Photo taken by Matt Hart:
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Congratulations Hal and Anita...
...Nuff said. If you don't know what I'm talking about you probably wouldn't care anyway.
Photo taken by Matt Hart:
Photo taken by Matt Hart:
Friday, June 26, 2009
When Opportunity Knocks...
...Open the door.
I was going to do a really mellow hike/run after work today but when my friend Dan came into my work about an hour before I got off and offered to shuttle his car so we could do a point to point ridge run all it took was one look outside at the high clouds to decide to join him. Turns out I made the right decision:
At the top of the ridge we found a bottle of beer, unopened, that someone had likely left up there while skiing in the winter. We didn't let that opportunity slide either:
When we got back to Dan's car his battery was dead. Luckily someone had left a van parked next to us, with the keys in it... and we had jumper cables. Sweet.
One of these days soon I'm going to rest a bit. Maybe.
I was going to do a really mellow hike/run after work today but when my friend Dan came into my work about an hour before I got off and offered to shuttle his car so we could do a point to point ridge run all it took was one look outside at the high clouds to decide to join him. Turns out I made the right decision:
At the top of the ridge we found a bottle of beer, unopened, that someone had likely left up there while skiing in the winter. We didn't let that opportunity slide either:
When we got back to Dan's car his battery was dead. Luckily someone had left a van parked next to us, with the keys in it... and we had jumper cables. Sweet.
One of these days soon I'm going to rest a bit. Maybe.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
A Mountain Running Paradise
I've written about it some in the past but not with much detail: Juneau really is the best place I have ever been for running in the mountains. When most people talk about living close to trails they mean they have a couple nice trails a few miles away and then several more that they can drive to in an hour or less. In Juneau there is a nice trail about 5 blocks away from pretty much anywhere you are... and if you drive in any direction for 10 minutes you'll give yourself access to several (if not a dozen) other trails.
I live at sea level (or technically about 20 feet above sea level). 2 blocks from my condo there is a trail that climbs for about 2.5 miles to just over 3,300 feet. About a mile up this trail there is another trail that branches off and traverses along the 1,000 foot elevation for about 16 miles one way with several different access points that create options for loops of any distance between 3 and 30 miles.
I work about 3.5 miles from where I live. Within a few blocks of my work there are 2 different trails that then branch out into several options. You can go fairly long with a more gradual climb (around Juneau anything less than about 750 feet per mile is considered gradual), or you can climb trails that gain more than 1,500 feet per mile. If you hop on your bike and ride for 15 minutes in any of 3 different directions you will have access to about a half dozen other trails.
The real beauty of the trails around here though aren't the established trails themselves but rather the terrain you can access once you climb up onto the ridges that these trails lead to. The options are pretty much unlimited. The only limiting factor tends to be the weather. When the clouds are low it can be pretty miserable (and dangerous) to be up on these ridges. When the weather is good though one can't help but want to climb up to the mountain tops every day.
Today a group of 10 of us assembled under some decent weather to climb up Mt. Juneau (about 3,500 ft.) and follow the ridge back behind it for several miles until eventually dropping down into Granite Creek Basin and looping back around on the most popular trail in town, The Perseverance Trail. Of all the ridge traverses in Juneau this is likely the most travelled one. Partly because it's so close to town and also because it's a fairly mellow route with no scrambling and very little route finding difficulties. All told though it's a 14 mile loop with about 4,500 feet of total climbing and tends to take most strong runners 3-4 hours.
We had 3 high school runners with us today who had never done this route and 7 others ranging between 20 something on up to 70. An unlikely group of companions for sure, but that's the way the running community is here. So many different personalities/ages but when we get together for a run like this we all seem to be so similar for that 3 or 4 hours. It's great. Today's run was great. I just wish I could decide which mountain I'm going to climb up next...
I live at sea level (or technically about 20 feet above sea level). 2 blocks from my condo there is a trail that climbs for about 2.5 miles to just over 3,300 feet. About a mile up this trail there is another trail that branches off and traverses along the 1,000 foot elevation for about 16 miles one way with several different access points that create options for loops of any distance between 3 and 30 miles.
