Last week I decided I was going to run the Bear 100 this weekend. I entered the race, attended a friend's wedding, and then headed to southern Utah for a few days in the desert before the race. By Tuesday afternoon though I was still feeling pretty crappy from a cold that had begun last Friday (and maybe a bit from drinking too much at the wedding) and decided there really was no point in driving all the way back up to northern Utah to run a race that I was mostly only doing because I had nothing better to do. Especially considering that I ended up having something very enjoyable to do: I ended up backpacking in southern Utah for a couple days with some old friends and some new friends.
It looks like Ty Draney has won the Bear. He's an old friend of a friend of mine here in Utah and through this mutual friend I ended up hanging out with him for part of the day after the Wasatch 100. I was happy to see him win, and regret a bit that I wasn't there to race with him. Congrats Ty.
Now I need to figure out what I'm doing for the next couple weeks/months... a decision I've been putting off ever since The Wasatch 100, but that I really need to make within the next day or two...
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Can't Say No
I thought maybe I could take a month or so off from running to give myself a nice long rest before getting ready for the Ultrasport which looms large only 5 months away now, but after just 10 days I'm itching to run again. And it's much more than just a casual itch to get out every now and then, but instead I feel renewed and wanting to run far and fast again.
I did a nice 11 mile trail run yesterday and by the end of the run I had made up my mind that I would jump right back into racing. And by this I don't mean next month or in a couple months, but rather next weekend.
Today though I woke up with a very sore throat and a looming sinus head cold which will likely force me to lay low for the next two or three days. I'm not sure yet if this means I won't race next weekend, this is something I'll decide on by early in the week. Ideally I would like to get out for a 25-30 miler on Sunday or Monday but this illness might not allow for that. I guess I'll just have to see how it progresses.
I really want to race next weekend though. I'm currently in a very indecisive and confused place in my mind and it would be really nice to have something in line that I could focus specifically on for the next week and hopefully I'd be able to use some of the time in this race to make some of the decisions that I currently need to make... Not to mention that I'd be stoked to get back out on trails in the mountains for another 20 hour jaunt next weekend. We'll see.
I did a nice 11 mile trail run yesterday and by the end of the run I had made up my mind that I would jump right back into racing. And by this I don't mean next month or in a couple months, but rather next weekend.
Today though I woke up with a very sore throat and a looming sinus head cold which will likely force me to lay low for the next two or three days. I'm not sure yet if this means I won't race next weekend, this is something I'll decide on by early in the week. Ideally I would like to get out for a 25-30 miler on Sunday or Monday but this illness might not allow for that. I guess I'll just have to see how it progresses.
I really want to race next weekend though. I'm currently in a very indecisive and confused place in my mind and it would be really nice to have something in line that I could focus specifically on for the next week and hopefully I'd be able to use some of the time in this race to make some of the decisions that I currently need to make... Not to mention that I'd be stoked to get back out on trails in the mountains for another 20 hour jaunt next weekend. We'll see.
Friday, September 12, 2008
What Now?
I'm currently laying low out in upstate New York with my family. I head back to Utah next week and then I pretty much have no definite plan going forward from that point.
Trans Utah Mountain Bike Race is still somewhere in the back of my mind... but the fact that I've only ridden my mountain bike about 30 miles since the end of June kind of makes that pretty unlikely.
At the very least I'd like to get out for some mellow, more recreational, bikepacking trip(s) while the weather is still ideal.
I might head up to Northern Idaho to visit a friend for a bit.
I'm probably going to a Cataract Canyon rafting trip the second week of October.
More than anything though I need to decide where I'm going to live the next several months and start working again before every one of my credit cards is maxed out. I might end up back in Juneau, but more likely I will find somewhere in the Mountain West to spend the rest of the fall and winter. Whitefish, MT?; Durango, CO?; Santa Fe, NM?; Bend, OR?; Flagstaff, AZ?; Missoula, MT?; Ashland, OR?; Ketchum, ID?; Bozeman, MT?; Moab, UT?
My heart is with Whitefish since it is the smallest of all these places (and quite likely the cheapest), but there certainly are things that appeal to me about each of them. Any recommendations?
Moving forward with my running is another question mark for me right now. My plan was not to race again until January, and not to run at all again until mid October but now I feel like I might start running again next week and do another race or two before the end of the year. I'm thinking a bit about the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 milers (Madison and/or San Francisco). There are so few ultras with prize money that I'm very tempted to take a stab at either or both of these races at the outside chance that maybe I can pocket some much needed cash after all the time I've spent this year not working.
Trans Utah Mountain Bike Race is still somewhere in the back of my mind... but the fact that I've only ridden my mountain bike about 30 miles since the end of June kind of makes that pretty unlikely.
At the very least I'd like to get out for some mellow, more recreational, bikepacking trip(s) while the weather is still ideal.
I might head up to Northern Idaho to visit a friend for a bit.
I'm probably going to a Cataract Canyon rafting trip the second week of October.
More than anything though I need to decide where I'm going to live the next several months and start working again before every one of my credit cards is maxed out. I might end up back in Juneau, but more likely I will find somewhere in the Mountain West to spend the rest of the fall and winter. Whitefish, MT?; Durango, CO?; Santa Fe, NM?; Bend, OR?; Flagstaff, AZ?; Missoula, MT?; Ashland, OR?; Ketchum, ID?; Bozeman, MT?; Moab, UT?
My heart is with Whitefish since it is the smallest of all these places (and quite likely the cheapest), but there certainly are things that appeal to me about each of them. Any recommendations?
