Today I ran my 1st, 2nd annual race: The Bulldog 25k mountain race. You might recall, it kicked my ass last year, but it also gave me the inspiration to train for my 1st 50k in January and now to go beyond next January to a 50 miler.

Last year, the temps topped off around 107 degrees. I'd finished strongly in 3:08, far ahead of my secret target time of 3:40, so this year, I was determined to break 3 hours and shot for 2:50.

I completely geeked out for this goal and broke down the split times I'd have to hit at each of the 3 aid stations: 44 minutes to #1, reach #2 in 1:22, and hit #3 in 2:24. These were 11 minutes miles, and given the terrain, I wondered if I wasn't being too industrious. But what the hell: I was gonna have a blast no matter my finish time, so I might as well go all out and leave every bit of me on the course.

We trotted down the paved fire road and wound up in the single track, rocky stuff that slows everyone down. I was itching to try and pass people, but the line of runners looked to be around 30 deep, so I patiently waited until the trail opened to jeep sized stuff and made my move.

Ahead, the trail splits, and you can either go straight and visit the old set of M*A*S*H, or you can begin the bulldog hill climb of 1780 feet over the course of just 3.4 miles.

I recommend visiting Hawkeye and Trapper's tent and skipping the ascent, but up we went.

I power walked most of this last year, but this go-round, I was running it until it got too ridiculous. Eventually, it did, but I'm a fairly strong walker, so I was passing several runners during my clim to aid station 1. My goal was 44 mns, and here I was at 39! Sweeeeet - I'd bought myself some time.

We continued up, more climbing, and I was alone for the most part, until I hit aid station 2. My goal: 1:22, and here I was at 1:17! Excellent - I'd barely lost any time, and I knew mega-downhills were around the corner.

The downhills are hard, fast, and rocky, but sailed down the switchbacks, and at one point, passed a woman running the 50k (2 loops). I wished her luck and headed down to aid station 3, knowing that more climbs were ahead for the next 2 miles to the finish. Crossing through a creek (heaven for my tootsies), I passed station 3 , forgetting to look at my watch and heading to the uphills, which seemed a lot harder this year, but I walked when needed and ran when I could, hitting the asphalt and heading towards the finish. I checked my watch and I was at 2:30! Holy crapola, was I gonna break 2:45?

I pushed hard, zipping up the drive to the cheers of the incredibly kind volunteers, rounded the bend and sprinted (well, in my mind, anyway) into the chutes at 2:38! Damn, I'd just run 10m 12s/mile, knocking off 2 mns/mile from last year.

Patting myself on the back was short-lived, however, as Jorge Pacheco, Southern California's Scott Jurek, completed the 50k 5 minutes after I'd crossed the line, smashing the course record of 3:59, finishing in 3:45-ish (the 50k race began 1 hour ahead of us)! The man - well, kid: He's 20 - is astounding, and the look on his face of sheer exhaustion and pain proved he'd drained everything to do it.

All in all, a fun race, and I'll be back next year to break 2:30. For now, there are beers to be sipped and burgers to be munched on.