I work about 3.5 miles from where I live. Within a few blocks of my work there are 2 different trails that then branch out into several options. You can go fairly long with a more gradual climb (around Juneau anything less than about 750 feet per mile is considered gradual), or you can climb trails that gain more than 1,500 feet per mile. If you hop on your bike and ride for 15 minutes in any of 3 different directions you will have access to about a half dozen other trails.
The real beauty of the trails around here though aren't the established trails themselves but rather the terrain you can access once you climb up onto the ridges that these trails lead to. The options are pretty much unlimited. The only limiting factor tends to be the weather. When the clouds are low it can be pretty miserable (and dangerous) to be up on these ridges. When the weather is good though one can't help but want to climb up to the mountain tops every day.
Today a group of 10 of us assembled under some decent weather to climb up Mt. Juneau (about 3,500 ft.) and follow the ridge back behind it for several miles until eventually dropping down into Granite Creek Basin and looping back around on the most popular trail in town, The Perseverance Trail. Of all the ridge traverses in Juneau this is likely the most travelled one. Partly because it's so close to town and also because it's a fairly mellow route with no scrambling and very little route finding difficulties. All told though it's a 14 mile loop with about 4,500 feet of total climbing and tends to take most strong runners 3-4 hours.
We had 3 high school runners with us today who had never done this route and 7 others ranging between 20 something on up to 70. An unlikely group of companions for sure, but that's the way the running community is here. So many different personalities/ages but when we get together for a run like this we all seem to be so similar for that 3 or 4 hours. It's great. Today's run was great. I just wish I could decide which mountain I'm going to climb up next...
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Saturday Afternoon's Random Thoughts...
All the climbing during my runs last week left me pretty tired out most of this week. I kept planning to do long runs up on the ridges each day this week but then I would get out of work and feel tired and end up running something much more mellow. After how much I pushed myself last week this was probably a good thing, but I do feel kind of lame for not getting very far up into the mountains at all this week... Hope to do something about that tomorrow morning.
Western States is coming up one week from today. For the first time since my DNF at Miwok I began to feel pretty bummed this week about not being in Western States. I've been enjoying being back here in Juneau, but I must say I would love to be lining up next week in Squaw Valley. I would not be one of the top few favorites to win but it sure would be exciting to test myself against the field that will be there this year. For now that will have to wait I guess.
At any rate though it feels pretty nice to be getting the drive back to compete in big races. After a DNF in the Ultrasport and the Miwok I needed some time away from too much focus on racing, but slowly over the past several weeks I've started to think more and more about wanting to be out there in the mountains testing myself against the trails and against other runners. I'm not decided for certain yet which ultras I'll be racing the rest of this year, but I do know that I will be showing up as determined as ever to push myself as hard as possible.
One other thing that's been brewing in my mind a lot again this past week has been The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. The Tour Divide started over a week ago and The Great Divide Race started yesterday. Since dropping out halfway through The Great Divide Race a year ago I've done almost no biking (aside from my 7 mile commute to work each day), but with the nicer weather now I've been riding a bit more and this combined with "following" the riders out on the route has me thinking more seriously about wanting to ride this route again someday. Maybe next year. Maybe a few years down the road. We'll see.
Western States is coming up one week from today. For the first time since my DNF at Miwok I began to feel pretty bummed this week about not being in Western States. I've been enjoying being back here in Juneau, but I must say I would love to be lining up next week in Squaw Valley. I would not be one of the top few favorites to win but it sure would be exciting to test myself against the field that will be there this year. For now that will have to wait I guess.
At any rate though it feels pretty nice to be getting the drive back to compete in big races. After a DNF in the Ultrasport and the Miwok I needed some time away from too much focus on racing, but slowly over the past several weeks I've started to think more and more about wanting to be out there in the mountains testing myself against the trails and against other runners. I'm not decided for certain yet which ultras I'll be racing the rest of this year, but I do know that I will be showing up as determined as ever to push myself as hard as possible.