Moving forward with my running is another question mark for me right now. My plan was not to race again until January, and not to run at all again until mid October but now I feel like I might start running again next week and do another race or two before the end of the year. I'm thinking a bit about the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 milers (Madison and/or San Francisco). There are so few ultras with prize money that I'm very tempted to take a stab at either or both of these races at the outside chance that maybe I can pocket some much needed cash after all the time I've spent this year not working.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Wasatch 100 Race Report
I decided more than 14 months ago that I wanted to run the Wasatch 100 this year. This was very much a focus race for me, one that I really wanted to get just right. This race became even more important to me after my DNF's in the Ultrasport and the GDR. I knew I would not be very happy with my season if my three main races all ended up in disappointment. This said though, I didn't really have any specific expectations for this race. As usual I just wanted to have fun and feel strong and let things play out for themselves. I ended up having about as much fun as I've ever had in any race, I felt very strong, and things played out pretty well.
For one of the first times ever I slept really well the night before the race. It felt really strange to be on my way to the race start and feel awake, alert, and ready to go... rather than the usual feeling of still being half asleep and wanting more than anything to be able to go back to bed for the entire day after laying awake with anxiety all night. After waiting in line to use the outhouse I just about missed the start of the race. That was perfect though. I didn't have to stand around with 200+ other runners just waiting for some guy to give us the go ahead. I just walked out of the bathroom, jogged over to the the mass of runners jumping up and down to stay loose, and started racing.
I never really plan strategies for races because I don't generally stick to them anyway so what's the point? This race was no different. I had no idea what my plan was, but almost immediately off the start I fell into a line near the race lead in about 5th place. This felt like a good place to be so I just hungout, feeling very comfortable with the pace.
We climbed quietly from the foothills up into the mountains and just near the top of that first big climb darkness faded into sunlight and the mood seemed to lighten. I chatted with a few of the other racers and we made our way up Chinscraper and on toward Francis Peak.
A bit past the first aid station (near mile 20) Jack Pilla and I had pulled a bit ahead of the rest of the racers but then we got lost for 5 or 10 minutes which caused the leaders to group back together in a pack of 4 near Sessions Aid Station (mile 28). Joining Jack and I were Andy Jones-Wilkins and Larry O'Neil.
From here the four of us ran bunched tight together all the way to Big Mountain (mile 40). It was a fun group to chat with and the pace felt very comfortable. Larry and I were a little slower than Andy and Jack getting out of the Big Mountain Aid Station so most of the way from there down to Alexander Ridge (mile 48) I ran just behind Larry, a couple minutes behind Andy and Jack.
Going into the race I was kind of dreading this section of the route. I knew it would be the hottest time of the day and when I scouted this section it felt very hard, dry, hot, and boring. On race day though I felt pretty good in this stretch, aided a lot by the fact that the weather was much cooler than I'd anticipated. This was the first point that I began to realize just how strong my body was feeling. I remember thinking at one point that I was almost halfway through the race and was really just beginning to feel warmed up. I had absolutely no muscle fatigue and I began to feel that I could easily increase my pace if needed. It was still early though and I decided to just hang tight.
I was a little quicker than Larry getting out of Alexander Ridge Aid Station so I decided to push for a bit to group back up with Jack and Andy. I caught them pretty comfortably just before mile 50 and we ran together down to Lamb's Canyon Aid Station (mile 53).
I ran my race with no crew or pacers. This certainly slowed me down a bit at the aid stations where I had drop bags that I had to locate, dig through, and repack before I could be on my way. At Lamb's Canyon though I didn't have a drop bag so I was in and out of there right away. Andy was out at the same time as me but within 5 minutes I had pulled ahead of him on the paved road up to the trailhead that would take us over to Millcreek. I don't feel like I picked up my pace at this point, but as it turned out I never saw another racer the rest of the day!
Somewhere around mile 65 things really started to click. I knew I had opened up a 15-20 minute lead and I was feeling very relaxed. I just kept plugging along and time began to drop away in chunks of hours rather than minutes. I had expected to arrive at Brighton (mile 75) worn out and dreading the last 25 miles, which by all accounts is the hardest stretch of this race. Instead though I felt surprisingly upbeat, fresh, and anxious to head back out on the trail as night was coming on quickly.
After a 6 or 7 minute stop at the Brighton Aid Station to swap out some items, eat some soup, and visit with Jill's parents who had driven up the canyon to see me come through I powered up the hill under the ski lifts just as the sun faded on the horizon. I put on some arm warmers, a warm hat, my headlamp, and fell back into a groove right away. I had 25 miles to go and I knew I was going to win.
About halfway to the finish from Brighton I decided that I wanted more than just the win, I wanted to try to break 20 hours. I had basically been running the same pace for 17.5 hours so it took awhile to convince myself to run faster. It just seemed so easy to keep plugging along the way I had for the entire day. Eventually though, somewhere between Rock Springs Aid Station and Pot Bottom (near mile 90) I finally convinced my body to make a serious push at breaking 20 hours.
I hit Pot Bottom (mile 93) with 70 minutes to go. If I were going to break 20 hours I would have to run the last 7 miles, the first 2 of which consisted of a steady climb that would eat up almost half of this 70 minutes, faster than any 7 mile stretch of my race so far. With 5 miles to go I only had 36 minutes to spare. The last 5 miles is pretty much all downhill, but was there any way I could possibly run just over 7 minute mile pace the last 5 miles of the Wasatch 100? Turns out that answer was no, but I came pretty close, finishing with a time of 20 hours 1 minute 7 seconds. I don't think I ever really cared if I broke 20 hours or not, but it was really nice to have something to push for, which helped me really enjoy the end of the race, probably more than any other stretch.
