I've been back in Alaska for almost a week now. Not getting back to Juneau until Tuesday though.
I've been hanging out in Sitka all week, as a bit of an extra little vacation time tacked on to my month long vacation. Vacation's pretty sweet. Especially in a place as scenic, idyllic and mellow as Sitka.
I've been doing some combination of running, hiking, biking, and kayaking each day I've been here, but none of it has been with a focus on training. Rather I've just been going out and running up a mountain if I feel like being on top of a mountain; riding around checking out things on my bike when I feel curious to explore; and generally just enjoying the simplicity and beauty that each day has been dropping in front of me.
In a couple days I'll be heading back to the "real life" of a job, condo, and all the everyday stuff that goes with that. The other thing that will go along with that will likely be a return to more focused training and preparation for my next race. Maybe I'll even decide pretty soon here what my next race is going to be. For now though it's kind of relaxing, and exciting not to be sure. It makes it a lot easier to just go out and enjoy being in the mountains, on the water, or wherever else the day takes me.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Homeward Bound
Spent last week "out east" with family and friends and then this week in southern Utah. Camping in the sun, running on rock and dirt, living the simple life outdoors in the desert. I'm leaving soon to head back to Alaska. It took me a couple days to get used to the heat and dryness of southern Utah and now it's back to the cool humid air of southeast Alaska. I never thought that the weather in Juneau would seem so ideal and comforting but being away from there for almost a month now I really do miss it. There just seems to be something pleasant about the light steady rain that falls in Juneau. I hate it in September and October when it's windy, cold, and raining hard all the time, but this time of year it's generally calm, warmer, and even sunny quite a bit. I look forward to spending June in Alaska after not being up there for a single day last June.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Why I Run
With a title like this I could probably ramble on for hours. I'll do my best to keep it short.
I've had a few people ask me recently, why I run? If it's someone I don't know very well I usually just throw out some typical answer mentioning the solitude, the beauty of the places I see on my runs, the thrill of competition, the health benefits, etc. When it's someone I know well though I try to make a more serious effort at answering this question. Here's my best shot at putting that effort into writing:
All of the above things are a part of it but, for me a huge part of it has to do with the personal satisfaction I take from doing something that is 100% my doing. It's satisfying to be good at something that has only to do with my own abilities and my own dedication, and is not reliant upon others. I always feel that I could train better and race better and that keeps me driven to become a better runner. The exciting thing though is that only I can make this happen. If I lose my focus in my training I will not get better. Sometimes that is a good thing for a period of time. When you get that focus back and start to feel stronger and faster it's so satisfying knowing that you have gotten yourself to that point and have not leaned on others to get there. How many things do we really have in our lives that we can say this about? It really wouldn't be healthy for most of us to have too many things like this. Sometimes I wonder if it's always healthy for me to view my running in this way. It certainly puts my running in a position that borders on addictive, or at least obsessive, but I can think of a million things that would be worse to be addicted to.
Because my running is such an important part of my psyche it's pretty wild how much my mindset can be affected by my running. I certainly acknowledge that this can become an unhealthy thing, but generally I think it's been more and more helpful as I've become more and more "obsessed" with my running.
This week started out really rough for me. I was bummed about my Miwok DNF, and have had a lot of other stressful things going on in my mind. I was having all kinds of doubts about whether I really wanted to do any more races in the next few months. I got out for very relaxing runs yesterday and today though, and my mindset improved drastically. I still haven't decided for sure what races I'm going to run in the next few months, but I do feel refreshed to know that I am going to run races, which in turn means I'm going to do lots of training, which in turn means I'm going to test my personal strength and ability even further. I'm excited for that. Life is not perfect, never will be, but my running sure has a way of making me feel like I'm moving forward. At the end of the day what more can we really ask for?
