Friday, August 28, 2009
Coming Around
I've been in Colorado for the past week now. The first few days at elevation were tough. Got in some decent runs near Boulder (elevation about 6,000) but my lungs and heart were feeling pretty bad. I'm now in Crestone (elevation 8,000) and feeling much better. I ended up deciding on 3 full weeks of acclimatization and I'm pretty stoked about that. Last year before Wasatch I had 2 weeks and I think that was enough, but only with a day or two to spare. If things go as they went last year I should be feeling almost completely adjusted with about a week still to go before race day. I won't do a whole lot of training in that time but it will be nice for my piece of mind to feel like I'm ready to roll more than a day or two before race day.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Chilkoot
Hopped on the ferry on Friday and ran the 33 mile Chilkoot Trail with some friends yesterday. 8 hours total time. A mellow pace for me but I was the only one in our group who had ever run more than a marathon. It was fun to run with some folks who were pushing their limit and get a good long run in.
I didn't feel very good for the first few hours but I finally got in a groove about 4 hours in and pretty much felt stronger when I finished than any other point of the day. Perhaps next summer I'll go back and go for the fastest known time on the trail (6:47). I think I could easily do it under 6 hours, and maybe as fast as 5.
At any rate, it's all about Wasatch training right now. This past 2 weeks has made me feel very good about where I'm at in my training. I've done a great mix of hills, distance, and even a little tempo stuff and I've felt pretty good on almost all of it. I hate to get too optimistic, but things sure are coming together at the right time for a good run on September 11th.
I didn't feel very good for the first few hours but I finally got in a groove about 4 hours in and pretty much felt stronger when I finished than any other point of the day. Perhaps next summer I'll go back and go for the fastest known time on the trail (6:47). I think I could easily do it under 6 hours, and maybe as fast as 5.
At any rate, it's all about Wasatch training right now. This past 2 weeks has made me feel very good about where I'm at in my training. I've done a great mix of hills, distance, and even a little tempo stuff and I've felt pretty good on almost all of it. I hate to get too optimistic, but things sure are coming together at the right time for a good run on September 11th.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Alpine Addiction
I don't think I have ever been this tired from so little mileage.
Over the past 3 weeks my mileage has been hovering around the 70 mile per week range, but over 90% of this has been climbing up and down steep mountains and traversing mountain ridges. I've seen more of the alpine surrounding Juneau in the past 2 months than in the previous 2 summers that I lived here.
Right now I'm addicted to the climbing. My body is thrashed (in a good way) from climbing 4,000 or more feet almost everyday for 2 weeks, but I'm finding it very hard to not climb to the high country each day after work. Last weekend I did a 3 day fastpack and got myself into some areas I previously only had heard of, but didn't think I could actually get to so easily. It's really amazing just where you can go on a mountain ridge if you just get up there and do it.
There have been some misadventures. More than one outing this summer has ended after dark without lighting, but it's been fun to push the limits and really see what's up there in the alpine where so few people go. I think tomorrow or Monday I'm going to try to put in a flatter, higher mileage run, but we'll see if I can actually force myself to do so with the mountains right there above me.
Over the past 3 weeks my mileage has been hovering around the 70 mile per week range, but over 90% of this has been climbing up and down steep mountains and traversing mountain ridges. I've seen more of the alpine surrounding Juneau in the past 2 months than in the previous 2 summers that I lived here.
Right now I'm addicted to the climbing. My body is thrashed (in a good way) from climbing 4,000 or more feet almost everyday for 2 weeks, but I'm finding it very hard to not climb to the high country each day after work. Last weekend I did a 3 day fastpack and got myself into some areas I previously only had heard of, but didn't think I could actually get to so easily. It's really amazing just where you can go on a mountain ridge if you just get up there and do it.