It turned out that the dreaded Brighton to the finish stretch only took me 5:15 (15 minutes faster than I had done it as a training run) and was by far my favorite part of the entire race. I loved running under the moonlight on the steepest, most technical, most remote section of the entire route. I felt so alone out there at that time, but never lonely. I had spent 14 months working toward this race, had done almost all of my training alone, scouted 80 miles of the route alone, raced alone with no crew or pacer, and now it was so comforting to get to finish this thing alone. When I blew through the last aid station I didn't even look up, I just stayed focused on the ground I could see through the beam of my headlamp and yelled out my number so the volunteers would know who I was.
The actual finish was a bit anti-climatic for me. Not because there were only a few people there (including Jill's parents who decided to drive around to the finish after seeing me come through Brighton in the lead). I actually prefer the finish to be low key and quiet like that, but it was very anti-climatic because I had to stop running. I was enjoying myself so much that I kind of just wanted to keep going, but stopping made me realize that it was over and for some reason I was a little uncomfortable with that right at first. I guess I had gotten so comfortable with being out there on my own that it took me a little while to warm up to "sharing" this moment with others.
Quickly though I adjusted and then it really began to sink in that I had just won Wasatch with one of the fastest times in race history (4th fastest to be exact). By this time I was very happy to share my time with the other people who were around. I vomited up a bunch of liquid (I think I took in a little too many electrolytes throughout the day so my body was absorbing a little too much liquid, especially when it got cool at night and I wasn't really sweating any more) but other than that I felt really good.
Two days later I am now in New York visiting my family and I feel amazingly well recovered. My feet are a bit sore and blistered but my energy level is normal and muscle fatigue is amazingly minimal. I thought for certain that this would be the hardest race I had ever run, and in many ways I guess that it was, but it sure never felt like it. Not during the run or after the run. It's such a great feeling to prepare for something for so long and have it go so smoothly. So much so that I never even really felt like I pushed myself all that hard during the run, other than the last hour or so trying to come in under 20 hours. The rest of my race was just slow and steady and in a groove. I guess one of these years I'll have to come back to Wasatch and push myself more to the limit and see how much faster I can do this route now that I have an actual understanding of this race and what I'm capable of doing in it.
For now though it's time to focus on getting some rest and slowly begin thinking about my next race. My plan was to not race again until the HURT 100 in January but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about another race or two before the end of this year...
For one of the first times ever I slept really well the night before the race. It felt really strange to be on my way to the race start and feel awake, alert, and ready to go... rather than the usual feeling of still being half asleep and wanting more than anything to be able to go back to bed for the entire day after laying awake with anxiety all night. After waiting in line to use the outhouse I just about missed the start of the race. That was perfect though. I didn't have to stand around with 200+ other runners just waiting for some guy to give us the go ahead. I just walked out of the bathroom, jogged over to the the mass of runners jumping up and down to stay loose, and started racing.
I never really plan strategies for races because I don't generally stick to them anyway so what's the point? This race was no different. I had no idea what my plan was, but almost immediately off the start I fell into a line near the race lead in about 5th place. This felt like a good place to be so I just hungout, feeling very comfortable with the pace.
We climbed quietly from the foothills up into the mountains and just near the top of that first big climb darkness faded into sunlight and the mood seemed to lighten. I chatted with a few of the other racers and we made our way up Chinscraper and on toward Francis Peak.
A bit past the first aid station (near mile 20) Jack Pilla and I had pulled a bit ahead of the rest of the racers but then we got lost for 5 or 10 minutes which caused the leaders to group back together in a pack of 4 near Sessions Aid Station (mile 28). Joining Jack and I were Andy Jones-Wilkins and Larry O'Neil.
From here the four of us ran bunched tight together all the way to Big Mountain (mile 40). It was a fun group to chat with and the pace felt very comfortable. Larry and I were a little slower than Andy and Jack getting out of the Big Mountain Aid Station so most of the way from there down to Alexander Ridge (mile 48) I ran just behind Larry, a couple minutes behind Andy and Jack.
Going into the race I was kind of dreading this section of the route. I knew it would be the hottest time of the day and when I scouted this section it felt very hard, dry, hot, and boring. On race day though I felt pretty good in this stretch, aided a lot by the fact that the weather was much cooler than I'd anticipated. This was the first point that I began to realize just how strong my body was feeling. I remember thinking at one point that I was almost halfway through the race and was really just beginning to feel warmed up. I had absolutely no muscle fatigue and I began to feel that I could easily increase my pace if needed. It was still early though and I decided to just hang tight.
I was a little quicker than Larry getting out of Alexander Ridge Aid Station so I decided to push for a bit to group back up with Jack and Andy. I caught them pretty comfortably just before mile 50 and we ran together down to Lamb's Canyon Aid Station (mile 53).
I ran my race with no crew or pacers. This certainly slowed me down a bit at the aid stations where I had drop bags that I had to locate, dig through, and repack before I could be on my way. At Lamb's Canyon though I didn't have a drop bag so I was in and out of there right away. Andy was out at the same time as me but within 5 minutes I had pulled ahead of him on the paved road up to the trailhead that would take us over to Millcreek. I don't feel like I picked up my pace at this point, but as it turned out I never saw another racer the rest of the day!
Somewhere around mile 65 things really started to click. I knew I had opened up a 15-20 minute lead and I was feeling very relaxed. I just kept plugging along and time began to drop away in chunks of hours rather than minutes. I had expected to arrive at Brighton (mile 75) worn out and dreading the last 25 miles, which by all accounts is the hardest stretch of this race. Instead though I felt surprisingly upbeat, fresh, and anxious to head back out on the trail as night was coming on quickly.
