Sunday morning, it was clear and 40 degrees as I prepared to drive up the valley to Steamboat and partake in the annual running of Ski Haus' Continental Divide Trail Run, a trail race from the bottom of Fish Creek Falls to Long Lake and then up the backside of Mount Werner via the Mountain View trail and finishing at the top of the Gondola. Roughly 100 people lined up at the start and, as the final race directions were given, the mood was fun yet focused. My goals for the race were to run under 2 hours 20 minutes and/or be first Masters. I wanted to run hard to gauge where my overall fitness was going into Run Rabbit Run in three weeks. That said, I went out with the lead pack of runners and decided to try and run my race "from the front" instead of starting slower and gradually trying to build speed as the race went on. Of course, that only lasted about 5 minutes into the race as the trail started climbing up the canyon for about 1000' in the first mile. I managed to keep the speedy Harry Niedl in sight all the way to the top of the first climb but there was no way I was going to hang with the rabbits longer than that. I felt good though and continued running all but the steepest uphill sections.
The morning air was nice and cool and it felt really good to be running hard up the rocky canyon trail. Flecks of gold leaves decorated the otherwise green canopy. I reached the Second Falls in 30 minutes and felt like I was right on pace to make 2:20 but it wouldn't be easy to hold on. Mercifully, the trail begins to even out and there aren't any steep climbs after the Second Falls. A few, short tough ones but after conquering those, the trail opens up and a beautiful alpine meadow is revealed. Even in a dry year like this one, there was still a little water to cross. After that meadow, there was another short section in the trees before we crossed another meadow and began the gradual ascent to Long Lake and the junction with the next section of trail, Mountain View. During this time, I talked a little with the runner behind me, Stephen Castle from Ft. Collins. Stephen had been chasing me up the canyon and breathing HARD the whole climb. I thought he was pushing too hard and was going to fade but he just kept crushing it. He actually apologized for breathing so hard but it didn't bother me a bit. I just told him he was killing it and doing a great job. I gave him a brief synopsis of the rest of the course and he was really cool and gracious. Just before the first aid station, I was able to pull away from him just a bit and I made the turn onto Mountain View ready for the next 6 mile grind.
At the aid station, I was down to half a bottle of water and had fallen 5 minutes behind where I thought I should've been. I filled the rest of the bottle with Gatorade ate a little gummy, chewy looking thing and took off on Mountain View determined to run as much of it as I could. I've run this trail many times now and it is almost never very forgiving. In this direction, it is a gradual, 6-mile climb up to the back of Mt. Werner. The trail is mostly smooth single track but there are just enough rocks to trip you up if aren't paying attention. Not long after getting on the trail, I got passed by one runner (Paul Datsko) who seemed totally relaxed and in control of his effort. He was just steady plugging and I gave him an 'attaboy' as he passed. He commented that he had to take advantage of the ups because he wasn't a great downhiller. I just called after him, "Maybe I'll catch you on the downhill. Probably not." (I didn't. But I might have if the race had been another half mile or so.) About a minute behind him, I heard Stephen closing on me and I could tell he was going to pass, too. He was still breathing pretty hard but I could tell that he was getting used to this extra gear and was going to fly up Mountain View. He passed, gracious as ever, and soon caught and passed Paul, too. Killing it! I hung behind for another mile or so but soon found myself running up the trail by myself. I was moving pretty good through the pine forest, thanks to a couple of downhill and rolling sections that were smooth enough trail to get a good leg turnover going. The trail just continued on and on through the forest. Another runner, kindly passed me with a couple more miles left to go to the summit and I tried to hang onto him as we power hiked some of the last steep climbs. The guy kind of looked like Leor Pantilat, so I imagined for a moment that I was racing one of the fastest ultrarunners in the country, and had a little laugh to myself about that. Then, reminscent of Leor, he left me in the dust. About 3 minutes after losing sight of "Leor", I made the last bit of ascent to the top of Mt. Werner. My watch read about 2:10 and I didn't think I had two 5-minute miles in me but I was still super stoked and ready to slay some downhill. In hindsight, my 1:05 split for Mountain View is the fastest I have ever run that trail in the uphill direction.