I've had a few people ask me recently, why I run? If it's someone I don't know very well I usually just throw out some typical answer mentioning the solitude, the beauty of the places I see on my runs, the thrill of competition, the health benefits, etc. When it's someone I know well though I try to make a more serious effort at answering this question. Here's my best shot at putting that effort into writing:
All of the above things are a part of it but, for me a huge part of it has to do with the personal satisfaction I take from doing something that is 100% my doing. It's satisfying to be good at something that has only to do with my own abilities and my own dedication, and is not reliant upon others. I always feel that I could train better and race better and that keeps me driven to become a better runner. The exciting thing though is that only I can make this happen. If I lose my focus in my training I will not get better. Sometimes that is a good thing for a period of time. When you get that focus back and start to feel stronger and faster it's so satisfying knowing that you have gotten yourself to that point and have not leaned on others to get there. How many things do we really have in our lives that we can say this about? It really wouldn't be healthy for most of us to have too many things like this. Sometimes I wonder if it's always healthy for me to view my running in this way. It certainly puts my running in a position that borders on addictive, or at least obsessive, but I can think of a million things that would be worse to be addicted to.
Because my running is such an important part of my psyche it's pretty wild how much my mindset can be affected by my running. I certainly acknowledge that this can become an unhealthy thing, but generally I think it's been more and more helpful as I've become more and more "obsessed" with my running.
This week started out really rough for me. I was bummed about my Miwok DNF, and have had a lot of other stressful things going on in my mind. I was having all kinds of doubts about whether I really wanted to do any more races in the next few months. I got out for very relaxing runs yesterday and today though, and my mindset improved drastically. I still haven't decided for sure what races I'm going to run in the next few months, but I do feel refreshed to know that I am going to run races, which in turn means I'm going to do lots of training, which in turn means I'm going to test my personal strength and ability even further. I'm excited for that. Life is not perfect, never will be, but my running sure has a way of making me feel like I'm moving forward. At the end of the day what more can we really ask for?
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Free Shoes
Things definitely did not go as planned for me at the Miwok, but one thing that I was 100% pleased with was how my feet felt in my Montrail Mountain Masochists. Granted I only put in 42 miles but I had absolutely no blisters, hot spots, or foot fatigue. I can't stress enough how much I like these shoes. It's such a nice feeling to have a shoe that I can put on my feet and have complete confidence that it will perform the way I want it to.
Well, here's a chance for you all to get your own pair. Montrail is giving away a free pair of shoes each day this entire month. All you need to do to have a chance to win is sign up as a fan of Montrail shoes on Facebook. Here's the link.
Well, here's a chance for you all to get your own pair. Montrail is giving away a free pair of shoes each day this entire month. All you need to do to have a chance to win is sign up as a fan of Montrail shoes on Facebook. Here's the link.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Marin Headlands 3, Geoff Roes 0
I've not run that many ultras but enough to know that I am fortunate to have a really strong stomach during endurance races. I generally just eat whatever I want, whenever I want during races and my stomach never bothers me. That all changed yesterday.
It was especially frustrating because everything besides my stomach felt great. My chest cold didn't seem to bother me at all, my legs felt very strong from the start, and I was running a very efficient and comfortable race.
Right from the beginning though I started to notice that everything I ate/drank seemed to be just hanging out in my stomach, which was steadily filling up and becoming uncomfortable. When I finally puked for the first time (about mile 24) it felt so good to have all that liquid out of my stomach. I knew I needed to get calories and water in as soon as possible though or I would pay dearly later on. I couldn't though.
At that point of the race I had only consumed 500 calories (about half of what I should have) and had just vomited all of it up on the side of the trail. Anything I tried to get down just made me feel horrible. I decided to slow down and give it some time and hope that my body would accept food and water sooner or later. I was running in the lead most of the day but by about mile 35 I really began to realize how much trouble I was in. I slowed considerably hoping that would help my stomach and that maybe I could find some way to get myself to the finish in one of the top 3 spots to still qualify for Western States.
It wasn't goint to happen though. As I continued to vomit I began to feel less and less able to find any energy to keep moving down the trail. I was basically totally bonking with 25 miles to go and had no ability to get any calories in my system to do anything about it.
Eric Grossman (Montrail teammate who went on to win the race) passed me just after I pulled into the aid station at mile 42. I sipped some coke and tried to head back out. A couple hundred yards up the trail and I was hurled over vomiting again. This time was different though. The first few times I puked it made me feel so relieved to have my system cleared out. This time though I just had no energy left in my muscles. I sat down on the side of the trail (because it took too much strength to stand) and almost immediately decided I was done.
