Monday, January 2, 2012

Louis - My Angeles Crest 100 Mile Trail Race Support

Yes, I signed up for AC 100.  What's more exciting than that?  I got myself an awesome team of people who will support me during the race.  I am very fortunate to have pacers, managers, dedicated support, and I even got myself a nurse practitioner!  Everyone I asked said yes! I wish life is this easy!  What they will be actually doing are yet to be determined.  But I just want to tell you guys a little bit about my wonderful teammates.

Let's start off with pacers... it's good to have people that run like 2X as you to be your pacer

Pacer
Kevin
Kevin and I knew each other from the Subaru club before we do any of these crazy endurance stuff.  He is the other blogger of this Vita Panda blog.  He finished Western States in under 24 hours while I finished Ironman CDA the same weekend.  Kevin will be pacing me the last 25 miles of the race.  He has been a very supportive friends and I want him to cross the finish line with me.

Erin
I knew Erin from one of Godfather's Sean new year run.  She quickly made it in my bad ass list and I think it will be fun to have her pace me.  Her racing experience will definitely aid me during the race.  She will probably pace me when I am 'mentally' out of it because I think she will do a good job bringing me out of lalaland.  Yes, she is a 100  milers finisher!

Erin
OMG, look at that leg. Yup that's Erin... another one.  Erin has a lot of racing experience and she has a fantastic record of being a race crew.  I am very fortunate to have her as my crew because a lot of people want her to be in their teams.  When Coach Kate, one of my ultra running coach, found out Erin is in my team, she gave me not one, but two middle finger because she wanted Erin to be part of her crew. Lucky me!

Support
Paul
Paul is my Ironman Coach and my friend. I am glad that Paul is on board to over my event.  He was a head coach for numerous Team In Training Ironman events and he now has a team call Team squareone. He know what it takes to help his participants cross the finish line.  I got lost at time and Paul pointed me to the right direction so I can find myself.  I am looking forward to have him help me reach my goal once again.

Sarah
Sarah, aka Daniel's Hot Wife, is my teammate when I train for my first Ironman.  We did a few Ironman and now she is mainly coaching people at Squareone.  With her on board I know I will not have to worry about logistic as she can organize anything you throw at her.

Kim
I know Kim from the Team In Training marathon team and I sucker her into doing an Ironman by offering her strawberries at the Triathlon Info meeting =)  She is a nurse practitioner and I called her from time to time when I was dying on the trail.  She is going to run the American River 50 miles so beside making sure I don't die during the event she can also pace me if need to be.  Actually, I asked her because I want homemade cookies during the race... shh.

Stephen
I know Stephen from the Wilderness Travel Course. He is an avid hiker, mountaineer, and an Ironman.  He knows the whole Angles Crest 100 trail and he will help my crew pinpoint where I am and do anything I need when I am at the aid station.  Also an avid dancer, I am sure he can keep our team entertain while everyone is waiting for me.

Saveria
I know Saveria from the Ironteam.  An mountaineer and an Ironman herself, Saveria knows what it takes to take care of another endurance athlete.  With her on board I know she will take great care of me on race day.  Plus Saveria and her husband Paul are just so cute together. It's nice to see them at aid stations.

I asked different group of people to make sure I have a good mix of friends from my different sports.  Stephen from hiking, Kim from marathon, Sarah/Saveria/Paul from the Ironteam, and Kevin/Erin/Erin from the Coyotes running group.

And last but not yet, I must introduce my Ultra Coaches
Coach Jimmy
I told myself that if I were to train for an ultra marathon Jimmy has to be my coach.  Jimmy is an accomplished athletes and mentored a lot of ultra marathon to cross their finish lines.  VitaPanda Kevin is one such example.  I am excited to see what he will throw at me.

Coach Kate
I haven't been really working with Coach Kate yet but I know both Jimmy and Kate a few years back.  She has been very supportive with what I do and I know she will show me the kind of support I have been getting from her on my ultra marathon training.

Coach Bev
I haven't get a chance to work with Coach Bev but I know she is a bad ass.  She did not just qualified for 1, but 4 Kona Ironman.  Her experience as an 10 time Ironman finisher will definitely help me with transiting from triathlon to running.

If you want to know more about the group that I train with, please visit the following sites.
Running Team - SoCal Coyotes
Triathlon Team - Team Squareone



2 comments:

  1. What an awesome write-up about your race crew! You are surrounded by so many who want to see you succeed. As always, I'll be cheering you virtually along the way as you train and on event weekend. If you have any training events up in NorCal and need a place to stay, you know that my home is open for you and your race crew!

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  2. Louis, I'm so excited for you and happy to be on your team. Hope you got in another Rose parade run yesterday. Also, looks like Kevin eats 2X as much as you too.

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