I thought I was over this head/chest cold that I've had for almost a week now, but I learned yesterday that this certainly was not the case. I didn't feel great when I set out on a run into The Indian Peaks Wilderness, but usually I'm able to run for an hour or two and get warmed up and generally feel a lot better the longer I go. I had about 4 hours to run yesterday so I chose a route up over a 12,500 ft. pass and down the backside. I figured I'd go for 1:45, turn around, and be back to the trailhead comfortably under 4 hours. I felt OK climbing up to the pass at the start, and OK going down the backside (about 2,500 ft. up and 2,500 ft. down), but when I turned around to retrace my route I felt horrible right away. I had no energy and felt like I couldn't breathe. Probably a result of my sickness as well as the high altitude which I am still not fully adjusted to. When this run was all said and done I had done 18 miles with about 5,000ft. of climbing, a very typical training run for me, the type of run I have done dozens, if not hundreds, of times in the past couple years. But never has a run this short felt so long and hard to me. By the time I finished I was completely exhausted and depleted.
It doesn't feel good to feel so weak right now, but this past week has been a very humbling experience that I think I can learn a lot from. Running feels really hard to me right now. This isn't a great place to be, but after a 14 month stretch in which running has felt shockingly easy I suppose I was due for a rough patch. My intention now is to work to find ways to turn this "rough patch" into a positive experience, something that I really haven't had to do since my DNF at Miwok last year.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Looking For A Rhythm
The past month has been a strange one for me in terms of running. I've run on some amazing trails all over the world: Alaska; The Yukon; Banff; Colorado; and France, to name a few. With all this travel though it's been very hard to get into any kind of consistent rhythm with my running. I don't think I've had any stretch in the past month in which I've run more than 6 days in a row and my total time and mileage has been way down due to all the days off. Add to this the fact that the one race that I was supposed to run in this time got cancelled 3 hours into the event and it's safe to say that it's been anything but a typical month of running for me. I've enjoyed this time for sure, but I am very ready now to get back into a more steady stretch of running. I got back here to Colorado 5 days ago thinking that I would jump right into this rhythm but I have been a bit sick this whole week so it's been necessary for me to take it slow because of that. Finally now I think I am feeling healthy and have no big travel plans anytime in the near future. I'm looking forward to getting back into hitting the mountain trails everyday and being out for 20+ hours and 100+ miles a week. I miss it a bit.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
UTMB Final Thoughts
Rather than doing a race report for my abbreviated UTMB race I thought I'd do a list of the top 10 reasons why this trip over here was totally worth the time and money even though the race was cancelled after 3 hours of running:
10. Most of the cost of my trip was covered by my sponsors
9. The food. I'm actually kind of sick of the food here (I kind of just wish I could find somewhere to get a $2 burrito, a single slice of pizza, or a coffee to go), but I have had some pretty amazing meals. A good example would be the Pike Dumpling w/crayfish sauce and Risotto that I had for dinner the night before the race. I also had an amazing Monkfish w/garlic mashed potatoes dinner one night.
8. Being at the start of the race. This was simply amazing. People lined up in the streets 20 feet deep for the first half mile.
7. Watching the almost full moon rise of the Aigiulle Du Midi the first night I was in Chamonix. It was cloudy when I got here so you couldn't see the mountains but then just as the moon was coming up the clouds cleared off for the most amazing mountain moon rise I have ever seen in my life.
6. Running from the finish about 7 miles back on the race course to watch the lead runners come through in the "day after" UTMB. I was really excited to see Jez Bragg and Mike Wolfe running out front. I ran with each of them for a brief moment. It's certainly more fun to be in a race than to be a spectator, but it was kind of fun to be a "fan" for a day.
5. Chamonix. I don't know that I would ever want to live in this town but it is certainly a really special place. I used to think that we had some towns in the U.S. where people are really into outdoor recreation (Boulder, Moab, Bend, all the Colorado mountain towns, etc), but Chamonix makes all of these places seem like they're filled with a bunch of couch riding, overweight Americans.
4. Running through St. Gervais during the race. Mike Wolfe and I ran through St. Gervais together (about 12 miles into the race). You wind through town for almost a mile and the entire way there are people lined up shoulder to shoulder cheering, jumping up and down, and overflowing with excitement about the race. It's unbelievable. Small children. 80 year old folks. And everyone in between. If you have run through St. Gervais in the UTMB you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't I really don't know that any words can explain it.
3. Meeting and spending time with many of the most enjoyable and most talented (in many cases) ultra and mountain runners in the world. Not limited to, but most certainly including: Karl Meltzer, Mike Wolfe, Scott Jurek, Nicolas Mermoud, Kilian Jornet, Jez Bragg, Tracy Garneau, Rickey Gates, Scott Mason, Cory Johnson, and Bryon Powell.
2. The spectators all along the 20 miles of route that I ran before they stopped the race. I already mentioned the start and St. Gervais, but what was even more amazing to me were all the people out in the more remote areas of the course. This is a very social event in the small villages here. There are stretches where you run through neighborhoods and almost every home has people sitting on the front steps or up in the balconies and they are all cheering with genuine enthusiasm. In the U.S. it seems like many people would be annoyed by the clamor and disruption of having 2,300 runners race past their front door. Here though it seems like these people have such a deep and genuine respect/regard for all the racers. I kept thinking about how I wished I had the time to stop and make sure each of them knew how deep and genuine respect and regard I had for them.