After a 6 or 7 minute stop at the Brighton Aid Station to swap out some items, eat some soup, and visit with Jill's parents who had driven up the canyon to see me come through I powered up the hill under the ski lifts just as the sun faded on the horizon. I put on some arm warmers, a warm hat, my headlamp, and fell back into a groove right away. I had 25 miles to go and I knew I was going to win.
About halfway to the finish from Brighton I decided that I wanted more than just the win, I wanted to try to break 20 hours. I had basically been running the same pace for 17.5 hours so it took awhile to convince myself to run faster. It just seemed so easy to keep plugging along the way I had for the entire day. Eventually though, somewhere between Rock Springs Aid Station and Pot Bottom (near mile 90) I finally convinced my body to make a serious push at breaking 20 hours.
I hit Pot Bottom (mile 93) with 70 minutes to go. If I were going to break 20 hours I would have to run the last 7 miles, the first 2 of which consisted of a steady climb that would eat up almost half of this 70 minutes, faster than any 7 mile stretch of my race so far. With 5 miles to go I only had 36 minutes to spare. The last 5 miles is pretty much all downhill, but was there any way I could possibly run just over 7 minute mile pace the last 5 miles of the Wasatch 100? Turns out that answer was no, but I came pretty close, finishing with a time of 20 hours 1 minute 7 seconds. I don't think I ever really cared if I broke 20 hours or not, but it was really nice to have something to push for, which helped me really enjoy the end of the race, probably more than any other stretch.
It turned out that the dreaded Brighton to the finish stretch only took me 5:15 (15 minutes faster than I had done it as a training run) and was by far my favorite part of the entire race. I loved running under the moonlight on the steepest, most technical, most remote section of the entire route. I felt so alone out there at that time, but never lonely. I had spent 14 months working toward this race, had done almost all of my training alone, scouted 80 miles of the route alone, raced alone with no crew or pacer, and now it was so comforting to get to finish this thing alone. When I blew through the last aid station I didn't even look up, I just stayed focused on the ground I could see through the beam of my headlamp and yelled out my number so the volunteers would know who I was.
The actual finish was a bit anti-climatic for me. Not because there were only a few people there (including Jill's parents who decided to drive around to the finish after seeing me come through Brighton in the lead). I actually prefer the finish to be low key and quiet like that, but it was very anti-climatic because I had to stop running. I was enjoying myself so much that I kind of just wanted to keep going, but stopping made me realize that it was over and for some reason I was a little uncomfortable with that right at first. I guess I had gotten so comfortable with being out there on my own that it took me a little while to warm up to "sharing" this moment with others.
Quickly though I adjusted and then it really began to sink in that I had just won Wasatch with one of the fastest times in race history (4th fastest to be exact). By this time I was very happy to share my time with the other people who were around. I vomited up a bunch of liquid (I think I took in a little too many electrolytes throughout the day so my body was absorbing a little too much liquid, especially when it got cool at night and I wasn't really sweating any more) but other than that I felt really good.
Two days later I am now in New York visiting my family and I feel amazingly well recovered. My feet are a bit sore and blistered but my energy level is normal and muscle fatigue is amazingly minimal. I thought for certain that this would be the hardest race I had ever run, and in many ways I guess that it was, but it sure never felt like it. Not during the run or after the run. It's such a great feeling to prepare for something for so long and have it go so smoothly. So much so that I never even really felt like I pushed myself all that hard during the run, other than the last hour or so trying to come in under 20 hours. The rest of my race was just slow and steady and in a groove. I guess one of these years I'll have to come back to Wasatch and push myself more to the limit and see how much faster I can do this route now that I have an actual understanding of this race and what I'm capable of doing in it.
For now though it's time to focus on getting some rest and slowly begin thinking about my next race. My plan was to not race again until the HURT 100 in January but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about another race or two before the end of this year...
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Eye One
Thanks all for following along. I had a great race. Pushed super hard at the end trying to come in under 20 hours and came up just over a minute short, which was still good for 4th fastest time in race history. I feel like I ran a very smart and very consistent race. I'll follow up with a full race report soon. Now it's time for my third breakfast.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Follow Wasatch Progress Online
Just got word that there is going to be online tracking of the Wasatch 100 on the race website. There is no link up yet but one will be added tonight. The race website where the link will be can be found here.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Eat, Sleep, Repeat
Wasatch prep is done. I didn't end up having time to scout the entire route but the 20 miles that I didn't see will just give me something new to help pass the time on race day.
I did my last run that I will do until race day today. A mellow 9 miles on very flat terrain. Just planning to rest up the next couple days.
I feel really good about the condition I've been able to get myself into considering that it was less than two months ago that I felt so wasted from my GDR attempt that I was wondering if I would be able to compete again this entire year. Now though I have not only recovered from that, but I'm pretty sure that I've gotten myself into as good of shape as I've ever been in.
The weather looks great for Saturday. High temps should be in the 70's with nothing but bright sunshine all day and clear, star filled skies at night. A couple days ago a cold front came through with heavy rains and snow above 7,000 feet. That moisture should go a long ways in helping with the dust and sand on the trails.
I have no way of knowing just how my body's going to feel on Saturday but it's certainly a nice feeling to have no doubts about my process of preparing for this race. Perhaps once the race is done I will notice some things that I should have done differently but right now I feel very good about my chances of having a good day on Saturday.
For now I just need to focus on eating, resting, and sleeping well the next couple days. I know I won't get much sleep on Friday night so I really need to sleep a lot these next two nights.