Next year, the race organizers are going to reroute the race so that runners descend to the Gondola via single track trails. So on this running and, I guess for the last time, the course finished with a 2 mile run down Storm Peak Challenge, a dirt road with tons of "baby head" sized rocks. My first few steps down the road were a little unsteady but I soon found a rhythm and started working gravity for all it was worth, running about as hard as I thought I could for two miles and 1000+ feet. I checked the switchbacks ahead of me for someone to chase but didn't see anyone until the final 3/4 mile. I tried hard to close the gap but couldn't reel him in more than a couple hundred yards before the last quarter mile climb up to the Gondy. I pushed the last uphill and sprinted for the finish line under a bluebird, cloudless sky. As it turned out, I did have two 6 minute miles left in my legs and I ran strong all the way to the finish and completed the course in 2:22:51. Not quite hitting my time goal but good enough for 9th place overall and 1st Masters. I finished feeling good despite pushing hard the whole race and my legs felt surprisingly unaffected once I was done. I jogged a cool down for a few minutes after I finished and I even considered running down to the base area.
Fortunately, I wised up and decided it would be more fun to kick it at the finish and spent the rest of the morning talking it up with other runners and locals who had come up to cheer on their friends. The post race food, drink and company was great and I got to meet a few other Steamboat runners that I didn't previously know. Probably the most fun I had though was chatting it up with Stephen Castle after the race. The hard-breathing, hard-charger from the Front Range delivered a 2:20:48 run despite being, by his own admission, woefully unprepared for the gnarly course. (Stud.) Unfortunately, we were both losers when it came to the post race raffle. I may never win a race but by golly, I'm going to win a raffle prize one these days!
I'm very happy about how my race went and I think I proved to myself that I am fit enough to give the 100 a good effort. I have no idea what kind of finishing time I could expect to run and coming up with a pace schedule feels a bit daunting. Still, I'm ready to get it done. Mostly because I am tired of waiting and, in many ways, tired of training. Not that I really did a stellar job in my training. I could've logged more miles. Or maybe SHOULD have but I still feel good about the running I did do this year and how my prep races went. I just started losing motivation to train as Katy's pregnancy progressed and I wanted to spend more time with her. I kind of feel like I ended up doing kind of a half-assed job of both...well, I hope not but it's hard to split what little time you have between all the things you want to do and the things you need to do.
Showing posts with label trail running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trail running. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Weekly Summary: August 6 - August 12
8/6 - Rest. Wanted to run but got shot down by the wife! Ha!
8/7 - 6.0 miles. 1:00:xx. 1300'v. Stagecoach Mountain - Stagecoach. Hard effort climbing up to The Beach with trekking poles and back to the house. Then, dropped them off at the house and ran another 3 miles down to the fire station and back on dirt trail. Pushed the effort the whole way.
8/8 - 7.3 miles. 1:12:xx. 500'v. Stagecoach. Easy paced evening run from dusk til dark on the road down to the lake and a couple miles of trail.
8/9 - 6.76 miles. :52:45. 500'v. Stagecoach. Quick run down to Elk Run Trail and a few 7 minute miles on dirt before climbing back to the house.
8/10 - Rest.