One other thing that's been brewing in my mind a lot again this past week has been The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. The Tour Divide started over a week ago and The Great Divide Race started yesterday. Since dropping out halfway through The Great Divide Race a year ago I've done almost no biking (aside from my 7 mile commute to work each day), but with the nicer weather now I've been riding a bit more and this combined with "following" the riders out on the route has me thinking more seriously about wanting to ride this route again someday. Maybe next year. Maybe a few years down the road. We'll see.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Up Up And Away
Got in one of the most fun weeks of "training" of my life this week. I hesitate to even call it training because it was so much fun. The snow conditions in the mountains here are perfect right now. Good and firm but with just enough give so you can climb up impossibly steep pitches by kicking into the snow and glissade down a few thousand feet in a matter of minutes. I live at sea level and have gotten up over 3,000 feet no less than 5 times in the past 10 days. I might take a day off from the climbing tomorrow but then on Tuesday I'm going to try to do a ridge route above town at pretty near 100% effort. The fastest known time for this route is about 2.5 hours. I did it very comfortably the other day in 3 hours. I think with how nice the snow is right now I might be able to do it around 2 or 2:15. We'll see.
I've also put some time into getting my bike set up to do some bike touring trips the rest of this summer. I haven't really done much biking at all since the Great Divide Race last year but I'm pretty excited to just load up my gear, get on the ferry to some small towns here in Southeast Alaska and explore old logging roads and trails. Places most people outside of Alaska have never heard of: Gustavus, Petersburg, Haines, Sitka, Wrangell, Prince of Wales Island, Yakatat, Hoonah, Tenakee, Angoon. They're all accessible by the state ferry system and I've only ever been to a couple of them. Hope to take at least two or three trips on the ferry with my bike in the next 6 or 8 weeks.
I've also put some time into getting my bike set up to do some bike touring trips the rest of this summer. I haven't really done much biking at all since the Great Divide Race last year but I'm pretty excited to just load up my gear, get on the ferry to some small towns here in Southeast Alaska and explore old logging roads and trails. Places most people outside of Alaska have never heard of: Gustavus, Petersburg, Haines, Sitka, Wrangell, Prince of Wales Island, Yakatat, Hoonah, Tenakee, Angoon. They're all accessible by the state ferry system and I've only ever been to a couple of them. Hope to take at least two or three trips on the ferry with my bike in the next 6 or 8 weeks.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
No Web
I've not been posting on my blog much lately. The reason being that for the first time in the last 14 years I have no internet access at home. It's been shockingly liberating. I still get online 5 days a week at work to check email, weather forecasts, and look at fun stuff that I want to buy. Beyond that though I haven't spent any time online simply for the sake of killing time like I always have in the past. On top of this I no longer have a phone line at home and my cell phone has pretty marginal reception at home. Also, I have not had television at home in about 5 years.
Thus, for the first time in my adult life I feel like going home is a place of refuge where I get away from most everything else that's going on in the world. I find myself not spending nearly as much time at home as usual because sometimes it's just plain lonely and boring, but I also find that the time I do spend at home seems really revitalizing and refreshing. I listen to lots of music, work on crossword puzzles, and read magazines and books... things that stimulate my mind while allowing my body to rest.
I'll probably break down and get internet again soon but right now it's summer in Alaska, the weather has been amazingly beautiful, the days are filled with seemingly endless sunlight, and I have dozens of exciting things lined up in my head that I want to do the next few months. None of which involve spending time sitting at home staring at a computer screen.
Thus, for the first time in my adult life I feel like going home is a place of refuge where I get away from most everything else that's going on in the world. I find myself not spending nearly as much time at home as usual because sometimes it's just plain lonely and boring, but I also find that the time I do spend at home seems really revitalizing and refreshing. I listen to lots of music, work on crossword puzzles, and read magazines and books... things that stimulate my mind while allowing my body to rest.