There have been some misadventures. More than one outing this summer has ended after dark without lighting, but it's been fun to push the limits and really see what's up there in the alpine where so few people go. I think tomorrow or Monday I'm going to try to put in a flatter, higher mileage run, but we'll see if I can actually force myself to do so with the mountains right there above me.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wasatch Anticipation
I'm fully recovered from Crow Pass and tomorrow the weather is turning to sun for what is supposed to be another 7+ day stretch of dry, calm weather, perfect for getting up on the mountain ridges. When the weather is nice the trails here are perfect for training for the Wasatch 100. The only flaw is that I start all my runs at sea level and top out at about 5,000 feet. Because of this I will be heading to Utah about 2 weeks before Wasatch to adjust to the heat and elevation. I expect to show up on race morning in the best shape of my life. It's possible that won't even be enough to win this one but I'm excited to find out. If the weather is decent in Utah on September 11th I suspect it might take a course record to come out victorious. I know I can go 20 minutes faster than I did last year, and I suspect at least a couple others in the race might be able to as well. For now though I'm just excited for all the fun training runs I get to do in the next several weeks.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Crow Pass Race Report
I approached this race very different from any race I have ever run. The idea crept slowly into my mind over the past month or so to run a race in which I didn't race so much against other runners, but instead to test my mind to see how hard I could get it to push my body. As I explained this approach to a few close friends leading up to the race one of them asked me if I thought maybe I was getting bored with racing. This caught me a bit off guard cause I hadn't thought about that, but almost right away I wondered if she was on to something. By the time I lined up for my race at 7am Saturday morning I had a bit of fear/excitement that this might be the last race I would run trying to compete at such a high level. If you discover that you can push yourself where you want to go, as fast as you want to go, without feeding off of others in the race then at some point it becomes kind of silly to race as compared to just doing fun routes against a clock or against previous runs and how they made your mind and body feel. This didn't turn out to be the case though. At least not yet.
Eric Strabel and I had loosely discussed the possibility of pushing each other to what would seem to most people to be an impossibly fast time. He had the fastest time ever in the 25 years of this race (3:05 and change) and I had the 3rd fastest time ever in this race (3:07 something I think), but we both knew we could go faster. We had even talked specifically about the likelihood that one or both of us could go under 3 hours. As the race started I pretty much knew that if it became a race against another runner, as compared to a test to see how hard I could push myself, that Eric would almost certainly be that other runner.
Up to the pass I ran alone. I didn't feel very good but I was 10 or more seconds ahead of anyone all the way up. I found myself looking back at the pack a few times... not entirely able to forget about the rest of the field like I hoped to do.
Over the pass I was able to bring my thoughts mostly into my mind only. I really tried to hammer down the back side but my quads were burning pretty badly and I was only 5 miles into the 25 mile race. I knew it was going to be a painful day but I kind of relished that thought. The last thing I wanted was to finish this race without some serious physical suffering. It was only going to be a success if I hammered from start to finish as hard as I could, and certainly that was going to involve some serious physical pain. I had accepted that as a certainty several weeks earlier.
A few miles later Eric caught up to me for the first time. I tried to keep my mind off from whatever race he was running and just kept pushing harder. I pulled back ahead of him and cruised on down to the river crossing at mile 12 with about a 10-20 second lead. I knew he would be strong after the river, as he always is, but I kept trying to push myself against myself and not against him.
Eventually though he reeled me in again and when I took a slight wrong turn that cost me a few seconds he took the lead. I settled in behind him and almost instantly the race was on. As the interest in racing against another runner came back into my mind it became almost all consuming. Eric is a great competitor and I knew we were in for a battle to the finish that would be more satisfying than anything I was going to be able provide myself, without his help. We took turns leading each other further down toward the finish. He dropped a bit behind with 7 or 8 miles to go, but he caught me again a mile or so later. Finally with a bit less than 5 miles to go I made a strong move and never saw him again.
Now I was back to racing the clock. I never really forgot about him behind me but more and more I became zoned in on trying to break 3 hours. Finally with about 2 miles to go I knew I had it as long as nothing went drastically wrong. I wasn't moving very fast anymore but I pushed myself as hard as I could, almost screaming out in exhaustion at times. I finished in 2:57:11, more than a minute ahead of Eric.