1. Even though the race got stopped I still was able to run almost 60 miles (with almost 20,000 feet of total climbing) in the mountains in the 5 days that I was here. Some of the most enjoyable and beautiful mountain running I have ever done.
10. Most of the cost of my trip was covered by my sponsors
9. The food. I'm actually kind of sick of the food here (I kind of just wish I could find somewhere to get a $2 burrito, a single slice of pizza, or a coffee to go), but I have had some pretty amazing meals. A good example would be the Pike Dumpling w/crayfish sauce and Risotto that I had for dinner the night before the race. I also had an amazing Monkfish w/garlic mashed potatoes dinner one night.
8. Being at the start of the race. This was simply amazing. People lined up in the streets 20 feet deep for the first half mile.
7. Watching the almost full moon rise of the Aigiulle Du Midi the first night I was in Chamonix. It was cloudy when I got here so you couldn't see the mountains but then just as the moon was coming up the clouds cleared off for the most amazing mountain moon rise I have ever seen in my life.
6. Running from the finish about 7 miles back on the race course to watch the lead runners come through in the "day after" UTMB. I was really excited to see Jez Bragg and Mike Wolfe running out front. I ran with each of them for a brief moment. It's certainly more fun to be in a race than to be a spectator, but it was kind of fun to be a "fan" for a day.
5. Chamonix. I don't know that I would ever want to live in this town but it is certainly a really special place. I used to think that we had some towns in the U.S. where people are really into outdoor recreation (Boulder, Moab, Bend, all the Colorado mountain towns, etc), but Chamonix makes all of these places seem like they're filled with a bunch of couch riding, overweight Americans.
4. Running through St. Gervais during the race. Mike Wolfe and I ran through St. Gervais together (about 12 miles into the race). You wind through town for almost a mile and the entire way there are people lined up shoulder to shoulder cheering, jumping up and down, and overflowing with excitement about the race. It's unbelievable. Small children. 80 year old folks. And everyone in between. If you have run through St. Gervais in the UTMB you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't I really don't know that any words can explain it.
3. Meeting and spending time with many of the most enjoyable and most talented (in many cases) ultra and mountain runners in the world. Not limited to, but most certainly including: Karl Meltzer, Mike Wolfe, Scott Jurek, Nicolas Mermoud, Kilian Jornet, Jez Bragg, Tracy Garneau, Rickey Gates, Scott Mason, Cory Johnson, and Bryon Powell.
2. The spectators all along the 20 miles of route that I ran before they stopped the race. I already mentioned the start and St. Gervais, but what was even more amazing to me were all the people out in the more remote areas of the course. This is a very social event in the small villages here. There are stretches where you run through neighborhoods and almost every home has people sitting on the front steps or up in the balconies and they are all cheering with genuine enthusiasm. In the U.S. it seems like many people would be annoyed by the clamor and disruption of having 2,300 runners race past their front door. Here though it seems like these people have such a deep and genuine respect/regard for all the racers. I kept thinking about how I wished I had the time to stop and make sure each of them knew how deep and genuine respect and regard I had for them.
1. Even though the race got stopped I still was able to run almost 60 miles (with almost 20,000 feet of total climbing) in the mountains in the 5 days that I was here. Some of the most enjoyable and beautiful mountain running I have ever done.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
And Then Almost Again
I'm in Chamonix. Several of the UTMB runners are now out racing a last minute 98k version after the actual UTMB was canceled last night.
The decision not to run this new race was actually pretty easy for me. I didn't find out for certain that this race was happening until 7:30 this morning and the race was set to start at 10:00. I had not slept at all as there had been so much conflicting information all night as to whether there was going to be another race. I was receiving calls, texts, emails, race website info., and even messages slid under my hotel room door and the information in all of these things was completely conflicting. At one point the race website even clearly stated that no decision would be made until 9am. Finally something that seemed definitive and clear. I could at least sleep until 9 and then see what was happening. 30 minutes later I got another message "confirming" that there would be a new race, buses leaving Chamonix at 6:30 (this occurred at about 5am) It eventually became hard to trust anything. I had no way to be certain that once we got over to Courmayeur (where the new race was reportedly going to start) that there would actually be another race. I guess the race organization sent out a text message sometime early in the morning (6 or 7am) confirming that there was in fact going to be a race at 10am. I for some reason never got the text. The race website had nothing about this new race until around the time that it actually started, and the weather (which had stopped the UTMB as well as the CCC and the TDS) had not really changed much overnight. It is supposed to be clearing sometime later tonight and into tomorrow but as I write this at 3:30pm it's every bit as cloudy, foggy, windy, and rainy here in Chamonix as it was last night when they stopped these three races.
At any rate, despite all of these confusions and uncertainties there are hundreds of runners (including perhaps half to two thirds of the top level runners) out there now running this new race. For me though, I came here to run the UTMB. The cancellation of the UTMB provided me with this huge amount of extra physical and mental energy to pore into something else over the next several days/weeks. Had the race organization been able to put together a more definitive alternative race without all of the confusion and question marks that ensued (not blaming the race organization here in any way. Rather just touching on the difficulty of what they were dealing with), and in a more timely manner then it is likely that this alternative race would have been where I would have used this extra energy provided to me by the cancellation of the UTMB. The way it was though, with no sleep and with the threat of weather stopping the "new" race, it was a really simple decision not to invest this energy into this. Now that I have slept and I begin to read the reports of the race that is going on out there now it's hard not to want to be out there, at least a little bit. But I certainly don't regret my decision. As I said it was actually a really easy decision for me. In the meantime I'm having fun thinking about where in fact I am going to focus this energy?