I'll probably break down and get internet again soon but right now it's summer in Alaska, the weather has been amazingly beautiful, the days are filled with seemingly endless sunlight, and I have dozens of exciting things lined up in my head that I want to do the next few months. None of which involve spending time sitting at home staring at a computer screen.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Crow Pass IV
I hardly ever do races more than once. There are so many great races out there that I like to try new ones. However, next month I'll be running The Crow Pass Crossing for the 4th year in a row. That certainly says something about the appeal of this race. Simply put it's a near perfect course that has a little bit of everything. This year's race is going to be all about pushing what has previously proven to be possible on that course. No one has ever done this race in less than 3 hours (the official course record is 3:05 something). I think the 3 hour barrier is possible and I know I'm not the only one. I think to have a shot at winning the race I will need to go under 3:05. we'll see. It could always be a really sloppy trail and someone could run 3:15 and win. That's the excitement with trail racing. So many variables.
I turned down an offer yesterday to get into Hardrock from the waitlist. This decision was surprisingly easy for me. At this point I feel much more excited about spending most (if not all) of my summer in Alaska and there's just no way I could afford to do Hardrock this year. It's a race that I'm only willing to do when I know I can put 100% effort into it, which would include at least 2 weeks in Colorado to acclimatize before race day. We'll see if this works out better for me next year.
Still undecided about my race plans for the rest of the summer. Thinking about Wasatch or the Bear in September, but maybe another race or two before that too. We'll see. For now I'm just going to focus on being 100% ready to kick some ass on July 18th at Crow Pass. And even more importantly I'm going to focus on enjoying time in the mountains in Southeast Alaska. This is an amazing place to be in the summer and there are so many places to explore that I haven't had a chance to because I'm usually off running around somewhere else in the world in the summer time.
I turned down an offer yesterday to get into Hardrock from the waitlist. This decision was surprisingly easy for me. At this point I feel much more excited about spending most (if not all) of my summer in Alaska and there's just no way I could afford to do Hardrock this year. It's a race that I'm only willing to do when I know I can put 100% effort into it, which would include at least 2 weeks in Colorado to acclimatize before race day. We'll see if this works out better for me next year.
Still undecided about my race plans for the rest of the summer. Thinking about Wasatch or the Bear in September, but maybe another race or two before that too. We'll see. For now I'm just going to focus on being 100% ready to kick some ass on July 18th at Crow Pass. And even more importantly I'm going to focus on enjoying time in the mountains in Southeast Alaska. This is an amazing place to be in the summer and there are so many places to explore that I haven't had a chance to because I'm usually off running around somewhere else in the world in the summer time.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sitka
I've been back in Alaska for almost a week now. Not getting back to Juneau until Tuesday though.
I've been hanging out in Sitka all week, as a bit of an extra little vacation time tacked on to my month long vacation. Vacation's pretty sweet. Especially in a place as scenic, idyllic and mellow as Sitka.
I've been doing some combination of running, hiking, biking, and kayaking each day I've been here, but none of it has been with a focus on training. Rather I've just been going out and running up a mountain if I feel like being on top of a mountain; riding around checking out things on my bike when I feel curious to explore; and generally just enjoying the simplicity and beauty that each day has been dropping in front of me.
In a couple days I'll be heading back to the "real life" of a job, condo, and all the everyday stuff that goes with that. The other thing that will go along with that will likely be a return to more focused training and preparation for my next race. Maybe I'll even decide pretty soon here what my next race is going to be. For now though it's kind of relaxing, and exciting not to be sure. It makes it a lot easier to just go out and enjoy being in the mountains, on the water, or wherever else the day takes me.
I've been hanging out in Sitka all week, as a bit of an extra little vacation time tacked on to my month long vacation. Vacation's pretty sweet. Especially in a place as scenic, idyllic and mellow as Sitka.
I've been doing some combination of running, hiking, biking, and kayaking each day I've been here, but none of it has been with a focus on training. Rather I've just been going out and running up a mountain if I feel like being on top of a mountain; riding around checking out things on my bike when I feel curious to explore; and generally just enjoying the simplicity and beauty that each day has been dropping in front of me.