8/11 - 13.55 miles. 3:34:08. 2910'v. Black Mountain Trail to East Fork Trail just nouth of Round Lake. Woke up at 4 a.m. and got to the trail head at Sheriff Reservoir just before 6 a.m. Looked like it might rain so I waited a few minutes in my truck before deciding to just go for it. The run started out great and I felt great climbing up into the mountains at dawn. It was a little bit cloudy but I really didn't think the rain would come. I ran a couple hours up trail and found a nice spot next to a creek to eat some food (a clementine, some bread with Pocket Fuel peanut butter on it and a Salt Stick tablet). I sat on a rock, admiring my surroundings and suddenly realized that I should just turn around and spend a little time at home with Katy. I missed her very much. I packed up and started back when I felt a drop or two of rain. I looked northwest and saw rain and suddenly felt a little panicked to get back since I was now climbing back up to some exposed areas. It eventually began raining steadily on me as I hiked up the rocky trail but it wasn't a complete deluge. I got pretty wet but after a half hour or so it let up and I started back down towards Sheriff under clearing skies. I had fun and made it back home by 11 a.m. I walked around the neighborhood with Katy for about 45 minutes then spent a little while clearing some branches from a couple of trees we had cut down earlier in the week. That afternoon, I drove up to Clark to meet up with Jonny B, Christian, Paul and Brady and a couple of other people, at a favorite camping spot out on Greenville Mine Road to watch a meteor shower that evening. I ended up deciding to treat it all as a training day and stayed on my feet (and even did some late night hiking with the dogs) most of the night. The sky was clear and we saw some really amazing meteors! I fell asleep in my sleeping bag staring at the stars after a great 20-hour day.
8/12 - Rest.?
Uh-oh. DNF'ed another training run! I haven't quite mastered the long, wilderness training run but I'm still happy with the time I've been getting on my feet and the quality of my shorter runs. It's just logistically difficult to run in the mountains for several hours and I just don't like spending that much time away from my wife during her pregnancy. Anyway, it's almost taper time so my plan from here until September 14th is to run hard this week, finishing with the Continental Divide Trail Run next Sunday, August 19th (my sister Sommai's birthday!), where I'd like to got under 2 hours and 20 minutes. After that, I will just put in 3 weeks of easy running and get plenty of rest leading up to race day. Simple.
8/7 - 6.0 miles. 1:00:xx. 1300'v. Stagecoach Mountain - Stagecoach. Hard effort climbing up to The Beach with trekking poles and back to the house. Then, dropped them off at the house and ran another 3 miles down to the fire station and back on dirt trail. Pushed the effort the whole way.
8/8 - 7.3 miles. 1:12:xx. 500'v. Stagecoach. Easy paced evening run from dusk til dark on the road down to the lake and a couple miles of trail.
8/9 - 6.76 miles. :52:45. 500'v. Stagecoach. Quick run down to Elk Run Trail and a few 7 minute miles on dirt before climbing back to the house.
8/10 - Rest.
8/11 - 13.55 miles. 3:34:08. 2910'v. Black Mountain Trail to East Fork Trail just nouth of Round Lake. Woke up at 4 a.m. and got to the trail head at Sheriff Reservoir just before 6 a.m. Looked like it might rain so I waited a few minutes in my truck before deciding to just go for it. The run started out great and I felt great climbing up into the mountains at dawn. It was a little bit cloudy but I really didn't think the rain would come. I ran a couple hours up trail and found a nice spot next to a creek to eat some food (a clementine, some bread with Pocket Fuel peanut butter on it and a Salt Stick tablet). I sat on a rock, admiring my surroundings and suddenly realized that I should just turn around and spend a little time at home with Katy. I missed her very much. I packed up and started back when I felt a drop or two of rain. I looked northwest and saw rain and suddenly felt a little panicked to get back since I was now climbing back up to some exposed areas. It eventually began raining steadily on me as I hiked up the rocky trail but it wasn't a complete deluge. I got pretty wet but after a half hour or so it let up and I started back down towards Sheriff under clearing skies. I had fun and made it back home by 11 a.m. I walked around the neighborhood with Katy for about 45 minutes then spent a little while clearing some branches from a couple of trees we had cut down earlier in the week. That afternoon, I drove up to Clark to meet up with Jonny B, Christian, Paul and Brady and a couple of other people, at a favorite camping spot out on Greenville Mine Road to watch a meteor shower that evening. I ended up deciding to treat it all as a training day and stayed on my feet (and even did some late night hiking with the dogs) most of the night. The sky was clear and we saw some really amazing meteors! I fell asleep in my sleeping bag staring at the stars after a great 20-hour day.