The race starts at 5:00am Saturday. I wish that all these races didn't always start so early. The shuttle bus from Salt Lake City leaves at 4am. That means I need to get up around 3:30! The first 2 hours of the race will be run in the dark. Why do we need to run in the dark in the morning when everyone, no matter how fast, is going to run in the dark that night as well? I don't mean this as a specific criticism of Wasatch, but rather Ultra races in general. It makes sense to start a marathon or other shorter races early to beat the heat of the day, but when a race is going to go beyond 20 hours you aren't going to beat the heat of the day by starting early, you're just going to run a different stretch of the route in the heat of the day. OK, enough about that rant, it's not really important.
For those interested in following the race you can check out the race website. I'm not sure if they will be posting progress as the race is happening, but hopefully they do. At the very least there should be results up once we finish.
I did my last run that I will do until race day today. A mellow 9 miles on very flat terrain. Just planning to rest up the next couple days.
I feel really good about the condition I've been able to get myself into considering that it was less than two months ago that I felt so wasted from my GDR attempt that I was wondering if I would be able to compete again this entire year. Now though I have not only recovered from that, but I'm pretty sure that I've gotten myself into as good of shape as I've ever been in.
The weather looks great for Saturday. High temps should be in the 70's with nothing but bright sunshine all day and clear, star filled skies at night. A couple days ago a cold front came through with heavy rains and snow above 7,000 feet. That moisture should go a long ways in helping with the dust and sand on the trails.
I have no way of knowing just how my body's going to feel on Saturday but it's certainly a nice feeling to have no doubts about my process of preparing for this race. Perhaps once the race is done I will notice some things that I should have done differently but right now I feel very good about my chances of having a good day on Saturday.
For now I just need to focus on eating, resting, and sleeping well the next couple days. I know I won't get much sleep on Friday night so I really need to sleep a lot these next two nights.
The race starts at 5:00am Saturday. I wish that all these races didn't always start so early. The shuttle bus from Salt Lake City leaves at 4am. That means I need to get up around 3:30! The first 2 hours of the race will be run in the dark. Why do we need to run in the dark in the morning when everyone, no matter how fast, is going to run in the dark that night as well? I don't mean this as a specific criticism of Wasatch, but rather Ultra races in general. It makes sense to start a marathon or other shorter races early to beat the heat of the day, but when a race is going to go beyond 20 hours you aren't going to beat the heat of the day by starting early, you're just going to run a different stretch of the route in the heat of the day. OK, enough about that rant, it's not really important.
For those interested in following the race you can check out the race website. I'm not sure if they will be posting progress as the race is happening, but hopefully they do. At the very least there should be results up once we finish.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Veep
It's not everyday that someone who you see in front of their house on your bike ride to work gets chosen as a vice presidential candidate. Weird.
It's funny watching CNN "breaking" this story. They didn't even know how to pronounce her name for the first 30 minutes.
It's funny watching CNN "breaking" this story. They didn't even know how to pronounce her name for the first 30 minutes.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Starting To Come Around
I'm finally starting to feel my body coming back to normal at higher elevations. For the first several days here in Utah my resting heart rate was always over 50, but last night I slept at about 8,000 feet and my resting heart rate was about 45. This is still higher than my normal rate of about 38-42 but the downward trend is certainly a good thing. I still felt really weak on my short trail recon. run yesterday but that likely had more to do with the 50 miles I did in the previous two days than the altitude. I've also had a slight tweak in my lower right calf muscle for the past couple days so I'm planning to really take it easy between now and race day to be sure I'm ready to tackle this beast.
I've got about half of the route scouted. Will try to scout the other half, but at this point I'm going to be more focused on having my body rested and strong by next Saturday. If I haven't seen some of the first part of the route it'll be nice to have a little surprise anyway. We'll see, but more than anything right now I'm just going to focus on resting when my body says rest, with enough activity mixed in to keep me loose.
I've also decided that I'm going to use a pacer. After seeing half of the route I realize that I'm going to want (or need) every advantage possible just to finish, especially in the time that I would like to. That's not to say that I have a specific time goal, but I do want to run as fast as possible. If things go well, this should put me somewhere near the top runners in this race. Running such a difficult route at such a high pace will greatly increase my chances of not finishing (as compared to running it solely to finish). Having a pacer out there for several hours will greatly increase my ability to continue on in the later stages of the race when things are likely to get really low at times.
Anyhow, time to get back up into the mountains.
I've got about half of the route scouted. Will try to scout the other half, but at this point I'm going to be more focused on having my body rested and strong by next Saturday. If I haven't seen some of the first part of the route it'll be nice to have a little surprise anyway. We'll see, but more than anything right now I'm just going to focus on resting when my body says rest, with enough activity mixed in to keep me loose.
I've also decided that I'm going to use a pacer. After seeing half of the route I realize that I'm going to want (or need) every advantage possible just to finish, especially in the time that I would like to. That's not to say that I have a specific time goal, but I do want to run as fast as possible. If things go well, this should put me somewhere near the top runners in this race. Running such a difficult route at such a high pace will greatly increase my chances of not finishing (as compared to running it solely to finish). Having a pacer out there for several hours will greatly increase my ability to continue on in the later stages of the race when things are likely to get really low at times.