In a couple days I'll be heading back to the "real life" of a job, condo, and all the everyday stuff that goes with that. The other thing that will go along with that will likely be a return to more focused training and preparation for my next race. Maybe I'll even decide pretty soon here what my next race is going to be. For now though it's kind of relaxing, and exciting not to be sure. It makes it a lot easier to just go out and enjoy being in the mountains, on the water, or wherever else the day takes me.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Homeward Bound
Spent last week "out east" with family and friends and then this week in southern Utah. Camping in the sun, running on rock and dirt, living the simple life outdoors in the desert. I'm leaving soon to head back to Alaska. It took me a couple days to get used to the heat and dryness of southern Utah and now it's back to the cool humid air of southeast Alaska. I never thought that the weather in Juneau would seem so ideal and comforting but being away from there for almost a month now I really do miss it. There just seems to be something pleasant about the light steady rain that falls in Juneau. I hate it in September and October when it's windy, cold, and raining hard all the time, but this time of year it's generally calm, warmer, and even sunny quite a bit. I look forward to spending June in Alaska after not being up there for a single day last June.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Why I Run
With a title like this I could probably ramble on for hours. I'll do my best to keep it short.
I've had a few people ask me recently, why I run? If it's someone I don't know very well I usually just throw out some typical answer mentioning the solitude, the beauty of the places I see on my runs, the thrill of competition, the health benefits, etc. When it's someone I know well though I try to make a more serious effort at answering this question. Here's my best shot at putting that effort into writing:
All of the above things are a part of it but, for me a huge part of it has to do with the personal satisfaction I take from doing something that is 100% my doing. It's satisfying to be good at something that has only to do with my own abilities and my own dedication, and is not reliant upon others. I always feel that I could train better and race better and that keeps me driven to become a better runner. The exciting thing though is that only I can make this happen. If I lose my focus in my training I will not get better. Sometimes that is a good thing for a period of time. When you get that focus back and start to feel stronger and faster it's so satisfying knowing that you have gotten yourself to that point and have not leaned on others to get there. How many things do we really have in our lives that we can say this about? It really wouldn't be healthy for most of us to have too many things like this. Sometimes I wonder if it's always healthy for me to view my running in this way. It certainly puts my running in a position that borders on addictive, or at least obsessive, but I can think of a million things that would be worse to be addicted to.
Because my running is such an important part of my psyche it's pretty wild how much my mindset can be affected by my running. I certainly acknowledge that this can become an unhealthy thing, but generally I think it's been more and more helpful as I've become more and more "obsessed" with my running.
This week started out really rough for me. I was bummed about my Miwok DNF, and have had a lot of other stressful things going on in my mind. I was having all kinds of doubts about whether I really wanted to do any more races in the next few months. I got out for very relaxing runs yesterday and today though, and my mindset improved drastically. I still haven't decided for sure what races I'm going to run in the next few months, but I do feel refreshed to know that I am going to run races, which in turn means I'm going to do lots of training, which in turn means I'm going to test my personal strength and ability even further. I'm excited for that. Life is not perfect, never will be, but my running sure has a way of making me feel like I'm moving forward. At the end of the day what more can we really ask for?
I've had a few people ask me recently, why I run? If it's someone I don't know very well I usually just throw out some typical answer mentioning the solitude, the beauty of the places I see on my runs, the thrill of competition, the health benefits, etc. When it's someone I know well though I try to make a more serious effort at answering this question. Here's my best shot at putting that effort into writing:
All of the above things are a part of it but, for me a huge part of it has to do with the personal satisfaction I take from doing something that is 100% my doing. It's satisfying to be good at something that has only to do with my own abilities and my own dedication, and is not reliant upon others. I always feel that I could train better and race better and that keeps me driven to become a better runner. The exciting thing though is that only I can make this happen. If I lose my focus in my training I will not get better. Sometimes that is a good thing for a period of time. When you get that focus back and start to feel stronger and faster it's so satisfying knowing that you have gotten yourself to that point and have not leaned on others to get there. How many things do we really have in our lives that we can say this about? It really wouldn't be healthy for most of us to have too many things like this. Sometimes I wonder if it's always healthy for me to view my running in this way. It certainly puts my running in a position that borders on addictive, or at least obsessive, but I can think of a million things that would be worse to be addicted to.