Instead of ending the race feeling that I had no need to race against other runners anymore, I ended the race as hungry as ever to compete. Wasatch is going to be on in a big way come September 11th. Hal and Karl are both supposed to be there. It should be epic.
Eric Strabel and I had loosely discussed the possibility of pushing each other to what would seem to most people to be an impossibly fast time. He had the fastest time ever in the 25 years of this race (3:05 and change) and I had the 3rd fastest time ever in this race (3:07 something I think), but we both knew we could go faster. We had even talked specifically about the likelihood that one or both of us could go under 3 hours. As the race started I pretty much knew that if it became a race against another runner, as compared to a test to see how hard I could push myself, that Eric would almost certainly be that other runner.
Up to the pass I ran alone. I didn't feel very good but I was 10 or more seconds ahead of anyone all the way up. I found myself looking back at the pack a few times... not entirely able to forget about the rest of the field like I hoped to do.
Over the pass I was able to bring my thoughts mostly into my mind only. I really tried to hammer down the back side but my quads were burning pretty badly and I was only 5 miles into the 25 mile race. I knew it was going to be a painful day but I kind of relished that thought. The last thing I wanted was to finish this race without some serious physical suffering. It was only going to be a success if I hammered from start to finish as hard as I could, and certainly that was going to involve some serious physical pain. I had accepted that as a certainty several weeks earlier.
A few miles later Eric caught up to me for the first time. I tried to keep my mind off from whatever race he was running and just kept pushing harder. I pulled back ahead of him and cruised on down to the river crossing at mile 12 with about a 10-20 second lead. I knew he would be strong after the river, as he always is, but I kept trying to push myself against myself and not against him.
Eventually though he reeled me in again and when I took a slight wrong turn that cost me a few seconds he took the lead. I settled in behind him and almost instantly the race was on. As the interest in racing against another runner came back into my mind it became almost all consuming. Eric is a great competitor and I knew we were in for a battle to the finish that would be more satisfying than anything I was going to be able provide myself, without his help. We took turns leading each other further down toward the finish. He dropped a bit behind with 7 or 8 miles to go, but he caught me again a mile or so later. Finally with a bit less than 5 miles to go I made a strong move and never saw him again.
Now I was back to racing the clock. I never really forgot about him behind me but more and more I became zoned in on trying to break 3 hours. Finally with about 2 miles to go I knew I had it as long as nothing went drastically wrong. I wasn't moving very fast anymore but I pushed myself as hard as I could, almost screaming out in exhaustion at times. I finished in 2:57:11, more than a minute ahead of Eric.
Instead of ending the race feeling that I had no need to race against other runners anymore, I ended the race as hungry as ever to compete. Wasatch is going to be on in a big way come September 11th. Hal and Karl are both supposed to be there. It should be epic.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Hoping To Survive, Maybe Even Thrive...
Running Crow Pass race tomorrow. It'll be my first race in 10 weeks. I'm not sure if I'm totally ready, but I never feel totally ready.
I'm not sure if it is possible to just decide ahead of time to do but my plan for this race is to push myself harder than I've ever pushed myself. I don't intend to pay much attention to what other runners are doing (even though the competition will be stellar), but instead to try to get my mind to make my body work harder than might typically seem possible. It'll likely go really bad, but if not it could go really well. It's kind of a scary and intense way to approach a race, but strangely kind of comforting too. Should be an interesting morning.
I'm not sure if it is possible to just decide ahead of time to do but my plan for this race is to push myself harder than I've ever pushed myself. I don't intend to pay much attention to what other runners are doing (even though the competition will be stellar), but instead to try to get my mind to make my body work harder than might typically seem possible. It'll likely go really bad, but if not it could go really well. It's kind of a scary and intense way to approach a race, but strangely kind of comforting too. Should be an interesting morning.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Open For Business
I'm currently in Gustavus, Alaska (pop. ~400) where my friend Dan and I have opened a short term bike shop (Just open for a couple weeks, and then maybe again later in the summer). You wouldn't think a bike shop in a town of 400 would really have very much business but Gustavus is anything but a typical small town. Unlike the rest of Southeast Alaska it is very flat here. It's really easy to get around on bikes and the people here take a certain amount of pride in being self sufficient and I think some of that spreads over into an interest in being self propelled. It's a really neat place.