Anyhow, time to get back up into the mountains.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wasatch Is Going To Be Kind Of Hard
I've gotten a couple of great Wasatch Course scouting runs in the past 2 days but I definitely need more time to get used to the heat and altitude. I feel pretty wasted tonight from 30 miles today. I ran the last 25 miles of the route from Brighton to The Homestead and then 5 miles from there to my friend's house in Heber. I basically have no ability to run anything uphill right now without my heart rate jumping way too high. I've only been in Utah for 5 days and I've got 11 more until race day so I'm really hoping my body's dealing a lot better with the altitude by then. Yesterday I ran from Brighton back toward Mill Creek as an out and back. That gives me the last 35 miles of the route covered in 24 hours (my run yesterday was in the evening), and about 50 total miles (10 extra doubling back yesterday and 5 extra getting down to Heber today). I guess it makes sense that I'm kind of tired tonight. Tomorrow and Wednesday I'll try to scout everything from Big Mountain over to Dog Lake where I turned around on my run last night. At that point I'll have the last 60 miles of the course under my belt and should be able to comfortably cover the first 40 by early next week (as long as I can arrange transportation so I can cover a decent amount of this mileage without doubling back - unfortunatly my bike is still being shipped down from Alaska so I don't yet have the option of shuttling myself with my bike).
Friday, August 22, 2008
Three Peaks, A Ridge, And Two Flights...
... And now I'm in Utah. Two weeks to acclimatize before the Wasatch 100.
Wednesday was my last day in Juneau for at least 2 months. I had the day off from work and the weather was perfect... one of the only nice days in Juneau all summer.
Sometime last week I started to think about wanting to run an epic all day run my last day in Juneau. When the weather turned out so nice I went for it. I climbed 3 peaks over 3,500 feet (dropping to sea-level between each one), about 42 miles total distance, with at least 12,000 ft. of total climbing/descending. In all I was out for almost 11 hours.
It was probably the most difficult training run I've ever done, but I felt really strong. A little quad soreness today but nothing too drastic.
After the run I had just enough time to get some dinner, say bye to friends, and hop on a 1:00am flight down here to Utah. Only got about 4 hours of sleep that night so by the time I finally went to sleep last night I was very pleased to sleep for almost 10 hours and lounge around lazily this morning.
Tomorrow I will begin my Wasatch 100 trail recon. I'll probably only run about 130 total miles between now and the race so I'm going to try to make most, if not all of these miles on the actual race route. If I'm able to set up some shuttles, or maybe shuttle myself with my bike once it arrives down here via Fedex from Alaska, maybe I can even cover the entire route before raceday. That would be nice, but more importantly will be spending lots of time up in the mountains getting used to the heat, elevation, and dryness of this area in relation to Juneau. Two weeks isn't really enough time to get myself all the way adjusted, but it's all the time I have so it's going to have to work.
Wednesday was my last day in Juneau for at least 2 months. I had the day off from work and the weather was perfect... one of the only nice days in Juneau all summer.
Sometime last week I started to think about wanting to run an epic all day run my last day in Juneau. When the weather turned out so nice I went for it. I climbed 3 peaks over 3,500 feet (dropping to sea-level between each one), about 42 miles total distance, with at least 12,000 ft. of total climbing/descending. In all I was out for almost 11 hours.
It was probably the most difficult training run I've ever done, but I felt really strong. A little quad soreness today but nothing too drastic.
After the run I had just enough time to get some dinner, say bye to friends, and hop on a 1:00am flight down here to Utah. Only got about 4 hours of sleep that night so by the time I finally went to sleep last night I was very pleased to sleep for almost 10 hours and lounge around lazily this morning.
Tomorrow I will begin my Wasatch 100 trail recon. I'll probably only run about 130 total miles between now and the race so I'm going to try to make most, if not all of these miles on the actual race route. If I'm able to set up some shuttles, or maybe shuttle myself with my bike once it arrives down here via Fedex from Alaska, maybe I can even cover the entire route before raceday. That would be nice, but more importantly will be spending lots of time up in the mountains getting used to the heat, elevation, and dryness of this area in relation to Juneau. Two weeks isn't really enough time to get myself all the way adjusted, but it's all the time I have so it's going to have to work.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Windfall Lake Trail Race
I ran in my 5th race in the last 29 days yesterday. This one was a 14 miler here in Juneau on a very rugged trail. Not a lot of climbing but lots of very slippery planks, mud, roots, and overgrown trail.
I showed up to the race 3 minutes after everyone started. Oops. I finally got going about 5 minutes behind and ran pretty mellow for about 25 minutes, chatting with some of the other racers as I caught up to them. As the route began to climb a bit I began to push myself a little harder and as I passed more and more racers I got a little more motivated to see how many I could catch.
I caught up with the guys running in 2nd-5th places with about 4 miles to go in the race. None of them seemed to know how far ahead the leader was but they all seemed to be encouraging me to chase after him. So I went for it. Never caught him though... finished about 4:00 back. Hungout for a bit and then ran the route back to my car to get a good distance day in.
I felt surprisingly worn out after just 28 miles. Recovered quickly and have no leftover fatigue today, but yesterday afternoon I was just plain exhausted. I've actually felt a bit like that by the end of each day this week. Not sure if I'm getting some delayed fatigue from my 100 miler last week or maybe I've been fighting off a sickness or something. At any rate, I plan to monitor how I feel here in the next few days and push myself accordingly. I want to get some serious climbing workouts in between now and Wasatch, but if my body is telling me to take it easy then I'm going to have to take it easy.
I showed up to the race 3 minutes after everyone started. Oops. I finally got going about 5 minutes behind and ran pretty mellow for about 25 minutes, chatting with some of the other racers as I caught up to them. As the route began to climb a bit I began to push myself a little harder and as I passed more and more racers I got a little more motivated to see how many I could catch.
I caught up with the guys running in 2nd-5th places with about 4 miles to go in the race. None of them seemed to know how far ahead the leader was but they all seemed to be encouraging me to chase after him. So I went for it. Never caught him though... finished about 4:00 back. Hungout for a bit and then ran the route back to my car to get a good distance day in.