Because my running is such an important part of my psyche it's pretty wild how much my mindset can be affected by my running. I certainly acknowledge that this can become an unhealthy thing, but generally I think it's been more and more helpful as I've become more and more "obsessed" with my running.
This week started out really rough for me. I was bummed about my Miwok DNF, and have had a lot of other stressful things going on in my mind. I was having all kinds of doubts about whether I really wanted to do any more races in the next few months. I got out for very relaxing runs yesterday and today though, and my mindset improved drastically. I still haven't decided for sure what races I'm going to run in the next few months, but I do feel refreshed to know that I am going to run races, which in turn means I'm going to do lots of training, which in turn means I'm going to test my personal strength and ability even further. I'm excited for that. Life is not perfect, never will be, but my running sure has a way of making me feel like I'm moving forward. At the end of the day what more can we really ask for?
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Free Shoes
Things definitely did not go as planned for me at the Miwok, but one thing that I was 100% pleased with was how my feet felt in my Montrail Mountain Masochists. Granted I only put in 42 miles but I had absolutely no blisters, hot spots, or foot fatigue. I can't stress enough how much I like these shoes. It's such a nice feeling to have a shoe that I can put on my feet and have complete confidence that it will perform the way I want it to.
Well, here's a chance for you all to get your own pair. Montrail is giving away a free pair of shoes each day this entire month. All you need to do to have a chance to win is sign up as a fan of Montrail shoes on Facebook. Here's the link.
Well, here's a chance for you all to get your own pair. Montrail is giving away a free pair of shoes each day this entire month. All you need to do to have a chance to win is sign up as a fan of Montrail shoes on Facebook. Here's the link.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Marin Headlands 3, Geoff Roes 0
I've not run that many ultras but enough to know that I am fortunate to have a really strong stomach during endurance races. I generally just eat whatever I want, whenever I want during races and my stomach never bothers me. That all changed yesterday.
It was especially frustrating because everything besides my stomach felt great. My chest cold didn't seem to bother me at all, my legs felt very strong from the start, and I was running a very efficient and comfortable race.
Right from the beginning though I started to notice that everything I ate/drank seemed to be just hanging out in my stomach, which was steadily filling up and becoming uncomfortable. When I finally puked for the first time (about mile 24) it felt so good to have all that liquid out of my stomach. I knew I needed to get calories and water in as soon as possible though or I would pay dearly later on. I couldn't though.
At that point of the race I had only consumed 500 calories (about half of what I should have) and had just vomited all of it up on the side of the trail. Anything I tried to get down just made me feel horrible. I decided to slow down and give it some time and hope that my body would accept food and water sooner or later. I was running in the lead most of the day but by about mile 35 I really began to realize how much trouble I was in. I slowed considerably hoping that would help my stomach and that maybe I could find some way to get myself to the finish in one of the top 3 spots to still qualify for Western States.
It wasn't goint to happen though. As I continued to vomit I began to feel less and less able to find any energy to keep moving down the trail. I was basically totally bonking with 25 miles to go and had no ability to get any calories in my system to do anything about it.
Eric Grossman (Montrail teammate who went on to win the race) passed me just after I pulled into the aid station at mile 42. I sipped some coke and tried to head back out. A couple hundred yards up the trail and I was hurled over vomiting again. This time was different though. The first few times I puked it made me feel so relieved to have my system cleared out. This time though I just had no energy left in my muscles. I sat down on the side of the trail (because it took too much strength to stand) and almost immediately decided I was done.