Mostly we're just cleaning bikes that haven't been cared for in years and changing out whatever parts we need to make them rideable. Not as smooth as working on newer, higher end bikes, but there's more of a sense of satisfaction in knowing that you're putting a bike back on the road that would otherwise be sitting in someone's yard for the rest of it's life. I like it.
I've been sick most of this week so my training leading up to Crow Pass hasn't been perfect but I think I'll be ready to roll next Saturday. I've got so much strength right now from all the long climbs up into the mountains. I just need to hope that I find some way to convert this strength into speed for something as short as a 3 hour race. We'll see.
Mostly we're just cleaning bikes that haven't been cared for in years and changing out whatever parts we need to make them rideable. Not as smooth as working on newer, higher end bikes, but there's more of a sense of satisfaction in knowing that you're putting a bike back on the road that would otherwise be sitting in someone's yard for the rest of it's life. I like it.
I've been sick most of this week so my training leading up to Crow Pass hasn't been perfect but I think I'll be ready to roll next Saturday. I've got so much strength right now from all the long climbs up into the mountains. I just need to hope that I find some way to convert this strength into speed for something as short as a 3 hour race. We'll see.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Congratulations Hal and Anita...
...Nuff said. If you don't know what I'm talking about you probably wouldn't care anyway.
Photo taken by Matt Hart:
Photo taken by Matt Hart:
Friday, June 26, 2009
When Opportunity Knocks...
...Open the door.
I was going to do a really mellow hike/run after work today but when my friend Dan came into my work about an hour before I got off and offered to shuttle his car so we could do a point to point ridge run all it took was one look outside at the high clouds to decide to join him. Turns out I made the right decision:
At the top of the ridge we found a bottle of beer, unopened, that someone had likely left up there while skiing in the winter. We didn't let that opportunity slide either:
When we got back to Dan's car his battery was dead. Luckily someone had left a van parked next to us, with the keys in it... and we had jumper cables. Sweet.
One of these days soon I'm going to rest a bit. Maybe.
I was going to do a really mellow hike/run after work today but when my friend Dan came into my work about an hour before I got off and offered to shuttle his car so we could do a point to point ridge run all it took was one look outside at the high clouds to decide to join him. Turns out I made the right decision:
At the top of the ridge we found a bottle of beer, unopened, that someone had likely left up there while skiing in the winter. We didn't let that opportunity slide either:
When we got back to Dan's car his battery was dead. Luckily someone had left a van parked next to us, with the keys in it... and we had jumper cables. Sweet.
One of these days soon I'm going to rest a bit. Maybe.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
A Mountain Running Paradise
I've written about it some in the past but not with much detail: Juneau really is the best place I have ever been for running in the mountains. When most people talk about living close to trails they mean they have a couple nice trails a few miles away and then several more that they can drive to in an hour or less. In Juneau there is a nice trail about 5 blocks away from pretty much anywhere you are... and if you drive in any direction for 10 minutes you'll give yourself access to several (if not a dozen) other trails.
I live at sea level (or technically about 20 feet above sea level). 2 blocks from my condo there is a trail that climbs for about 2.5 miles to just over 3,300 feet. About a mile up this trail there is another trail that branches off and traverses along the 1,000 foot elevation for about 16 miles one way with several different access points that create options for loops of any distance between 3 and 30 miles.
I work about 3.5 miles from where I live. Within a few blocks of my work there are 2 different trails that then branch out into several options. You can go fairly long with a more gradual climb (around Juneau anything less than about 750 feet per mile is considered gradual), or you can climb trails that gain more than 1,500 feet per mile. If you hop on your bike and ride for 15 minutes in any of 3 different directions you will have access to about a half dozen other trails.
