On July 22nd and 23rd, 2022 I completed the Cascade Crest 100 in just over 31 hours. Here is the race report Goals Results Enjoy being outside – ACCOMPLISHED Finish the course (even if after the allowed time) – ACCOMPLISHED Officially finish (under the official 34 hour cutoff) – ACCOMPLISHED Finish in under 30 hours – Not Accomplished Top 50% of finishers – Not Accomplished Finish in under 27 hours – Not Accomplished Top 25% of finishers – Not Accomplished Finish in under 24 hours (my bucket list item from last year) – Not Accomplished Strategy Start in that back and go slow for the first half. Start digging in the second half and pass as many people as possible. Finish strong. – ACCOMPLISHED & SUCCESSFUL Tactics Go out slow – back 25% for first 25 miles – ACCOMPLISHED Don’t exceed 140bpm in the first 26 miles – MOSTLY ACCOMPLISHED
Twelve hours into my challenge, I reached the summit of Mailbox peak for the fourth time that day. I stood alone, next to the mailbox installed there as a monument, basking in the golden glow of sunset. Soft white flakes drifted down around me in my peripheral vision. Wait a second. It wasn’t snowing. It was June and far too warm. No, the drifting white flakes were only there for me. I was just getting a bit lightheaded. Maybe I should take it a bit easier for the next lap. On June 20th and 21st, 2022 I competed a 24 Hour footrace up and down Mailbox Peak. I propelled myself up 29,035 ft of elevation and 38 miles. Here is the race report. Goals Results New personal record for elevation covered in 24 hours – (Current Record = ~13k ft) – ACCOMPLISHED Complete a 24 hour footrace on Mailbox Peak
On December 28th and 29th, 2021 I competed in the Across the Years 24 Hour footrace. I completed 100.5 miles, putting me in the top 10% of finishers. Here is the race report. Goals Results New PR for 50 Miles – (Current PR = 11 hours 24 minutes) – ACCOMPLISHED (new PR 10 hours 29 minutes) New personal record for distance in 24 hours – (Current Record = 89 miles) – ACCOMPLISHED Complete >100 miles – ACCOMPLISHED Complete >120 miles – Failed Complete >200k (124.25 miles) – Failed Complete >130 miles – Failed Tactics Break race into three segments of 8 hours – ACCOMPLISHED First segment easy – kept <120 bpm – Partially Accomplished – Averaged 119 but had some spikes at 130 and 140 Second segment working – ~120 but can dig some – Failed only averaged 116 Final segment digging – whatever you can muster – ACCOMPLISHED 5 miles every
Every October, some Google employees host a walking competition called Walktober. The idea is to set a walking goal and see if you can hit it. It predates me by a decade and as of 2021, over twenty-five thousand Googlers participate. In 2020 I helped create a new category of competition for most steps in a day by walking and running for 24 hours straight. I set a record but later in the month, someone broke it and raised the bar. In 2021 I returned to try and break the record again. On October 30th 2021 I walked 204,371 steps in one day. This is the adventure report. Strava link – Walktober – New Record for Most Steps in a Day (204,371) | Run | Strava Goals Results Get other Googlers excited about the single-day record – ACCOMPLISHED Have some coworkers and friends follow along online or in person –
On October 30th, I’m going to attempt to break a record in Google’s annual Walktober competition by walking 250,000 steps in a single day. Not only that, but I’m using this event to raise awareness and support for ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome). What Is Walktober? Every year Google has a walking competition for employees where over 20k people form teams and see how much they can walk. It is mainly a fun event that gives us all some motivation to stay moving as fall weather sets in. There are various categories to compete in for individuals and teams. My eyes are set on the record for most steps in a day. I actually held this record for about a week last year. I had done some research to find out the most anyone had ever recorded in a single day of Walktober (134k) and I realized I
On August 28th, 2021 DNFd the Cascade Crest 100. I dropped out at mile 35 after 9.5 hours and 8k ft of climbing. Here is the race report Goals Results Don’t die – ACCOMPLISHED Enjoy being outside – ACCOMPLISHED Finish the course (even if after the allowed time) Officially finish (under the official 34 hour cutoff) Finish in under 30 hours Top 50% of finishers Finish in under 27 hours Top 25% of finishers Finish in under 24 hours (my bucket list item for this year) Tactics Be in last place at the start – ACCOMPLISHED Don’t exceed 140bpm in the first 26 miles – Failed No mile in the first 50 faster than 8 minute pace – ACCOMPLISHED 5 minutes or less at aid stations and stops – don’t stop moving – ACCOMPLISHED No single mile (and mid-mile stopping) is >30 minutes – ACCOMPLISHED 400 calories an hour for the first 50
This wasn’t the plan. The plan was probably not enough anyways, but now we’re certainly in not enough territory. I’m not really sure how this will go. After a month of lower-than-expected training (injury and illness), I’m just feeling good enough to run again and I’m going to attempt to run the Cascade Crest 100 this weekend. This is one of the harder 100 mile races in the country on account of the vert, amount of single track trail and sheer ruggedness of it. One section of the course is so steep that there is a rope you have to use to navigate up and then back down it. Over the course of 100 miles, run mostly on the Pacific Crest Trail, we’ll cross streams, climb 23k ft and descend about the same. Technically this year the race is 102 miles. They had to adjust the course due to fire
On Saturday June 19th, 2021 I did not finish the Gulch Countdown race, getting disqualified after ~30 miles. Out of 46 runners, I finished 7th overall. This is the race report. Goals I ran this race in 2019 and wanted to beat my result there, where I was DQd on the 12th lap Make it to the 12 lap (26.2 miles) – ACCOMPLISHED Make it to 14th lap ~50k – ACCOMPLISHED Make it to the 16th lap (Previous Race Record) – Not Accomplished Be the last man standing – Not Accomplished Successes What am I proud of from race day? Excellent restraint early – had covered a half marathon before my heart rate went over 140 bpm Had a lot of fun meeting other runners and talking on the trail Failures What areas could I improve for future races? Failed in the exact same way as in 2019, didn’t push
This year my bucket list item is running a 100 mile race. Specifically, I want to finish the Cascade Crest 100 in under 24 hours. If you know anything about me though, you might have guessed that I also have a stretch goal. That stretch goal is to end up on the podium, finishing in the top 3 spots. That will likely require me to finish closer to 18 hours. Either 24 or 18 hours will be quite a feat as this particular race features over 20k ft of elevation gain (running up mountains), which really makes it more like 140 miles of flat-course equivalent. This is probably something I should train hard for. The trouble is, I’m a busy guy. I have 4 kids and a job leading a team at Google, so I don’t have as much time to train for a race like this as I would
Every October, some Google employees host a walking competition for other employees called Walktober. The idea is to set a walking goal and see if you can hit it. It predates me by a decade or more and as of 2020, over twenty thousand Googlers participate. It is so popular, in fact that some of us joke that our CEO, Sundar, initiated the acquisition of Fitbit last October to try and get a leg up on other walkers in this competition. For most of the 20k Googlers that participate, it is a chance to try and get 10k or 20k steps per day. To achieve that goal that your fitbit or Apple Watch is always telling you to strive for. At some point, someone made a leaderboard though, so inevitably there are a handful of people that walk 10, 20 or 30 miles per day on average, logging 2 Million+