And there's this sky running marathon in Italy tomorrow that I mentioned in a post last night, but I don't think that's going to happen for me because it's 4 hours away and my means of getting there are now all out running this revised race that is occurring right now. So for me? I get to wander around Chamonix, eat some great food, and wait for the racers to arrive here later tonight. And then tomorrow when the weather is actually cleared up I'll go out for a nice long run, ride the tram up to the Aiquille Du Midi, and feel really glad that I'm not laying in bed wasted from running a "consolation" 98k race in which I had not slept for almost 24 hours at the start of the race.
The decision not to run this new race was actually pretty easy for me. I didn't find out for certain that this race was happening until 7:30 this morning and the race was set to start at 10:00. I had not slept at all as there had been so much conflicting information all night as to whether there was going to be another race. I was receiving calls, texts, emails, race website info., and even messages slid under my hotel room door and the information in all of these things was completely conflicting. At one point the race website even clearly stated that no decision would be made until 9am. Finally something that seemed definitive and clear. I could at least sleep until 9 and then see what was happening. 30 minutes later I got another message "confirming" that there would be a new race, buses leaving Chamonix at 6:30 (this occurred at about 5am) It eventually became hard to trust anything. I had no way to be certain that once we got over to Courmayeur (where the new race was reportedly going to start) that there would actually be another race. I guess the race organization sent out a text message sometime early in the morning (6 or 7am) confirming that there was in fact going to be a race at 10am. I for some reason never got the text. The race website had nothing about this new race until around the time that it actually started, and the weather (which had stopped the UTMB as well as the CCC and the TDS) had not really changed much overnight. It is supposed to be clearing sometime later tonight and into tomorrow but as I write this at 3:30pm it's every bit as cloudy, foggy, windy, and rainy here in Chamonix as it was last night when they stopped these three races.
At any rate, despite all of these confusions and uncertainties there are hundreds of runners (including perhaps half to two thirds of the top level runners) out there now running this new race. For me though, I came here to run the UTMB. The cancellation of the UTMB provided me with this huge amount of extra physical and mental energy to pore into something else over the next several days/weeks. Had the race organization been able to put together a more definitive alternative race without all of the confusion and question marks that ensued (not blaming the race organization here in any way. Rather just touching on the difficulty of what they were dealing with), and in a more timely manner then it is likely that this alternative race would have been where I would have used this extra energy provided to me by the cancellation of the UTMB. The way it was though, with no sleep and with the threat of weather stopping the "new" race, it was a really simple decision not to invest this energy into this. Now that I have slept and I begin to read the reports of the race that is going on out there now it's hard not to want to be out there, at least a little bit. But I certainly don't regret my decision. As I said it was actually a really easy decision for me. In the meantime I'm having fun thinking about where in fact I am going to focus this energy?
And there's this sky running marathon in Italy tomorrow that I mentioned in a post last night, but I don't think that's going to happen for me because it's 4 hours away and my means of getting there are now all out running this revised race that is occurring right now. So for me? I get to wander around Chamonix, eat some great food, and wait for the racers to arrive here later tonight. And then tomorrow when the weather is actually cleared up I'll go out for a nice long run, ride the tram up to the Aiquille Du Midi, and feel really glad that I'm not laying in bed wasted from running a "consolation" 98k race in which I had not slept for almost 24 hours at the start of the race.
Friday, August 27, 2010
But Not Quite...
Wow. This is going to take awhile to sink in. 3 hours (about 20 miles) into UTMB and the race was canceled due to severe weather. I was running smooth and feeling great, right where I wanted to be about 5 minutes behind the leaders. We didn't have any bad weather where we were but apparently in the higher areas up ahead there was heavy rain, wind, and fog.
I guess the plan now is to go run a marathon in Italy on Sunday. Not any old marathon though, but rather the sky running marathon world championship race. A race that has about 13,000 ft. of climbing over 26 miles! A marathon that will take the winners 5+ hours! Should be a blast.
I guess the plan now is to go run a marathon in Italy on Sunday. Not any old marathon though, but rather the sky running marathon world championship race. A race that has about 13,000 ft. of climbing over 26 miles! A marathon that will take the winners 5+ hours! Should be a blast.
Almost
Chamonix has been treating me very well. Yesterday was a great day of relaxing with some friends, new and old, and now it's almost time to get on with this other thing that's been looming on the horizon for a few days now:
UTMB is set to start here in Chamonix in 5 hours. I'm feeling good going into this one. I've slept 30 hours in the three nights that I've been over here and the weather has turned much cooler and a bit wet today. As long as it doesn't rain too much to create insane amounts of mud on the trails I think this weather will be perfect. I don't at all mind wearing a bit of extra clothing to stay warm, something I've been doing about 350 days a year in Juneau for the past 4 years.
For those interested in following along here are a couple places to start looking for info. as the race unfolds:
The race website's "live" page: http://www.ultratrailmb.com/page/128/Live.html
Also Bryon Powell is over here doing coverage that he'll be posting on his blog: www.irunfar.com
Be sure to check out the links in irunfar's sidebar because Bryon will likely be posting to his twitter page which is linked on the sidebar of his blog.
Also, the race will be giving the top ten runners through La Fouly (about mile 70) a GPS tracking device which will then track the remaining 35 miles of the race in virtual realtime (I think there might be a 3 minute delay or something like that). So be sure to look for that somewhere on the race website as the race unfolds. Perhaps I'll even be fortunate enough to be one of those top 10.