I ended up out on the trail for over 5.5 hours in which time I consumed about 600 calories and maybe 40 ounces of water (both about 1/3 normal). It was a very frustrating and disappointing way to go out of a race, especially one in which everything else felt really good. It is what it is though. There's nothing I can do about it now, except learn from my experiences. I have a couple guesses as to what went wrong so now I need to use all this info. to help avoid something like this happening in the future.
Not qualifying for Western States is unfortunate, but again, there's nothing I can do about it now so I'm not going to spend my time getting too bent out of shape about it. I still haven't figured out just where my racing focus is going to shift to in the next several weeks but I'll be working all that out in my mind in the next several days. In some ways it's kind of exciting not to know. I'd be lying if I said I'm not bummed that I won't be lining up at Western States as I had hoped, but I will be lining up somewhere again soon, and I'll be a stronger and more determined runner as a result of yesterday's experiences.
It was especially frustrating because everything besides my stomach felt great. My chest cold didn't seem to bother me at all, my legs felt very strong from the start, and I was running a very efficient and comfortable race.
Right from the beginning though I started to notice that everything I ate/drank seemed to be just hanging out in my stomach, which was steadily filling up and becoming uncomfortable. When I finally puked for the first time (about mile 24) it felt so good to have all that liquid out of my stomach. I knew I needed to get calories and water in as soon as possible though or I would pay dearly later on. I couldn't though.
At that point of the race I had only consumed 500 calories (about half of what I should have) and had just vomited all of it up on the side of the trail. Anything I tried to get down just made me feel horrible. I decided to slow down and give it some time and hope that my body would accept food and water sooner or later. I was running in the lead most of the day but by about mile 35 I really began to realize how much trouble I was in. I slowed considerably hoping that would help my stomach and that maybe I could find some way to get myself to the finish in one of the top 3 spots to still qualify for Western States.
It wasn't goint to happen though. As I continued to vomit I began to feel less and less able to find any energy to keep moving down the trail. I was basically totally bonking with 25 miles to go and had no ability to get any calories in my system to do anything about it.
Eric Grossman (Montrail teammate who went on to win the race) passed me just after I pulled into the aid station at mile 42. I sipped some coke and tried to head back out. A couple hundred yards up the trail and I was hurled over vomiting again. This time was different though. The first few times I puked it made me feel so relieved to have my system cleared out. This time though I just had no energy left in my muscles. I sat down on the side of the trail (because it took too much strength to stand) and almost immediately decided I was done.
I ended up out on the trail for over 5.5 hours in which time I consumed about 600 calories and maybe 40 ounces of water (both about 1/3 normal). It was a very frustrating and disappointing way to go out of a race, especially one in which everything else felt really good. It is what it is though. There's nothing I can do about it now, except learn from my experiences. I have a couple guesses as to what went wrong so now I need to use all this info. to help avoid something like this happening in the future.
Not qualifying for Western States is unfortunate, but again, there's nothing I can do about it now so I'm not going to spend my time getting too bent out of shape about it. I still haven't figured out just where my racing focus is going to shift to in the next several weeks but I'll be working all that out in my mind in the next several days. In some ways it's kind of exciting not to know. I'd be lying if I said I'm not bummed that I won't be lining up at Western States as I had hoped, but I will be lining up somewhere again soon, and I'll be a stronger and more determined runner as a result of yesterday's experiences.
Friday, May 1, 2009
New Shoes
Tomorrow is the first race in a long time that I have known several weeks ahead of time exactly which shoes I was going to wear on race day. It's really a shame that I just found out tonight that these shoes are nowhere to be found in the car. I think I left them in the parking lot of a grocery store in Ashland, OR two days ago. Luckily I have another pair of the same model, just slightly more used. It's all good. But who the hell loses their shoes the day before a race they've been preparing toward for 2 months. Kind of funny. And really boneheaded.
Check my twitter link in the sidebar. I'll probably update it shortly after I finish tomorrow. Hope you all sleep better than I will tonight.
Check my twitter link in the sidebar. I'll probably update it shortly after I finish tomorrow. Hope you all sleep better than I will tonight.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Redemption
I'm in Portland now before heading onto Ashland tomorrow and then San Francisco by Thursday night. I've had a few days of some doubts about where my body will be for the race on Saturday but things do seem to be coming back together in just enough time. I've been dealing with a minor head/chest cold but it's been just enough to give me a good amount of overall body fatigue and some burning lungs. I felt horrible on my runs on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but much better yesterday and today. Should be ready to roll by the weekend.