I felt surprisingly worn out after just 28 miles. Recovered quickly and have no leftover fatigue today, but yesterday afternoon I was just plain exhausted. I've actually felt a bit like that by the end of each day this week. Not sure if I'm getting some delayed fatigue from my 100 miler last week or maybe I've been fighting off a sickness or something. At any rate, I plan to monitor how I feel here in the next few days and push myself accordingly. I want to get some serious climbing workouts in between now and Wasatch, but if my body is telling me to take it easy then I'm going to have to take it easy.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Media Tidbit
Good story in The Anchorage Daily News about my Resurrection Pass run last week:
http://www.adn.com/running/story/492155.html
It's nice when a reporter takes the time to get it right. Thanks Doyle.
http://www.adn.com/running/story/492155.html
It's nice when a reporter takes the time to get it right. Thanks Doyle.
Friday, August 15, 2008
2009 Beginning To Take Shape
I've made the starting list for the H.U.R.T. 100 in January!
And it looks like there's going to be plenty of top competition.
Should be a great tune up race to get ready for The Iditarod Invitational.
Not to mention my first ever trip to Hawaii!!!!
I can't wait.
More to follow soon on my racing plans for '09...
And it looks like there's going to be plenty of top competition.
Should be a great tune up race to get ready for The Iditarod Invitational.
Not to mention my first ever trip to Hawaii!!!!
I can't wait.
More to follow soon on my racing plans for '09...
Monday, August 11, 2008
Resurrection Pass 100 Race Report
I was very disappointed with my last 24 hours leading up to this race. I didn't eat enough Thursday night or Friday morning and I didn't sleep all that well Thursday night. I actually felt pretty crappy for most of the last 3 hours leading up to the 3pm start time. I felt hungry but had no appetite and I had a constant headache most of that day. This is not the way you want to start a 100 mile race but I knew I'd be running a slow enough pace that it would be possible for me to eat well, hydrate well, and maybe feel better as I went. Luckily this was exactly what happened.
There were only 5 of us who toed the line for this one. This is a very informal race so I wasn't too surprised at the small turnout but it would have been nice to have a few more people to run with.
Luckily the group we had were all really fun people to run with and all looking for a similar pace at the start, except for Elisio Marquez (former course record holder who I think has finished this race every year it has been held) who I learned always likes to go out really fast, which is just what he did. I fell into a rhythm running with Jeff Ardnt (last year's winner and course record holder), Dave Johnston (very experienced marathoner and ultra marathoner up to 100k, looking to complete his first 100 mile), and Evan Hone (also experienced at shorter ultras/marathons, and also looking for his first 100 mile finish).
Jeff and Dave had run the first half of this race a few weeks back as a training run in 9 hours. They both felt great on that run and thought they'd try to do the first half in about 9 hours again and then see what they could do coming back. That sounded perfect to me so I did my best to stay with them, even though I felt at times like I really was not going to be able to keep going that slow for too much longer. I did my best though to stay disciplined about a conservative pace and tried to focus on my nutrition/hydration.
At about 3.5 hours things really started to click. I finally was getting enough food in me that my headaches and hunger went away. Right around this time I also began to feel more comfortable with such a slow pace. I actually began to think that just maybe I could continue to run this conservative for the whole race. And all the while I kept eating (at least 300 calories per hour) really well (mostly perpetuem and powergel, but also some solid foods), and hydrating really well. At about 4 hours I began to pull away from the other 4 runners (we had all caught up to Elisio at about mile 20). I don't think I sped up at that time, perhaps a bit, but I think they slowed down a little bit, because as I learned later none of them were feeling very good.
Just before the pass I came upon Anne Ver Hoef who had come up the shorter Devil's Pass Trail and filtered a bunch of water which she was then providing us as we came through. All told she must have put in about a 40 mile day and then only had a few hours to sleep before needing to get back up to run the aid station at mile 88. She's running the Bear 100 next month so this was just another day of training for her. It was nice to talk to a familiar face for a bit because I knew this would likely be the last person I'd see out on the trail for the rest of the race. Those of you who don't know Anne may remember her as the "woman who got frostbite on her eyes in the Ultrasport." The crazy thing though is that she's planning to go back out there again this winter. In my book that's really bad ass. I don't know if I'd be tough enough to head back out there if I'd been through a similar experience.
Anyway, back to my race. I crossed over the actual pass (about mile 32) in about 5:15. From here it was mostly downhill to the mile 50 turnaround. This was the worst part of the race for me. My lower legs had been kind of achy all day and on the downhills the fatigue began to get much more noticeable. Nightfall was also setting in and I was just kind of bored and in a rut for most of that stretch from the pass down to Cooper Landing. There was even a moment in there when I was thinking I'd just call it a day at the mile 50 aid station. I knew I could turn back and retrace my steps fairly comfortably but I was doubting for awhile whether I wanted to or not. It's always harder to stay motivated in a "training" race and this was simply a low point for me that I seemed to snap out of almost immediately when I got to the aid station.
I rolled in there at 8hrs 30mins, a bit faster than I'd planned but still very much a conservative time for me. I was in no hurry so I ate some soup, a piece of pizza, filled up my water, and gathered up the things I'd need to head back out for 38 miles until the next aid station.
As I headed back uphill and back into the wilderness I began to find my groove again. Here was the point one always likes to come to in a long race when time seemed to float by almost instantly. I would check my watch expecting to find 20 minutes gone by, but in fact it was an hour or more. I maintained this well beyond the pass and beginning back down the other side.
There were a few lowpoints in there but for the most part the second half of the race went pretty smoothly.