The real beauty of the trails around here though aren't the established trails themselves but rather the terrain you can access once you climb up onto the ridges that these trails lead to. The options are pretty much unlimited. The only limiting factor tends to be the weather. When the clouds are low it can be pretty miserable (and dangerous) to be up on these ridges. When the weather is good though one can't help but want to climb up to the mountain tops every day.
Today a group of 10 of us assembled under some decent weather to climb up Mt. Juneau (about 3,500 ft.) and follow the ridge back behind it for several miles until eventually dropping down into Granite Creek Basin and looping back around on the most popular trail in town, The Perseverance Trail. Of all the ridge traverses in Juneau this is likely the most travelled one. Partly because it's so close to town and also because it's a fairly mellow route with no scrambling and very little route finding difficulties. All told though it's a 14 mile loop with about 4,500 feet of total climbing and tends to take most strong runners 3-4 hours.
We had 3 high school runners with us today who had never done this route and 7 others ranging between 20 something on up to 70. An unlikely group of companions for sure, but that's the way the running community is here. So many different personalities/ages but when we get together for a run like this we all seem to be so similar for that 3 or 4 hours. It's great. Today's run was great. I just wish I could decide which mountain I'm going to climb up next...
I live at sea level (or technically about 20 feet above sea level). 2 blocks from my condo there is a trail that climbs for about 2.5 miles to just over 3,300 feet. About a mile up this trail there is another trail that branches off and traverses along the 1,000 foot elevation for about 16 miles one way with several different access points that create options for loops of any distance between 3 and 30 miles.
I work about 3.5 miles from where I live. Within a few blocks of my work there are 2 different trails that then branch out into several options. You can go fairly long with a more gradual climb (around Juneau anything less than about 750 feet per mile is considered gradual), or you can climb trails that gain more than 1,500 feet per mile. If you hop on your bike and ride for 15 minutes in any of 3 different directions you will have access to about a half dozen other trails.
The real beauty of the trails around here though aren't the established trails themselves but rather the terrain you can access once you climb up onto the ridges that these trails lead to. The options are pretty much unlimited. The only limiting factor tends to be the weather. When the clouds are low it can be pretty miserable (and dangerous) to be up on these ridges. When the weather is good though one can't help but want to climb up to the mountain tops every day.
Today a group of 10 of us assembled under some decent weather to climb up Mt. Juneau (about 3,500 ft.) and follow the ridge back behind it for several miles until eventually dropping down into Granite Creek Basin and looping back around on the most popular trail in town, The Perseverance Trail. Of all the ridge traverses in Juneau this is likely the most travelled one. Partly because it's so close to town and also because it's a fairly mellow route with no scrambling and very little route finding difficulties. All told though it's a 14 mile loop with about 4,500 feet of total climbing and tends to take most strong runners 3-4 hours.
We had 3 high school runners with us today who had never done this route and 7 others ranging between 20 something on up to 70. An unlikely group of companions for sure, but that's the way the running community is here. So many different personalities/ages but when we get together for a run like this we all seem to be so similar for that 3 or 4 hours. It's great. Today's run was great. I just wish I could decide which mountain I'm going to climb up next...
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Saturday Afternoon's Random Thoughts...
All the climbing during my runs last week left me pretty tired out most of this week. I kept planning to do long runs up on the ridges each day this week but then I would get out of work and feel tired and end up running something much more mellow. After how much I pushed myself last week this was probably a good thing, but I do feel kind of lame for not getting very far up into the mountains at all this week... Hope to do something about that tomorrow morning.
Western States is coming up one week from today. For the first time since my DNF at Miwok I began to feel pretty bummed this week about not being in Western States. I've been enjoying being back here in Juneau, but I must say I would love to be lining up next week in Squaw Valley. I would not be one of the top few favorites to win but it sure would be exciting to test myself against the field that will be there this year. For now that will have to wait I guess.