At times over the past several weeks I've put a lot of pressure on myself to finish top three at Miwok, but now over the past couple weeks I've let most of that go. I simply want to run the best race I have in me this weekend and see how that plays out. I would love to qualify for Western States, and I know I have a great shot to do so, but I'm not going to get too bent out of shape if I don't. My race this weekend will be mostly about some redemption for what was, in my mind, a fairly poor race for me last year at Miwok. Even though I finished 3rd there last year it was probably the least smooth race that I've had in the past two years. I was both mentally and physically fried by the end of that one... and not in the good way that you can be fried at the end of a race, but rather in the way that was only remedied by two full months with almost no running. Granted a huge part of that time off from running was because I was training for and racing The Great Divide bike race, but even without that I would have needed some serious time off after Miwok last year. What I want from this weekend is to feel that I got even with that course for how much it kicked my ass last year. We'll see. Oh yeah, and I want to win...
At times over the past several weeks I've put a lot of pressure on myself to finish top three at Miwok, but now over the past couple weeks I've let most of that go. I simply want to run the best race I have in me this weekend and see how that plays out. I would love to qualify for Western States, and I know I have a great shot to do so, but I'm not going to get too bent out of shape if I don't. My race this weekend will be mostly about some redemption for what was, in my mind, a fairly poor race for me last year at Miwok. Even though I finished 3rd there last year it was probably the least smooth race that I've had in the past two years. I was both mentally and physically fried by the end of that one... and not in the good way that you can be fried at the end of a race, but rather in the way that was only remedied by two full months with almost no running. Granted a huge part of that time off from running was because I was training for and racing The Great Divide bike race, but even without that I would have needed some serious time off after Miwok last year. What I want from this weekend is to feel that I got even with that course for how much it kicked my ass last year. We'll see. Oh yeah, and I want to win...
Friday, April 24, 2009
Dease Lake, BC
Heading South. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere in British Columbia. We were planning to camp last night but there's still several feet of snowpack here so we opted for a motel.
I'm feeling a little sick the last couple days. This is my second chest cold in as many months. Hopefully this one doesn't last 30 days like the last one did!
I feel like I miss Juneau in many ways right now but at the same time it was really nice to get out of there. I had a lot of things going on in my last few weeks there that were really causing too much stress. As a result I was eating and sleeping very poorly. As soon as we left town though I instantly had a better appetite and the first night I slept more than I had in any night in over a month.
Hopefully my illness now and my anxiety in my last few weeks in Juneau don't combine to negatively effect things at the Miwok. At this point all I can do is show up and run my race. To be honest I have a lot of confidence going into this one. Despite any doubts about some of these little things I feel like I'm probably in the best shape of my life right now. I guess I'll find out next weekend.
I'm feeling a little sick the last couple days. This is my second chest cold in as many months. Hopefully this one doesn't last 30 days like the last one did!
I feel like I miss Juneau in many ways right now but at the same time it was really nice to get out of there. I had a lot of things going on in my last few weeks there that were really causing too much stress. As a result I was eating and sleeping very poorly. As soon as we left town though I instantly had a better appetite and the first night I slept more than I had in any night in over a month.
Hopefully my illness now and my anxiety in my last few weeks in Juneau don't combine to negatively effect things at the Miwok. At this point all I can do is show up and run my race. To be honest I have a lot of confidence going into this one. Despite any doubts about some of these little things I feel like I'm probably in the best shape of my life right now. I guess I'll find out next weekend.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Easy Miles
Got in a great 38 mile run today. Had 4 friends come out with me for different parts of it so I was only running alone for about 7 miles. It's amazing how much mentally easier a long run can be when you get some people to run with you. I have plenty of things I could have spent the 5 plus hours trying to weed through in my mind, but it was kind of nice to get away from my own thoughts for a bit and just enjoy the company of others. I'm glad I don't do most of my running with other people but it has been nice lately to have the thoughts of others help chew up some of the mileage.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Southbound Again
This week has certainly been one of the most crazy, busy, and tiring weeks of my life. I've run about 115 miles in the last 7 days, worked for 6 days straight, hungout late with friends at least three of those nights, and slept about half as much as normal. Oh yeah, and I just packed up almost everything I own in about 3 hours to move to a storage unit. Hope to get better sleep tonight because I'm planning on doing about 35 miles tomorrow. After that I begin my taper for Miwok and try to relax and enjoy my last 3 days in Juneau before rolling out of town first thing on Wednesday.