UTMB is set to start here in Chamonix in 5 hours. I'm feeling good going into this one. I've slept 30 hours in the three nights that I've been over here and the weather has turned much cooler and a bit wet today. As long as it doesn't rain too much to create insane amounts of mud on the trails I think this weather will be perfect. I don't at all mind wearing a bit of extra clothing to stay warm, something I've been doing about 350 days a year in Juneau for the past 4 years.
For those interested in following along here are a couple places to start looking for info. as the race unfolds:
The race website's "live" page: http://www.ultratrailmb.com/page/128/Live.html
Also Bryon Powell is over here doing coverage that he'll be posting on his blog: www.irunfar.com
Be sure to check out the links in irunfar's sidebar because Bryon will likely be posting to his twitter page which is linked on the sidebar of his blog.
Also, the race will be giving the top ten runners through La Fouly (about mile 70) a GPS tracking device which will then track the remaining 35 miles of the race in virtual realtime (I think there might be a 3 minute delay or something like that). So be sure to look for that somewhere on the race website as the race unfolds. Perhaps I'll even be fortunate enough to be one of those top 10.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
You Know You've Made It As An Athlete When...
... You get drug tested.
Apparently when the UTMB said they were going to do random drug testing they meant random drug testing of top runners. Not sure how that qualifies as random. Nonetheless I guess it's a good thing. I'd like to think that it's overkill and there's no need for the testing, but maybe I'm being naive.
On a lighter note: It's weird being in such a novel and majestic place, but feeling so alone at times. My time thus far in Chamonix has felt like a strange dream. When I first got here yesterday I was so tired and hungry that I couldn't think straight. I grabbed some lunch and then went to my hotel room and fell asleep while writing an email to my girlfriend. I didn't wake up for 6 hours. I stumbled out into the streets of this foreign town and found myself some dinner. After dinner I returned to my room and fell asleep for 6 more hours.
When I awoke today I felt like I stepped out into a completely different world than yesterday. Today the sun was shining bright and the mountains hung over the town like nothing I have ever seen before. Unless you have been somewhere that has an 11,000 foot difference between the valley floor and the top of the mountains that loom above it's just hard to imagine. In Juneau the mountains rise straight up from the coast, but those mountains top out between 3,500-5,000 feet. Here the mountains rise up just as steep but they go up over 14,000 feet (the valley floor is at about 3,500)!
Anyhow, after drinking some coffee (strong coffee... yum) and eating a huge breakfast I met up with Karl to run the last 10 miles of the course. Fairly uneventful run. We climbed about 2,500 ft. and dropped about 3,500 back down to Chamonix. The section of trail we saw today was really nice to run on. Much more smooth than I expected. These trails have mostly been around for a very long time so to say that they are well worn in is most certainly an understatement.
And so I am checked in for the race. Drug tested negative. And now I just need to wait two days before we start. My hope now is to be able to sleep about 20 of the next 45 hours. And when I'm not asleep I'll be eating or laying around resting.
Apparently when the UTMB said they were going to do random drug testing they meant random drug testing of top runners. Not sure how that qualifies as random. Nonetheless I guess it's a good thing. I'd like to think that it's overkill and there's no need for the testing, but maybe I'm being naive.
On a lighter note: It's weird being in such a novel and majestic place, but feeling so alone at times. My time thus far in Chamonix has felt like a strange dream. When I first got here yesterday I was so tired and hungry that I couldn't think straight. I grabbed some lunch and then went to my hotel room and fell asleep while writing an email to my girlfriend. I didn't wake up for 6 hours. I stumbled out into the streets of this foreign town and found myself some dinner. After dinner I returned to my room and fell asleep for 6 more hours.
When I awoke today I felt like I stepped out into a completely different world than yesterday. Today the sun was shining bright and the mountains hung over the town like nothing I have ever seen before. Unless you have been somewhere that has an 11,000 foot difference between the valley floor and the top of the mountains that loom above it's just hard to imagine. In Juneau the mountains rise straight up from the coast, but those mountains top out between 3,500-5,000 feet. Here the mountains rise up just as steep but they go up over 14,000 feet (the valley floor is at about 3,500)!
Anyhow, after drinking some coffee (strong coffee... yum) and eating a huge breakfast I met up with Karl to run the last 10 miles of the course. Fairly uneventful run. We climbed about 2,500 ft. and dropped about 3,500 back down to Chamonix. The section of trail we saw today was really nice to run on. Much more smooth than I expected. These trails have mostly been around for a very long time so to say that they are well worn in is most certainly an understatement.
And so I am checked in for the race. Drug tested negative. And now I just need to wait two days before we start. My hope now is to be able to sleep about 20 of the next 45 hours. And when I'm not asleep I'll be eating or laying around resting.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Abroad
About to take to the air tomorrow morning to fly over to Europe for UTMB.
Just got settled in here in Colorado and it's off on another adventure.
I've been really happy here in Nederland so far. The weather is amazingly nice and I've been finding all kinds of fun trails to run on. I haven't been able to find anything nearly as challenging as the trails I run on in Juneau but I'm sure I will find this in time. Right now I just keep finding a lot of trails that go up really high (have been up as high as 12,000 ft. so far) but they take their sweet old time getting there. Not Juneau style in which you just go straight up the side of a mountain. With how tough the altitude has been at times I guess this is probably a good thing.