At any rate though it feels pretty nice to be getting the drive back to compete in big races. After a DNF in the Ultrasport and the Miwok I needed some time away from too much focus on racing, but slowly over the past several weeks I've started to think more and more about wanting to be out there in the mountains testing myself against the trails and against other runners. I'm not decided for certain yet which ultras I'll be racing the rest of this year, but I do know that I will be showing up as determined as ever to push myself as hard as possible.
One other thing that's been brewing in my mind a lot again this past week has been The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. The Tour Divide started over a week ago and The Great Divide Race started yesterday. Since dropping out halfway through The Great Divide Race a year ago I've done almost no biking (aside from my 7 mile commute to work each day), but with the nicer weather now I've been riding a bit more and this combined with "following" the riders out on the route has me thinking more seriously about wanting to ride this route again someday. Maybe next year. Maybe a few years down the road. We'll see.
Western States is coming up one week from today. For the first time since my DNF at Miwok I began to feel pretty bummed this week about not being in Western States. I've been enjoying being back here in Juneau, but I must say I would love to be lining up next week in Squaw Valley. I would not be one of the top few favorites to win but it sure would be exciting to test myself against the field that will be there this year. For now that will have to wait I guess.
At any rate though it feels pretty nice to be getting the drive back to compete in big races. After a DNF in the Ultrasport and the Miwok I needed some time away from too much focus on racing, but slowly over the past several weeks I've started to think more and more about wanting to be out there in the mountains testing myself against the trails and against other runners. I'm not decided for certain yet which ultras I'll be racing the rest of this year, but I do know that I will be showing up as determined as ever to push myself as hard as possible.
One other thing that's been brewing in my mind a lot again this past week has been The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. The Tour Divide started over a week ago and The Great Divide Race started yesterday. Since dropping out halfway through The Great Divide Race a year ago I've done almost no biking (aside from my 7 mile commute to work each day), but with the nicer weather now I've been riding a bit more and this combined with "following" the riders out on the route has me thinking more seriously about wanting to ride this route again someday. Maybe next year. Maybe a few years down the road. We'll see.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Up Up And Away
Got in one of the most fun weeks of "training" of my life this week. I hesitate to even call it training because it was so much fun. The snow conditions in the mountains here are perfect right now. Good and firm but with just enough give so you can climb up impossibly steep pitches by kicking into the snow and glissade down a few thousand feet in a matter of minutes. I live at sea level and have gotten up over 3,000 feet no less than 5 times in the past 10 days. I might take a day off from the climbing tomorrow but then on Tuesday I'm going to try to do a ridge route above town at pretty near 100% effort. The fastest known time for this route is about 2.5 hours. I did it very comfortably the other day in 3 hours. I think with how nice the snow is right now I might be able to do it around 2 or 2:15. We'll see.
I've also put some time into getting my bike set up to do some bike touring trips the rest of this summer. I haven't really done much biking at all since the Great Divide Race last year but I'm pretty excited to just load up my gear, get on the ferry to some small towns here in Southeast Alaska and explore old logging roads and trails. Places most people outside of Alaska have never heard of: Gustavus, Petersburg, Haines, Sitka, Wrangell, Prince of Wales Island, Yakatat, Hoonah, Tenakee, Angoon. They're all accessible by the state ferry system and I've only ever been to a couple of them. Hope to take at least two or three trips on the ferry with my bike in the next 6 or 8 weeks.
I've also put some time into getting my bike set up to do some bike touring trips the rest of this summer. I haven't really done much biking at all since the Great Divide Race last year but I'm pretty excited to just load up my gear, get on the ferry to some small towns here in Southeast Alaska and explore old logging roads and trails. Places most people outside of Alaska have never heard of: Gustavus, Petersburg, Haines, Sitka, Wrangell, Prince of Wales Island, Yakatat, Hoonah, Tenakee, Angoon. They're all accessible by the state ferry system and I've only ever been to a couple of them. Hope to take at least two or three trips on the ferry with my bike in the next 6 or 8 weeks.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
No Web
I've not been posting on my blog much lately. The reason being that for the first time in the last 14 years I have no internet access at home. It's been shockingly liberating. I still get online 5 days a week at work to check email, weather forecasts, and look at fun stuff that I want to buy. Beyond that though I haven't spent any time online simply for the sake of killing time like I always have in the past. On top of this I no longer have a phone line at home and my cell phone has pretty marginal reception at home. Also, I have not had television at home in about 5 years.