I'm really excited for the next couple months, but like anytime I make such a drastic change in my life there is also a lot of anxiety that goes along with it. I suspect the next 5 or 6 days will be loaded with stress, anxiety, and more nights without enough sleep but it sure will be nice later next week to be rolling down the Alaska Highway toward the lower 48 with nothing but two months of summer sunshine ahead of us.
I'm really excited for the next couple months, but like anytime I make such a drastic change in my life there is also a lot of anxiety that goes along with it. I suspect the next 5 or 6 days will be loaded with stress, anxiety, and more nights without enough sleep but it sure will be nice later next week to be rolling down the Alaska Highway toward the lower 48 with nothing but two months of summer sunshine ahead of us.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Down The Road
I took a bit of a recovery week this week. Did only about 80 miles, a lot of which was with friends, so a bit slower than normal too. I feel great now and ready to hit a hard 10 day block of training before a bit of a taper before Miwok.
I can't say for sure if I'll run faster at Miwok than I did a year ago, but I do know that I'm in better shape right now than I was a year ago. When I look back through my training log and remember some of the runs I was doing last April I can remember some of them feeling so hard at the time. The same runs at the same pace right now feel ridiculously easier. It's shocking to me how much improvement we can get out of our bodies with consistent training. The question though is can we convert that into faster times come race day. I plan to find out in a few weeks. I ran 8:34 last year at Miwok. I'm feeling enough stronger now than I was a year ago that I should be able to run at least 15-20 minutes faster than that.
On the homefront here in Juneau I've got one more week of work, then 5 days to get all packed up (moving stuff into storage), and then on April 22nd Jill and I will be hitting the road for the long drive down the Alaska Highway and onto San Francisco for the Miwok before heading over to Utah. Gonna spend most of May in Utah and then Jill will be riding in the Great Divide Race beginning on June 11th. At that time I'll either be heading to California to train/scout the Western States course or to Colorado to train/scout/acclimatize for Hardrock. At this point I have almost certainly dropped the idea of doing WS and HR. Because of the competition that's going to be there this year I have made WS my first choice, but if that doesn't work out I'm going to be pretty dang excited to be able to put my focus into Hardrock (provided I can get in from #14 on the wait list). The way I see it is that I win either way. I either get to do the most competitive 100 miler of the year or the toughest one. Either one is really freakin' exciting.
Sometime in July I'll be done with my early summer racing and Jill will be done with the GDR. At that point we'll head back up here to Juneau and something will happen from there. Something, afterall, always does happen. We'll certainly be staying in Juneau for awhile at that time but it's very undecided right now just how long that will be. Either way I'm sure my late summer/autumn will include another trip back down south for 2 or 3 races. Maybe grouped together as a 3 week trip with 2 races or maybe a couple separate short trips. We'll see. I've got my eye on Wasatch (title to defend); the Bear 100 (heard nothing but great things about this one); the DRTE 100 (more climbing than Hardrock!); Cactus Rose 100 (again, nothing but great things); and The North Face 50 (can you say "cold, hard cash"?)
So there's a really loose outline of my next 8 months. Lots of uncertainties, but I'm certain it's going to be fun, which is the most important thing. Oh, and I forgot to mention that somewhere in there I'm planning to win a million dollars in the lottery :)
I can't say for sure if I'll run faster at Miwok than I did a year ago, but I do know that I'm in better shape right now than I was a year ago. When I look back through my training log and remember some of the runs I was doing last April I can remember some of them feeling so hard at the time. The same runs at the same pace right now feel ridiculously easier. It's shocking to me how much improvement we can get out of our bodies with consistent training. The question though is can we convert that into faster times come race day. I plan to find out in a few weeks. I ran 8:34 last year at Miwok. I'm feeling enough stronger now than I was a year ago that I should be able to run at least 15-20 minutes faster than that.