8/12 - Rest.?
Uh-oh. DNF'ed another training run! I haven't quite mastered the long, wilderness training run but I'm still happy with the time I've been getting on my feet and the quality of my shorter runs. It's just logistically difficult to run in the mountains for several hours and I just don't like spending that much time away from my wife during her pregnancy. Anyway, it's almost taper time so my plan from here until September 14th is to run hard this week, finishing with the Continental Divide Trail Run next Sunday, August 19th (my sister Sommai's birthday!), where I'd like to got under 2 hours and 20 minutes. After that, I will just put in 3 weeks of easy running and get plenty of rest leading up to race day. Simple.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Weekly Summary: July 30 - August 5
7/30 - Rest.
7/31 - 6.17 miles. 1:05:33. 400'v. Stagecoach. An easy and much need run to decompress after a full day of moving equipment to the new shop. Over the past 2 weeks Bob and I have been relocating the business, which is no small feat. Today, in particular, was a hot day and we began moving the larger shop equipment. This run felt like one of my longest this year as I was on my feet the entire work day. Route was from the house, down to the lakeshore and about half a mile of trail before turning around and running back uphill to the house.
8/1 - Rest. Completely whooped after another day of moving.
8/2 - 6.27 miles. :56:39. 400'v. Stagecoach. Almost the same route as Tuesday but with a little more pep in the legs.
8/3 - 4.41 miles. :45:02. 400'v. Stagecoach. Waited until the sun went down so that I could run in the dark and practice running with the headlamp on. I ran about 1.5 miles on the road and then cut through the sagebrush to get down to Elk Run Trail next to the lake. My depth perception was playing tricks on me on the trails. It's a strange feeling running on trails in the dark. Even with a headlamp, your vision is so limited that you have to slow down and be careful of your footing, even on a wide trail like the one by the lake. From past experience, it's even stranger in the woods, when the trail is rockier and every sound coming from the darkness is like something stalking you. Funny thing this evening was that I didn't make a wrong turn until I got back on the roads. I should do a few more night runs before RRR.
8/4 - 17.45 miles. 3:48:14. 2750'v. Sarvis Creek Trail. Attempted to run Sarvis Creek from end to end and back and failed miserably. About 45 minutes before my run, I took a 2.7 fl.oz. dose of Vespa CV-25, an amino acid supplement that is supposed to help athletes metabolize body fat. For fueling, I carried 1.8oz. packet of Pocket Fuel Almond Butter, a couple Clif Shot gels, three SaltStick capsules and a clementine. I also carried a 20 oz. water bottle and a SteriPen Adventurer to purify water that I would be refilling from creeks and streams. There were several groups of hikers on the early portion of the trail, which was nice to see, and I hiked and ran the first 800' climb in the first couple miles. I reached the wooden bridge crossing the creek (around 3 miles) in about a half-hour and felt really good as I continued another mile up trail on the portion I had run a couple months ago. I noticed alot of cow piles on the trail (this area is Wilderness Area but apparently Open Range for ranchers, also) and it made me nervous about getting water from the creek but I figured that's why I have a water purifier. Around the 6 mile mark, I had run through a couple of open meadows and it was getting close to noon and warming up pretty good. I finally stopped at the creek for a few minutes to refill my bottle and then continued back on the trail. About a mile later, I ran into 3 people who had come in on horseback from the Buffalo Park end of the trail and were having a little lunch. I surprised them by coming down the trail solo and I stopped to talk for a couple minutes. They were visitors from Arizona and said it had taken them 2 hours to ride to that point. By now, I was sure that I wouldn't make it to