Thus, for the first time in my adult life I feel like going home is a place of refuge where I get away from most everything else that's going on in the world. I find myself not spending nearly as much time at home as usual because sometimes it's just plain lonely and boring, but I also find that the time I do spend at home seems really revitalizing and refreshing. I listen to lots of music, work on crossword puzzles, and read magazines and books... things that stimulate my mind while allowing my body to rest.
I'll probably break down and get internet again soon but right now it's summer in Alaska, the weather has been amazingly beautiful, the days are filled with seemingly endless sunlight, and I have dozens of exciting things lined up in my head that I want to do the next few months. None of which involve spending time sitting at home staring at a computer screen.
Thus, for the first time in my adult life I feel like going home is a place of refuge where I get away from most everything else that's going on in the world. I find myself not spending nearly as much time at home as usual because sometimes it's just plain lonely and boring, but I also find that the time I do spend at home seems really revitalizing and refreshing. I listen to lots of music, work on crossword puzzles, and read magazines and books... things that stimulate my mind while allowing my body to rest.
I'll probably break down and get internet again soon but right now it's summer in Alaska, the weather has been amazingly beautiful, the days are filled with seemingly endless sunlight, and I have dozens of exciting things lined up in my head that I want to do the next few months. None of which involve spending time sitting at home staring at a computer screen.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Crow Pass IV
I hardly ever do races more than once. There are so many great races out there that I like to try new ones. However, next month I'll be running The Crow Pass Crossing for the 4th year in a row. That certainly says something about the appeal of this race. Simply put it's a near perfect course that has a little bit of everything. This year's race is going to be all about pushing what has previously proven to be possible on that course. No one has ever done this race in less than 3 hours (the official course record is 3:05 something). I think the 3 hour barrier is possible and I know I'm not the only one. I think to have a shot at winning the race I will need to go under 3:05. we'll see. It could always be a really sloppy trail and someone could run 3:15 and win. That's the excitement with trail racing. So many variables.
I turned down an offer yesterday to get into Hardrock from the waitlist. This decision was surprisingly easy for me. At this point I feel much more excited about spending most (if not all) of my summer in Alaska and there's just no way I could afford to do Hardrock this year. It's a race that I'm only willing to do when I know I can put 100% effort into it, which would include at least 2 weeks in Colorado to acclimatize before race day. We'll see if this works out better for me next year.
Still undecided about my race plans for the rest of the summer. Thinking about Wasatch or the Bear in September, but maybe another race or two before that too. We'll see. For now I'm just going to focus on being 100% ready to kick some ass on July 18th at Crow Pass. And even more importantly I'm going to focus on enjoying time in the mountains in Southeast Alaska. This is an amazing place to be in the summer and there are so many places to explore that I haven't had a chance to because I'm usually off running around somewhere else in the world in the summer time.
I turned down an offer yesterday to get into Hardrock from the waitlist. This decision was surprisingly easy for me. At this point I feel much more excited about spending most (if not all) of my summer in Alaska and there's just no way I could afford to do Hardrock this year. It's a race that I'm only willing to do when I know I can put 100% effort into it, which would include at least 2 weeks in Colorado to acclimatize before race day. We'll see if this works out better for me next year.
Still undecided about my race plans for the rest of the summer. Thinking about Wasatch or the Bear in September, but maybe another race or two before that too. We'll see. For now I'm just going to focus on being 100% ready to kick some ass on July 18th at Crow Pass. And even more importantly I'm going to focus on enjoying time in the mountains in Southeast Alaska. This is an amazing place to be in the summer and there are so many places to explore that I haven't had a chance to because I'm usually off running around somewhere else in the world in the summer time.
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