On the homefront here in Juneau I've got one more week of work, then 5 days to get all packed up (moving stuff into storage), and then on April 22nd Jill and I will be hitting the road for the long drive down the Alaska Highway and onto San Francisco for the Miwok before heading over to Utah. Gonna spend most of May in Utah and then Jill will be riding in the Great Divide Race beginning on June 11th. At that time I'll either be heading to California to train/scout the Western States course or to Colorado to train/scout/acclimatize for Hardrock. At this point I have almost certainly dropped the idea of doing WS and HR. Because of the competition that's going to be there this year I have made WS my first choice, but if that doesn't work out I'm going to be pretty dang excited to be able to put my focus into Hardrock (provided I can get in from #14 on the wait list). The way I see it is that I win either way. I either get to do the most competitive 100 miler of the year or the toughest one. Either one is really freakin' exciting.
Sometime in July I'll be done with my early summer racing and Jill will be done with the GDR. At that point we'll head back up here to Juneau and something will happen from there. Something, afterall, always does happen. We'll certainly be staying in Juneau for awhile at that time but it's very undecided right now just how long that will be. Either way I'm sure my late summer/autumn will include another trip back down south for 2 or 3 races. Maybe grouped together as a 3 week trip with 2 races or maybe a couple separate short trips. We'll see. I've got my eye on Wasatch (title to defend); the Bear 100 (heard nothing but great things about this one); the DRTE 100 (more climbing than Hardrock!); Cactus Rose 100 (again, nothing but great things); and The North Face 50 (can you say "cold, hard cash"?)
So there's a really loose outline of my next 8 months. Lots of uncertainties, but I'm certain it's going to be fun, which is the most important thing. Oh, and I forgot to mention that somewhere in there I'm planning to win a million dollars in the lottery :)
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Montrail Rules
It was announced today that the Montrail Mountain Masochist and The Hardrock '09 both won major awards in Outside Magazine and Backpacker Magazine. The Mountain Masochist was recognized for the "Gear of the Year Award" in Outside and the Hardrock was recognized by Backpacker as the best run/hike crossover shoe.
Glad to see I'm not the only one really digging the new Montrail shoes. I actually haven't had a chance to run in the new Hardrock yet. I'll give my opinion when I do. The Mountain Masochist though have quickly become my current favorite shoe. I know I talked about them just a couple weeks ago but I recommend them so highly that I feel compelled to mention them again. I now have over 250 miles in my first pair of them and a long run of about 25 miles. They are super comfortable; great on trail and roads alike; fit like a glove right out of the box; and seem to be holding up very well. I actually can't think of one thing that I would say they could do better. I'm not yet ready to say they are my favorite shoes ever, but only because I wouldn't make that claim until I'd at least worn fully through a pair.
Glad to see I'm not the only one really digging the new Montrail shoes. I actually haven't had a chance to run in the new Hardrock yet. I'll give my opinion when I do. The Mountain Masochist though have quickly become my current favorite shoe. I know I talked about them just a couple weeks ago but I recommend them so highly that I feel compelled to mention them again. I now have over 250 miles in my first pair of them and a long run of about 25 miles. They are super comfortable; great on trail and roads alike; fit like a glove right out of the box; and seem to be holding up very well. I actually can't think of one thing that I would say they could do better. I'm not yet ready to say they are my favorite shoes ever, but only because I wouldn't make that claim until I'd at least worn fully through a pair.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Wrong Tools For The Job
It's shocking to me how specialized our bodies can become when we focus so closely on just one activity as I have been doing with my running for about 9 months now. I went snowboarding yesterday for the first time in a long time and after one run down the mountain I felt fatigue in muscles that I had pretty much forgotten existed in my legs. I do a fair amount of weight training, biking, and cross country skiing to supplement my running, but lately I've been focusing more and more on the running. My training approach seems to do a good job of getting me into good shape to run ultras, but it sure doesn't do much to help me keep up with the kids on the slopes. It was comical how tired my legs would feel any time I rode for more than about 30 seconds without stopping for a little break, all the while teenagers, many who have probably never run a mile in their life, were blowing by me.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Race Fix
Ran a local 10k this morning. Would have liked to feel better than I did but I was very pleased with my time. I ran a 35:03 with pretty much a perfectly even split. My legs didn't feel very speedy at all but I was almost 2 minutes faster today than I was a year ago in the same race!