Buffalo Park but I continued on, waded through Sarvis Creek and started a climb for another mile until I reached 9000' elevation before deciding to turn around. Originally, I had thought the trail was about 8 miles end to end but I pulled out my map, determined my location and figured that it was actually 12-13 miles. I definitely didn't have enough food to make the trip so I turned and ran the downhill through some pine trees until I hit a creek crossing where I stopped to refill my water bottle again. Here, I saw the threesome again, this time on horses, and yeilded the trail to let them pass. At the creek crossing, I filled my bottle up, yet again, and stopped to take a couple photos. I ran the next 3 miles at an easy pace on some technical single track, mostly because I was feeling the heat and lacked energy, despite eating all my Pocket Fuel, the clementine, one gel and all my SaltSticks. I passed a family I saw earlier with about 4 miles to go and looked forward to the bridge where I would dip into the creek again, refill and cool off. In the last few miles, I was thankful to be in the trees and hiked the short climb from the bridge and ran the last 2 mile downhill portion feeling pretty drained. Once I made it back to my truck, I pounded a warm Gatorade and ate a banana, and while tired, didn't feel exceptionally bad. I drove about 15 minutes to get back home and shortly thereafter my stomach turned and I promptly vomitted before I could get in the shower. Demoralized, I climbed into bed and napped for an hour or so before I finally felt a little better and was able to eat dinner.
8/5 - 2 miles. Walked with Katy. Man, it's hot. Legs felt a little stiff.
Weekly mileage: 36 miles.
Moving the shop was a real pain early in the week, rough on my back and made it tough to even want to run in the evening. I decided to do the night run on Friday to 1) reaquaint myself with running in the dark and 2) run on somewhat tired legs before my Saturday long run. I'm not sure what caused my problems on Saturday. It could have been the heat, the Vespa (first time I've tried this product), accumulated fatigue, contaminated water or any combination these things. From my Wilderness First Responder training, I'm inclined to rule out water contamination since I did purify my water and it usually takes at least a few days for waterborne illness to show up. It's also possible that I didn't stay hydrated enough for the weather as I held back on drinking early in the run. I'll try the Vespa again on next week's long run to see what happens.
7/31 - 6.17 miles. 1:05:33. 400'v. Stagecoach. An easy and much need run to decompress after a full day of moving equipment to the new shop. Over the past 2 weeks Bob and I have been relocating the business, which is no small feat. Today, in particular, was a hot day and we began moving the larger shop equipment. This run felt like one of my longest this year as I was on my feet the entire work day. Route was from the house, down to the lakeshore and about half a mile of trail before turning around and running back uphill to the house.
8/1 - Rest. Completely whooped after another day of moving.
8/2 - 6.27 miles. :56:39. 400'v. Stagecoach. Almost the same route as Tuesday but with a little more pep in the legs.
8/3 - 4.41 miles. :45:02. 400'v. Stagecoach. Waited until the sun went down so that I could run in the dark and practice running with the headlamp on. I ran about 1.5 miles on the road and then cut through the sagebrush to get down to Elk Run Trail next to the lake. My depth perception was playing tricks on me on the trails. It's a strange feeling running on trails in the dark. Even with a headlamp, your vision is so limited that you have to slow down and be careful of your footing, even on a wide trail like the one by the lake. From past experience, it's even stranger in the woods, when the trail is rockier and every sound coming from the darkness is like something stalking you. Funny thing this evening was that I didn't make a wrong turn until I got back on the roads. I should do a few more night runs before RRR.