I feel good and ready for UTMB. I haven't really thought much about it until I packed my bags today. I'll have 3 days over there before the race and I figure that is more than enough time to focus my mind on this one. It will be the toughest race I've ever run as far as terrain is concerned but I'm definitely making a choice not to put the kind of mental energy into this one as I put into Western States in the weeks leading up to it. In this case (as I do with most of my races) I'm just planning to show up and run, saving all of my energy for the race itself. There's always the worry that this will cause something really important to be overlooked, but with having run 20 or so ultras in the last 3 years I feel like I have enough experience to instinctively remember all the necessary things. I guess we'll find out next weekend if this is the case.
This said though, I'm really excited to run in Europe. From everything I've heard this is one of the most beautiful race courses in the world. I'm excited to race against the insanely top notch competition that will be there, and in some ways kind of scared (in a good way) to see just what Kilian is capable of on his home turf (in a sense) and on a course that he's already raced twice before. It's a long tough race, and a lot of things can happen, but I saw enough of his ability at Western States to know that he is capable of making this one a race for second place. That said I'm planning to be out there keeping pressure on anyone who is out ahead of me, and hoping to find a late race surge as I've been able to in so many of the races I've run in the past year.
This will be a fun one to see how it plays out. More than any race that I've run in quite some time I really don't know what to expect. There are enough strong runners and enough unknowns (to me) in this one that I could easily have a good day and finish behind a dozen or more runners. I'm kind of excited for this aspect of this race. It will make it very easy to show up and focus on simply having a fun day of running. Something that I intend with every race I run but sometimes it's not as easy to do when you line up for a race knowing that you "should" win it if you have a good day. With those feelings it's easy to start feeling like you need to win it to have a good day - not a mindset I like to go into a race with. At UTMB I know that I won't be feeling any of this and that's certainly a much easier place to come from going into a race which is already ridiculously hard no matter how much extra performance pressure you put on yourself.
Just got settled in here in Colorado and it's off on another adventure.
I've been really happy here in Nederland so far. The weather is amazingly nice and I've been finding all kinds of fun trails to run on. I haven't been able to find anything nearly as challenging as the trails I run on in Juneau but I'm sure I will find this in time. Right now I just keep finding a lot of trails that go up really high (have been up as high as 12,000 ft. so far) but they take their sweet old time getting there. Not Juneau style in which you just go straight up the side of a mountain. With how tough the altitude has been at times I guess this is probably a good thing.
I feel good and ready for UTMB. I haven't really thought much about it until I packed my bags today. I'll have 3 days over there before the race and I figure that is more than enough time to focus my mind on this one. It will be the toughest race I've ever run as far as terrain is concerned but I'm definitely making a choice not to put the kind of mental energy into this one as I put into Western States in the weeks leading up to it. In this case (as I do with most of my races) I'm just planning to show up and run, saving all of my energy for the race itself. There's always the worry that this will cause something really important to be overlooked, but with having run 20 or so ultras in the last 3 years I feel like I have enough experience to instinctively remember all the necessary things. I guess we'll find out next weekend if this is the case.
This said though, I'm really excited to run in Europe. From everything I've heard this is one of the most beautiful race courses in the world. I'm excited to race against the insanely top notch competition that will be there, and in some ways kind of scared (in a good way) to see just what Kilian is capable of on his home turf (in a sense) and on a course that he's already raced twice before. It's a long tough race, and a lot of things can happen, but I saw enough of his ability at Western States to know that he is capable of making this one a race for second place. That said I'm planning to be out there keeping pressure on anyone who is out ahead of me, and hoping to find a late race surge as I've been able to in so many of the races I've run in the past year.
This will be a fun one to see how it plays out. More than any race that I've run in quite some time I really don't know what to expect. There are enough strong runners and enough unknowns (to me) in this one that I could easily have a good day and finish behind a dozen or more runners. I'm kind of excited for this aspect of this race. It will make it very easy to show up and focus on simply having a fun day of running. Something that I intend with every race I run but sometimes it's not as easy to do when you line up for a race knowing that you "should" win it if you have a good day. With those feelings it's easy to start feeling like you need to win it to have a good day - not a mindset I like to go into a race with. At UTMB I know that I won't be feeling any of this and that's certainly a much easier place to come from going into a race which is already ridiculously hard no matter how much extra performance pressure you put on yourself.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Hitting The Road
I'm leaving tomorrow to drive southbound to Colorado. Have gotten some great UTMB training in the past two weeks. Lots of wonderful mountain exploration. Sure am going to miss the mountains here around Juneau but I hear Colorado has some mountains too.
Going to stop in Skagway for a day and run the Chilkoot trail on Monday. 6hr. 47m. is the fastest time I know of on this trail. I'm sure someone has probably done it faster than that. I intend to do it a fair amount faster on Monday. We'll see. I need to finish by 2pm to catch a train back to Skagway, and with how late I am to everything I do I'll probably be needing to run it in record time just to catch the train.
I'll be getting to Colorado in about a week. I'll then have about a week there to get settled in before heading over to Europe for my jaunt around Mount Blanc. I feel a bit overwhelmed with how much stuff I have going on right now, but I sure am super excited about all of it too.
Going to stop in Skagway for a day and run the Chilkoot trail on Monday. 6hr. 47m. is the fastest time I know of on this trail. I'm sure someone has probably done it faster than that. I intend to do it a fair amount faster on Monday. We'll see. I need to finish by 2pm to catch a train back to Skagway, and with how late I am to everything I do I'll probably be needing to run it in record time just to catch the train.