It was a fun morning. I talked my roommate and his girlfriend into heading out for the race. They both ran great and had a good time. In the past couple years I've gotten to know dozens of the runners here in Juneau and most all of them were out for the race today. I've talked about it a bit before but it's worth mention again just how impressed I am with the running community here in Juneau. For a town of only 30,000 people and no surrounding communities it amazes me how many avid and very talented runners there are. Per capita I doubt there are too many cities in the country with as many talented runners as Juneau.
I've gotten 3 weeks of really good training behind me now. I felt a bit sluggish all week this past week, but I was already planning a bit of a recovery week this coming week so hopefully if I cut back to about 80 miles for the next week I should be ready to amp back up for a really ambitious 7-10 days after that, and then ease back into a taper for The Miwok.
I think I have a great shot at top 3 at Miwok but I'm certainly not taking anything for granted. I am definitely in better shape than I was a year ago but come race day anything can happen. I'm going there very much hoping to qualify for Western States with a top 3 finish but I've also got some great racing options in my mind should I not do so. No matter how it plays out it's going to be a super fun spring/summer of racing for me. There are so many races out there I want to run. I just need to be careful not to try to run too many of them.
It was a fun morning. I talked my roommate and his girlfriend into heading out for the race. They both ran great and had a good time. In the past couple years I've gotten to know dozens of the runners here in Juneau and most all of them were out for the race today. I've talked about it a bit before but it's worth mention again just how impressed I am with the running community here in Juneau. For a town of only 30,000 people and no surrounding communities it amazes me how many avid and very talented runners there are. Per capita I doubt there are too many cities in the country with as many talented runners as Juneau.
I've gotten 3 weeks of really good training behind me now. I felt a bit sluggish all week this past week, but I was already planning a bit of a recovery week this coming week so hopefully if I cut back to about 80 miles for the next week I should be ready to amp back up for a really ambitious 7-10 days after that, and then ease back into a taper for The Miwok.
I think I have a great shot at top 3 at Miwok but I'm certainly not taking anything for granted. I am definitely in better shape than I was a year ago but come race day anything can happen. I'm going there very much hoping to qualify for Western States with a top 3 finish but I've also got some great racing options in my mind should I not do so. No matter how it plays out it's going to be a super fun spring/summer of racing for me. There are so many races out there I want to run. I just need to be careful not to try to run too many of them.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Ready For April
March has been a tough month for me. I'm glad to see it go. It started out with a disastrous Iditarod Invitational attempt and then I was pretty much feeling sick for the rest of the month. Over the past 10 days though I have finally been feeling very healthy again and am back up to a normal training load. I've still got some work to do to be ready for the Miwok in one month but in the past week or so I have felt quite strong on most of my runs. Yesterday I did a 24 miler in which I felt better than I have on a 20+ mile training run in at least a couple months.
Over the next few weeks I'm going to try to focus on getting in some good speed work as well as some good hard downhill running (as well as my usual tough uphill runs that I typically do every third or fourth day). The trails in the Marin Headlands are some of the most scenic trails I have ever run, but they are also some of the most hardpacked trails I've ever run. In the two races I ran there last year I developed significant quad fatigue due to the downhill pounding on the hard surfaces. This time around I hope I can build up a bit more tolerance to that type of surface by running lots of downhills on roads here in Juneau. I also want to try to focus on eating, hydrating, and sleeping really well in the next few weeks. Maybe I'll even try to drink more water than Pepsi and beer.
Over the next few weeks I'm going to try to focus on getting in some good speed work as well as some good hard downhill running (as well as my usual tough uphill runs that I typically do every third or fourth day). The trails in the Marin Headlands are some of the most scenic trails I have ever run, but they are also some of the most hardpacked trails I've ever run. In the two races I ran there last year I developed significant quad fatigue due to the downhill pounding on the hard surfaces. This time around I hope I can build up a bit more tolerance to that type of surface by running lots of downhills on roads here in Juneau. I also want to try to focus on eating, hydrating, and sleeping really well in the next few weeks. Maybe I'll even try to drink more water than Pepsi and beer.
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