillets into 4 pieces and add to sauce pan, Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook three to five minutes per side, thicker takes longer. Don't overcook! Rare is better than dry. Fish will flake when done. Add sauce from other pan, serve with couscous/Quinoa/brown rice and veggies. Bon apetit!

Your turn. Hook us up with something tasty!

Check out [Cookin' Up a Storm: Healthy Recipes By Melissa |

http://community.active.com/blogs/HealthyRecipesByMelissaE]

Saturday morning, Marie and I made our third-straight weekend pilgrimage to Cuyamaca State Park for our last long trail run this month. We got on the second portion of the SD100 race course for seven hours. There are still lots of downed trees blocking the trail from last year’s firestorm. No way will these be removed before the race which will be quite the surprise for runners who haven’t previewed the course. They got the best of Marie on several occasions. Her sexy legs still look sexy, but were badly scraped by the end of our 27-miler—ouch!

We’ve now scouted the entire race course and I’m feeling optimistic. I’m confident in my support crew, even more so now that it includes my brother—making a guest appearance from the east coast. Secondly, I’m stoked because my fitness level is right where it needs to be. This became more evident when the alarm sounded at 6:30 am Sunday--my legs were fresh and I crushed an 8-mile recovery run, followed by 2.5 hours on the bike like it was nothing. Training at altitude is amazing!

Monday, I spontaneously took the day off from work to capitalize on a mountain bike trip with my good friend Tim. He got us full suspension bikes for the day because he is scouting trails out near Idyllwild for a trail running event he is directing in October. The route we took was by no means suitable for this type of running event but we still had blast.

Training for my first 100-mile run is exciting and throwing a half-ironman in the mix has made it even more fun. The Ford Ironman California 70.3 on 3/29 is almost here. I’m going to hold off on any more long runs until April. Once April hits, I’m going to peak with some serious mountain running sessions (including night running sessions) into the beginning of May and then taper down to harness the energy for 6/7-6/8.

Last week, I moved to a neighborhood that is 7 miles from the Active Network headquarters, cutting my daily commute by fourteen miles in one direction. I was cycle-commuting an average of once a week from my previous residence. The ride itself would take an average of an hour and a half so it became a major commitment to ride the full 42-miles. Now that I live this close, my cycle-commute only takes thirty minutes. I never ran to work from my last residence so I decided today was the day to give it a try. I left my house this morning at 6:00 am wearing a headlamp and carrying a flashlight and backpack containing my clothing and food. My 7-mile run was primarily on sidewalks and streets but there was a fun trail portion that descended into a canyon. I’m going to run home from work today too for the full 14-mile round trip. I’m excited to have running as a convenient alternative to driving or cycling to work. I arrived at 7:15 am, total time 1:15, average heart rate 146, peak 180, 1031 calories burned. Here is a map of my route:

So the run home went well and I maintained a faster pace because I wasn't carrying a backpack. It took me 1:07, average heart rate 164, peak 195, 1135 calories burned. There seemed to be a lot more traffic and longer waits to cross streets than on the way to the office. Overall, I found it to be a liberating experience and I hope to make it a part of my weekly routine. It's a great way to help the environment (as does cycle-commuting), save $$ on gas and get in additional run miles during the week. This is important for my training now that the SD100 is only 121 days away!!!

Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 12:17 PM

Subject: FW: 2008 San Diego 100 Mile Endurance Run

Dear Runners and Friends,

I have some exciting news to share with you! The 2008 San Diego 100 mile Endurance Run will be held on JUNE 7, 2008. We are moving the run date to reduce the risk of cancellation that we have faced every year since the inception of this event in 2001. Additionally, I'm please to share with you that Scott Mills will be joining me as Co-Director for the run this year. Scott is an outstanding runner, very experienced event coordinator, and fantastic guy. I'm sure that his contributions to the run will help us to put on a quality and fun event for all. The run will held on the revised course that we followed last year in the Cuyamaca Mountains. I'll will be updating the website  http://members.cox.net/sandiego100/ as ASAP to provide you with more information. I hope to seen you all in June!!!!!

Paul Schmidt