I'll be getting to Colorado in about a week. I'll then have about a week there to get settled in before heading over to Europe for my jaunt around Mount Blanc. I feel a bit overwhelmed with how much stuff I have going on right now, but I sure am super excited about all of it too.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Crow Pass Race Report
Everything leading up to this race was really easy. I didn't really think much about the race and I even slept quite well the night before. And then next thing I knew it was Saturday morning and we were off and running.
Almost right from the start it was clear that I would not be able to stay with the pace that Eric Strabel was planning to set. Last year Eric and I had had an epic battle in this race and he seemed determined to try to put me away early on in this one.
And so we climbed, and Eric pulled further and further away from me. I wasn't feeling too bad, but Eric clearly had a gear going up that I just didn't have on this day. I just kept telling myself to be patient and let the race come to me.
After the pass I started to feel a little bit better and I was noticing that the trail was in really good shape and that I was feeling really comfortable and agile on my feet. I remember thinking that I really needed to use the more technical stretches of this race to make up time on Eric because he had already showed me on the climb to the pass that he had a lot more strength than me on this day. And so I pushed hard through the rocky, muddy, rooty overgrown stretch of trail that leads from the bottom of the pass down toward the river. And then I promptly turned my ankle and had to slow down for several minutes. I had come really close to hurting it badly and even as it were I had done a bit of a tweak to it that needed several minutes to loosen up. And then of course I twisted it again. And again. Luckily none of these times were too bad and after about 10 minutes it was feeling fine again, and I was starting to feel confident on my feet again.
No sooner were things going smooth and suddenly a huge bull moose runs onto the trail in front of me and refuses to leave the trail. I wanted to just bushwhack around it but it wouldn't stay in the same spot whenever I approached it. It would jog along in front of me and then stop again further down the trail. We played this game for about a mile. Through some of this stretch I was able to run my normal pace, but most of the time I was just shuffling along timidly knowing that there was this giant beast around the corner. Finally he cleared the trail and I was back to running "normal."
I was a bit frustrated about the moose thing at the time, but was quickly able to let it go and get back to racing. There was still a lot of race to go and I had learned enough about patience at Western States that I knew that all I could do was focus on myself and just keep plugging along.
At the Eagle River crossing (mile 12) I got word that I was 3 minutes behind Eric. I was pretty energized by that. I had had the ankle "slow down", the moose "slow down", and had taken one pretty good fall that slowed me down for several seconds as well. And still, despite all this I was only 3 minutes back.
And so I pushed on with a lot more focus and determination. I started to feel good, but still I remained patient. I pushed the pace a little harder, but I still needed a bit more time to relax and get fully warmed up and ready for a hard push to the finish. Somewhere around mile 15 I had to stop to use the facilities (cost me maybe 45-60 seconds), and somewhere in this stretch I accidentally took the slower "high water" route, and to add insult to injury while I was on the high water route I ran across a cow moose with a calf camped out in the middle of the trail (found out later that Eric had also taken this slower route and had encountered the moose as well). Despite all of this though, when I got to Icicle Creek, around mile 18, I had still cut Eric's lead down to 60 seconds. I knew I was gaining on him fast at this point. I was feeling the best I had felt all day and I just kept pushing forward harder and harder.
About half way between "the perch" and echo bend (around mile 20) I caught Eric. I ran just behind him for 30+ seconds, but by that point he had really hit the wall and was just pushing along to get to the finish. It was clear that he was done racing. I passed by him and moved back into my much faster pace on to the finish.
When it was said and done I had taken another 2:30 off my course record time from last year. Eric slipped in just under 3 hours and another run at Crow Pass was in the books.
I was quite surprised that I was able to go as fast as I was this year. Especially with all the little mishaps that cost me time throughout the race. Adding it all up I suspect I lost 4 or 5 minutes of time from all of these little things. It was really satisfying to run from behind and remain patient enough all day to keep my head and my body in this one. I don't think I would have been so calm about this situation had I not had the experience I had at Western States last month.
In hindsight I think Eric ran a really smart race, he just ran out of gas a bit too early. I was really satisfied with the way I stayed calm and didn't crack under the pressure of how large of a lead he opened at the start of the race. There were definitely times though when I thought he was just running on another planet that day and I wouldn't see him again until I finished and he was already in his street clothes eating a Subway sandwich. That's what it felt like watching him run up to the pass. And that's what it felt like when I turned my ankle. And that's what it felt like when I followed that bull moose for several minutes. But through it all I just kept things in perspective, and kept moving down the trail as fast as I could at any given moment. Luckily that was just fast enough.
Almost right from the start it was clear that I would not be able to stay with the pace that Eric Strabel was planning to set. Last year Eric and I had had an epic battle in this race and he seemed determined to try to put me away early on in this one.
And so we climbed, and Eric pulled further and further away from me. I wasn't feeling too bad, but Eric clearly had a gear going up that I just didn't have on this day. I just kept telling myself to be patient and let the race come to me.
After the pass I started to feel a little bit better and I was noticing that the trail was in really good shape and that I was feeling really comfortable and agile on my feet. I remember thinking that I really needed to use the more technical stretches of this race to make up time on Eric because he had already showed me on the climb to the pass that he had a lot more strength than me on this day. And so I pushed hard through the rocky, muddy, rooty overgrown stretch of trail that leads from the bottom of the pass down toward the river. And then I promptly turned my ankle and had to slow down for several minutes. I had come really close to hurting it badly and even as it were I had done a bit of a tweak to it that needed several minutes to loosen up. And then of course I twisted it again. And again. Luckily none of these times were too bad and after about 10 minutes it was feeling fine again, and I was starting to feel confident on my feet again.