I ended up out on the trail for over 5.5 hours in which time I consumed about 600 calories and maybe 40 ounces of water (both about 1/3 normal). It was a very frustrating and disappointing way to go out of a race, especially one in which everything else felt really good. It is what it is though. There's nothing I can do about it now, except learn from my experiences. I have a couple guesses as to what went wrong so now I need to use all this info. to help avoid something like this happening in the future.
Not qualifying for Western States is unfortunate, but again, there's nothing I can do about it now so I'm not going to spend my time getting too bent out of shape about it. I still haven't figured out just where my racing focus is going to shift to in the next several weeks but I'll be working all that out in my mind in the next several days. In some ways it's kind of exciting not to know. I'd be lying if I said I'm not bummed that I won't be lining up at Western States as I had hoped, but I will be lining up somewhere again soon, and I'll be a stronger and more determined runner as a result of yesterday's experiences.
It was especially frustrating because everything besides my stomach felt great. My chest cold didn't seem to bother me at all, my legs felt very strong from the start, and I was running a very efficient and comfortable race.
Right from the beginning though I started to notice that everything I ate/drank seemed to be just hanging out in my stomach, which was steadily filling up and becoming uncomfortable. When I finally puked for the first time (about mile 24) it felt so good to have all that liquid out of my stomach. I knew I needed to get calories and water in as soon as possible though or I would pay dearly later on. I couldn't though.
At that point of the race I had only consumed 500 calories (about half of what I should have) and had just vomited all of it up on the side of the trail. Anything I tried to get down just made me feel horrible. I decided to slow down and give it some time and hope that my body would accept food and water sooner or later. I was running in the lead most of the day but by about mile 35 I really began to realize how much trouble I was in. I slowed considerably hoping that would help my stomach and that maybe I could find some way to get myself to the finish in one of the top 3 spots to still qualify for Western States.
It wasn't goint to happen though. As I continued to vomit I began to feel less and less able to find any energy to keep moving down the trail. I was basically totally bonking with 25 miles to go and had no ability to get any calories in my system to do anything about it.
Eric Grossman (Montrail teammate who went on to win the race) passed me just after I pulled into the aid station at mile 42. I sipped some coke and tried to head back out. A couple hundred yards up the trail and I was hurled over vomiting again. This time was different though. The first few times I puked it made me feel so relieved to have my system cleared out. This time though I just had no energy left in my muscles. I sat down on the side of the trail (because it took too much strength to stand) and almost immediately decided I was done.
I ended up out on the trail for over 5.5 hours in which time I consumed about 600 calories and maybe 40 ounces of water (both about 1/3 normal). It was a very frustrating and disappointing way to go out of a race, especially one in which everything else felt really good. It is what it is though. There's nothing I can do about it now, except learn from my experiences. I have a couple guesses as to what went wrong so now I need to use all this info. to help avoid something like this happening in the future.
Not qualifying for Western States is unfortunate, but again, there's nothing I can do about it now so I'm not going to spend my time getting too bent out of shape about it. I still haven't figured out just where my racing focus is going to shift to in the next several weeks but I'll be working all that out in my mind in the next several days. In some ways it's kind of exciting not to know. I'd be lying if I said I'm not bummed that I won't be lining up at Western States as I had hoped, but I will be lining up somewhere again soon, and I'll be a stronger and more determined runner as a result of yesterday's experiences.
Friday, May 1, 2009
New Shoes
Tomorrow is the first race in a long time that I have known several weeks ahead of time exactly which shoes I was going to wear on race day. It's really a shame that I just found out tonight that these shoes are nowhere to be found in the car. I think I left them in the parking lot of a grocery store in Ashland, OR two days ago. Luckily I have another pair of the same model, just slightly more used. It's all good. But who the hell loses their shoes the day before a race they've been preparing toward for 2 months. Kind of funny. And really boneheaded.
Check my twitter link in the sidebar. I'll probably update it shortly after I finish tomorrow. Hope you all sleep better than I will tonight.