The toughest stretch of this course is a 4 mile steady uphill which begins with only 8 miles to go in the race. Last year in the 50 mile race this hill felt like hell. This weekend though it didn't even really feel like I was going uphill. I'm sure my pace slowed down a lot on this hill, but it didn't really feel like it.
When it was all said and done I had run the second half 10 minutes faster than the first half, had kept a very steady and conservative pace throughout the race, had eaten about 6,000 calories (a little more than 300 per hour), and had remained very well hydrated throughout. These were my primary goals on this run. The fact that I had also won by about 4 hours and broken the course record by over 3 hours, well those were just nice little side notes to a very successful run.
My recovery has also gone amazingly well. I ran 6 miles today and felt almost no lingering effects (a little bit of general fatigue but nothing too significant). I'm still planning to take a pretty mellow week, but I suspect I'll be feeling very fresh in just another day or two.
This all bodes very well for Wasatch which is now less than 4 weeks away. Time to get a little rest and then start getting some serious climbing mixed into my training.
There were only 5 of us who toed the line for this one. This is a very informal race so I wasn't too surprised at the small turnout but it would have been nice to have a few more people to run with.
Luckily the group we had were all really fun people to run with and all looking for a similar pace at the start, except for Elisio Marquez (former course record holder who I think has finished this race every year it has been held) who I learned always likes to go out really fast, which is just what he did. I fell into a rhythm running with Jeff Ardnt (last year's winner and course record holder), Dave Johnston (very experienced marathoner and ultra marathoner up to 100k, looking to complete his first 100 mile), and Evan Hone (also experienced at shorter ultras/marathons, and also looking for his first 100 mile finish).
Jeff and Dave had run the first half of this race a few weeks back as a training run in 9 hours. They both felt great on that run and thought they'd try to do the first half in about 9 hours again and then see what they could do coming back. That sounded perfect to me so I did my best to stay with them, even though I felt at times like I really was not going to be able to keep going that slow for too much longer. I did my best though to stay disciplined about a conservative pace and tried to focus on my nutrition/hydration.
At about 3.5 hours things really started to click. I finally was getting enough food in me that my headaches and hunger went away. Right around this time I also began to feel more comfortable with such a slow pace. I actually began to think that just maybe I could continue to run this conservative for the whole race. And all the while I kept eating (at least 300 calories per hour) really well (mostly perpetuem and powergel, but also some solid foods), and hydrating really well. At about 4 hours I began to pull away from the other 4 runners (we had all caught up to Elisio at about mile 20). I don't think I sped up at that time, perhaps a bit, but I think they slowed down a little bit, because as I learned later none of them were feeling very good.
Just before the pass I came upon Anne Ver Hoef who had come up the shorter Devil's Pass Trail and filtered a bunch of water which she was then providing us as we came through. All told she must have put in about a 40 mile day and then only had a few hours to sleep before needing to get back up to run the aid station at mile 88. She's running the Bear 100 next month so this was just another day of training for her. It was nice to talk to a familiar face for a bit because I knew this would likely be the last person I'd see out on the trail for the rest of the race. Those of you who don't know Anne may remember her as the "woman who got frostbite on her eyes in the Ultrasport." The crazy thing though is that she's planning to go back out there again this winter. In my book that's really bad ass. I don't know if I'd be tough enough to head back out there if I'd been through a similar experience.
Anyway, back to my race. I crossed over the actual pass (about mile 32) in about 5:15. From here it was mostly downhill to the mile 50 turnaround. This was the worst part of the race for me. My lower legs had been kind of achy all day and on the downhills the fatigue began to get much more noticeable. Nightfall was also setting in and I was just kind of bored and in a rut for most of that stretch from the pass down to Cooper Landing. There was even a moment in there when I was thinking I'd just call it a day at the mile 50 aid station. I knew I could turn back and retrace my steps fairly comfortably but I was doubting for awhile whether I wanted to or not. It's always harder to stay motivated in a "training" race and this was simply a low point for me that I seemed to snap out of almost immediately when I got to the aid station.
I rolled in there at 8hrs 30mins, a bit faster than I'd planned but still very much a conservative time for me. I was in no hurry so I ate some soup, a piece of pizza, filled up my water, and gathered up the things I'd need to head back out for 38 miles until the next aid station.
As I headed back uphill and back into the wilderness I began to find my groove again. Here was the point one always likes to come to in a long race when time seemed to float by almost instantly. I would check my watch expecting to find 20 minutes gone by, but in fact it was an hour or more. I maintained this well beyond the pass and beginning back down the other side.
There were a few lowpoints in there but for the most part the second half of the race went pretty smoothly.
The toughest stretch of this course is a 4 mile steady uphill which begins with only 8 miles to go in the race. Last year in the 50 mile race this hill felt like hell. This weekend though it didn't even really feel like I was going uphill. I'm sure my pace slowed down a lot on this hill, but it didn't really feel like it.
When it was all said and done I had run the second half 10 minutes faster than the first half, had kept a very steady and conservative pace throughout the race, had eaten about 6,000 calories (a little more than 300 per hour), and had remained very well hydrated throughout. These were my primary goals on this run. The fact that I had also won by about 4 hours and broken the course record by over 3 hours, well those were just nice little side notes to a very successful run.
My recovery has also gone amazingly well. I ran 6 miles today and felt almost no lingering effects (a little bit of general fatigue but nothing too significant). I'm still planning to take a pretty mellow week, but I suspect I'll be feeling very fresh in just another day or two.
This all bodes very well for Wasatch which is now less than 4 weeks away. Time to get a little rest and then start getting some serious climbing mixed into my training.
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