No sooner were things going smooth and suddenly a huge bull moose runs onto the trail in front of me and refuses to leave the trail. I wanted to just bushwhack around it but it wouldn't stay in the same spot whenever I approached it. It would jog along in front of me and then stop again further down the trail. We played this game for about a mile. Through some of this stretch I was able to run my normal pace, but most of the time I was just shuffling along timidly knowing that there was this giant beast around the corner. Finally he cleared the trail and I was back to running "normal."
I was a bit frustrated about the moose thing at the time, but was quickly able to let it go and get back to racing. There was still a lot of race to go and I had learned enough about patience at Western States that I knew that all I could do was focus on myself and just keep plugging along.
At the Eagle River crossing (mile 12) I got word that I was 3 minutes behind Eric. I was pretty energized by that. I had had the ankle "slow down", the moose "slow down", and had taken one pretty good fall that slowed me down for several seconds as well. And still, despite all this I was only 3 minutes back.
And so I pushed on with a lot more focus and determination. I started to feel good, but still I remained patient. I pushed the pace a little harder, but I still needed a bit more time to relax and get fully warmed up and ready for a hard push to the finish. Somewhere around mile 15 I had to stop to use the facilities (cost me maybe 45-60 seconds), and somewhere in this stretch I accidentally took the slower "high water" route, and to add insult to injury while I was on the high water route I ran across a cow moose with a calf camped out in the middle of the trail (found out later that Eric had also taken this slower route and had encountered the moose as well). Despite all of this though, when I got to Icicle Creek, around mile 18, I had still cut Eric's lead down to 60 seconds. I knew I was gaining on him fast at this point. I was feeling the best I had felt all day and I just kept pushing forward harder and harder.
About half way between "the perch" and echo bend (around mile 20) I caught Eric. I ran just behind him for 30+ seconds, but by that point he had really hit the wall and was just pushing along to get to the finish. It was clear that he was done racing. I passed by him and moved back into my much faster pace on to the finish.
When it was said and done I had taken another 2:30 off my course record time from last year. Eric slipped in just under 3 hours and another run at Crow Pass was in the books.
I was quite surprised that I was able to go as fast as I was this year. Especially with all the little mishaps that cost me time throughout the race. Adding it all up I suspect I lost 4 or 5 minutes of time from all of these little things. It was really satisfying to run from behind and remain patient enough all day to keep my head and my body in this one. I don't think I would have been so calm about this situation had I not had the experience I had at Western States last month.
In hindsight I think Eric ran a really smart race, he just ran out of gas a bit too early. I was really satisfied with the way I stayed calm and didn't crack under the pressure of how large of a lead he opened at the start of the race. There were definitely times though when I thought he was just running on another planet that day and I wouldn't see him again until I finished and he was already in his street clothes eating a Subway sandwich. That's what it felt like watching him run up to the pass. And that's what it felt like when I turned my ankle. And that's what it felt like when I followed that bull moose for several minutes. But through it all I just kept things in perspective, and kept moving down the trail as fast as I could at any given moment. Luckily that was just fast enough.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
2:54 And Change
Crow Pass is in the books. I was able to edge out Eric Strabel again. I came in almost 3 minutes faster than last year and lowered the course record to a bit under 2:55!
Eric ran out ahead of me all race but I caught and passed him with about 4 miles to go and finished about 5 minutes ahead of him. It was a really satisfying and shockingly relaxing run. I feel as good as I've ever felt 5 hours after this race so hopefully this will mean a really quick recovery.
I'll post a full race report sometime soon.
Eric ran out ahead of me all race but I caught and passed him with about 4 miles to go and finished about 5 minutes ahead of him. It was a really satisfying and shockingly relaxing run. I feel as good as I've ever felt 5 hours after this race so hopefully this will mean a really quick recovery.
I'll post a full race report sometime soon.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Crow Pass Number Five!
About to fall asleep early before my 5th consecutive Crow Pass race tomorrow morning. It's been really interesting to see how much different my approach to this race has been this year compared to last year. Not to say that I'm not taking this race seriously and not planning to push myself as hard as possible tomorrow, but last year this race was different than any I had ever run before or since. I went into it with so much focus and determination, not unlike an ancient warrior going to battle, knowing that it might be their last battle. I actually went into this race last year not certain if I would ever race again.
Tomorrow though things are a lot lighter. So much so that earlier this week I had a few different times in which I made plans for this weekend back in Juneau, forgetting completely that I'd be up here running this race. I think a big part of my laid back mindset right now is a response to Western States. I spent so much time focused on that race that I really think I needed to run this race low key like this. I'm sure I'll slip instantly into serious race mode at about 7:00:01 tomorrow morning, but right now, 9 hours before the race start, I'm about as relaxed as I've ever been about an upcoming race.
It's really nice to be like this. It almost feels like cheating.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
I'm Moving To Boulder...
...Not for good, but in three weeks I'll be packing up and hitting the road Southbound for at least 4 or 5 months!
I'm excited to check out a new place. I've spent some time around Boulder but not enough to really know what I'll think of it. Right now we're leaning toward finding a place to live outside of town, in the mountains to the West. Maybe Nederland. We'll see. Should be a fun place to run and live.
Moving away from Juneau will be hard, but I'm almost certain I'll be moving back here sometime after December so I'm excited for that. Autumn and early winter is pretty difficult here anyway.