Check my twitter link in the sidebar. I'll probably update it shortly after I finish tomorrow. Hope you all sleep better than I will tonight.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Redemption
I'm in Portland now before heading onto Ashland tomorrow and then San Francisco by Thursday night. I've had a few days of some doubts about where my body will be for the race on Saturday but things do seem to be coming back together in just enough time. I've been dealing with a minor head/chest cold but it's been just enough to give me a good amount of overall body fatigue and some burning lungs. I felt horrible on my runs on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but much better yesterday and today. Should be ready to roll by the weekend.
At times over the past several weeks I've put a lot of pressure on myself to finish top three at Miwok, but now over the past couple weeks I've let most of that go. I simply want to run the best race I have in me this weekend and see how that plays out. I would love to qualify for Western States, and I know I have a great shot to do so, but I'm not going to get too bent out of shape if I don't. My race this weekend will be mostly about some redemption for what was, in my mind, a fairly poor race for me last year at Miwok. Even though I finished 3rd there last year it was probably the least smooth race that I've had in the past two years. I was both mentally and physically fried by the end of that one... and not in the good way that you can be fried at the end of a race, but rather in the way that was only remedied by two full months with almost no running. Granted a huge part of that time off from running was because I was training for and racing The Great Divide bike race, but even without that I would have needed some serious time off after Miwok last year. What I want from this weekend is to feel that I got even with that course for how much it kicked my ass last year. We'll see. Oh yeah, and I want to win...
At times over the past several weeks I've put a lot of pressure on myself to finish top three at Miwok, but now over the past couple weeks I've let most of that go. I simply want to run the best race I have in me this weekend and see how that plays out. I would love to qualify for Western States, and I know I have a great shot to do so, but I'm not going to get too bent out of shape if I don't. My race this weekend will be mostly about some redemption for what was, in my mind, a fairly poor race for me last year at Miwok. Even though I finished 3rd there last year it was probably the least smooth race that I've had in the past two years. I was both mentally and physically fried by the end of that one... and not in the good way that you can be fried at the end of a race, but rather in the way that was only remedied by two full months with almost no running. Granted a huge part of that time off from running was because I was training for and racing The Great Divide bike race, but even without that I would have needed some serious time off after Miwok last year. What I want from this weekend is to feel that I got even with that course for how much it kicked my ass last year. We'll see. Oh yeah, and I want to win...
Friday, April 24, 2009
Dease Lake, BC
Heading South. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere in British Columbia. We were planning to camp last night but there's still several feet of snowpack here so we opted for a motel.
I'm feeling a little sick the last couple days. This is my second chest cold in as many months. Hopefully this one doesn't last 30 days like the last one did!
I feel like I miss Juneau in many ways right now but at the same time it was really nice to get out of there. I had a lot of things going on in my last few weeks there that were really causing too much stress. As a result I was eating and sleeping very poorly. As soon as we left town though I instantly had a better appetite and the first night I slept more than I had in any night in over a month.
Hopefully my illness now and my anxiety in my last few weeks in Juneau don't combine to negatively effect things at the Miwok. At this point all I can do is show up and run my race. To be honest I have a lot of confidence going into this one. Despite any doubts about some of these little things I feel like I'm probably in the best shape of my life right now. I guess I'll find out next weekend.
I'm feeling a little sick the last couple days. This is my second chest cold in as many months. Hopefully this one doesn't last 30 days like the last one did!
I feel like I miss Juneau in many ways right now but at the same time it was really nice to get out of there. I had a lot of things going on in my last few weeks there that were really causing too much stress. As a result I was eating and sleeping very poorly. As soon as we left town though I instantly had a better appetite and the first night I slept more than I had in any night in over a month.
Hopefully my illness now and my anxiety in my last few weeks in Juneau don't combine to negatively effect things at the Miwok. At this point all I can do is show up and run my race. To be honest I have a lot of confidence going into this one. Despite any doubts about some of these little things I feel like I'm probably in the best shape of my life right now. I guess I'll find out next weekend.
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