Anyhow, enough about all this. Time for a run.
I'm excited to check out a new place. I've spent some time around Boulder but not enough to really know what I'll think of it. Right now we're leaning toward finding a place to live outside of town, in the mountains to the West. Maybe Nederland. We'll see. Should be a fun place to run and live.
Moving away from Juneau will be hard, but I'm almost certain I'll be moving back here sometime after December so I'm excited for that. Autumn and early winter is pretty difficult here anyway.
Anyhow, enough about all this. Time for a run.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Connecting The Dots
We just had a 3 day stretch of really nice weather here in Juneau and this got my mind really excited once again about this 100 mile route that I want to put together in the mountains around here.
In the past 4 days I ran almost 60 miles of this potential route. Even before this week I had run all of the route that I have in mind except for the connection between Heintzleman Ridge and Blackerby Ridge. The difficult thing about this connection is that there is a massive glacier that sits between the two (seen center right in the picture below).
There are 3 basic options for getting between the two ridges: drop down and cross Lemon Creek in front of the glacier; drop down to the face of the glacier but stay on the left side of it all the way around toward Blackerby Ridge; or stay up on the ridge past Nugget Mountain and Split Thumb, keeping on ridges all the way back around the glacier and eventually over to Observation Peak (the ridgeline can be seen in the distance on the above photo)
The first option is certainly the least desirable. You need to drop way down to do this and then cross a dangerous river and then climb back up all the elevation you lost with some bushwhacking as well. More and more lately I have been thinking that the third option of staying up on the ridge all the way around would be the best choice. Thus on Friday my friend Bryan and I set out with the intention of scouting this third option. A few hours into our "run" though we decided to drop down to the edge of the glacier and attempt the middle option instead. You still need to drop a long ways to do this but from up on the ridge it looked like this would include almost no bushwhacking and that the climb back up along the edge of the glacier would be so gradual that the elevation lost really wouldn't be a big deal. When it was all said and done this proved to be true and I was really pleased with this route. It's not fast. Took us about 8.5 hours to do 20-25 miles, but it's a pretty straight forward connection and the scenery is amazing. There was one hidden lake (above photo) that we had to cross right above the outlet that poured into a raging deathtrap of a river, but the crossing about 20 feet above the beginning of the deathtrap was only up to the bottom of our shorts and really quite mellow (photo below is of Bryan crossing just above the "deathtrap"). After that we simply climbed up onto the edge of the glacier (third photo below) and then climbed gradual for about 2 hours of very simple/smooth travel and we had connected into Blackerby Ridge on top of Observation Peak.
In all this turned out to be one of the most enjoyable and beautiful runs I have ever been on. I wish the lighting had been a little better so these photos weren't quite so washed out.
I know the specific locations of this route mean nothing to most of you, but the point is that this run put me one huge step closer to piecing together one of the most rugged, challenging, and scenic 100 mile race routes in the world. I hold no illusions that this will ever be any kind of organized/legitimate event, but maybe an annual "pilgrimage" for me and one or two others dumb enough to "run" this route. That'd be sweet.
In the past 4 days I ran almost 60 miles of this potential route. Even before this week I had run all of the route that I have in mind except for the connection between Heintzleman Ridge and Blackerby Ridge. The difficult thing about this connection is that there is a massive glacier that sits between the two (seen center right in the picture below).
There are 3 basic options for getting between the two ridges: drop down and cross Lemon Creek in front of the glacier; drop down to the face of the glacier but stay on the left side of it all the way around toward Blackerby Ridge; or stay up on the ridge past Nugget Mountain and Split Thumb, keeping on ridges all the way back around the glacier and eventually over to Observation Peak (the ridgeline can be seen in the distance on the above photo)
The first option is certainly the least desirable. You need to drop way down to do this and then cross a dangerous river and then climb back up all the elevation you lost with some bushwhacking as well. More and more lately I have been thinking that the third option of staying up on the ridge all the way around would be the best choice. Thus on Friday my friend Bryan and I set out with the intention of scouting this third option. A few hours into our "run" though we decided to drop down to the edge of the glacier and attempt the middle option instead. You still need to drop a long ways to do this but from up on the ridge it looked like this would include almost no bushwhacking and that the climb back up along the edge of the glacier would be so gradual that the elevation lost really wouldn't be a big deal. When it was all said and done this proved to be true and I was really pleased with this route. It's not fast. Took us about 8.5 hours to do 20-25 miles, but it's a pretty straight forward connection and the scenery is amazing. There was one hidden lake (above photo) that we had to cross right above the outlet that poured into a raging deathtrap of a river, but the crossing about 20 feet above the beginning of the deathtrap was only up to the bottom of our shorts and really quite mellow (photo below is of Bryan crossing just above the "deathtrap"). After that we simply climbed up onto the edge of the glacier (third photo below) and then climbed gradual for about 2 hours of very simple/smooth travel and we had connected into Blackerby Ridge on top of Observation Peak.
In all this turned out to be one of the most enjoyable and beautiful runs I have ever been on. I wish the lighting had been a little better so these photos weren't quite so washed out.
I know the specific locations of this route mean nothing to most of you, but the point is that this run put me one huge step closer to piecing together one of the most rugged, challenging, and scenic 100 mile race routes in the world. I hold no illusions that this will ever be any kind of organized/legitimate event, but maybe an annual "pilgrimage" for me and one or two others dumb enough to "run" this route. That'd be sweet.
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