8/4 - 17.45 miles. 3:48:14. 2750'v. Sarvis Creek Trail. Attempted to run Sarvis Creek from end to end and back and failed miserably. About 45 minutes before my run, I took a 2.7 fl.oz. dose of Vespa CV-25, an amino acid supplement that is supposed to help athletes metabolize body fat. For fueling, I carried 1.8oz. packet of Pocket Fuel Almond Butter, a couple Clif Shot gels, three SaltStick capsules and a clementine. I also carried a 20 oz. water bottle and a SteriPen Adventurer to purify water that I would be refilling from creeks and streams. There were several groups of hikers on the early portion of the trail, which was nice to see, and I hiked and ran the first 800' climb in the first couple miles. I reached the wooden bridge crossing the creek (around 3 miles) in about a half-hour and felt really good as I continued another mile up trail on the portion I had run a couple months ago. I noticed alot of cow piles on the trail (this area is Wilderness Area but apparently Open Range for ranchers, also) and it made me nervous about getting water from the creek but I figured that's why I have a water purifier. Around the 6 mile mark, I had run through a couple of open meadows and it was getting close to noon and warming up pretty good. I finally stopped at the creek for a few minutes to refill my bottle and then continued back on the trail. About a mile later, I ran into 3 people who had come in on horseback from the Buffalo Park end of the trail and were having a little lunch. I surprised them by coming down the trail solo and I stopped to talk for a couple minutes. They were visitors from Arizona and said it had taken them 2 hours to ride to that point. By now, I was sure that I wouldn't make it to Buffalo Park but I continued on, waded through Sarvis Creek and started a climb for another mile until I reached 9000' elevation before deciding to turn around. Originally, I had thought the trail was about 8 miles end to end but I pulled out my map, determined my location and figured that it was actually 12-13 miles. I definitely didn't have enough food to make the trip so I turned and ran the downhill through some pine trees until I hit a creek crossing where I stopped to refill my water bottle again. Here, I saw the threesome again, this time on horses, and yeilded the trail to let them pass. At the creek crossing, I filled my bottle up, yet again, and stopped to take a couple photos. I ran the next 3 miles at an easy pace on some technical single track, mostly because I was feeling the heat and lacked energy, despite eating all my Pocket Fuel, the clementine, one gel and all my SaltSticks. I passed a family I saw earlier with about 4 miles to go and looked forward to the bridge where I would dip into the creek again, refill and cool off. In the last few miles, I was thankful to be in the trees and hiked the short climb from the bridge and ran the last 2 mile downhill portion feeling pretty drained. Once I made it back to my truck, I pounded a warm Gatorade and ate a banana, and while tired, didn't feel exceptionally bad. I drove about 15 minutes to get back home and shortly thereafter my stomach turned and I promptly vomitted before I could get in the shower. Demoralized, I climbed into bed and napped for an hour or so before I finally felt a little better and was able to eat dinner.
8/5 - 2 miles. Walked with Katy. Man, it's hot. Legs felt a little stiff.
Weekly mileage: 36 miles.
Moving the shop was a real pain early in the week, rough on my back and made it tough to even want to run in the evening. I decided to do the night run on Friday to 1) reaquaint myself with running in the dark and 2) run on somewhat tired legs before my Saturday long run. I'm not sure what caused my problems on Saturday. It could have been the heat, the Vespa (first time I've tried this product), accumulated fatigue, contaminated water or any combination these things. From my Wilderness First Responder training, I'm inclined to rule out water contamination since I did purify my water and it usually takes at least a few days for waterborne illness to show up. It's also possible that I didn't stay hydrated enough for the weather as I held back on drinking early in the run. I'll try the Vespa again on next week's long run to see what happens.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Weekly Summary: July 22 - July 29
7/22 - Rest.
7/23 - Rest.
7/24 - Rest.
7/25 - 1 mile. Walking with Katy.
7/26 - A couple miles. Stagecoach. No watch. Just shaking things out a bit.
7/27 - Rest.
7/28 - 10.66 miles. 1:59:19. 700'v. Stagecoach. Some trail and alot of dirt road for this casual morning run. The weather was pretty clear but humid when I set out down the dirt road on my way to Sarvis Creek Trail. After a 2 mile warm up on the road I was ready to run some single track but only made it about a half mile up Sarvis Creek before running into two, dog-sized bear cubs. One bolted down the trail, FAST! and the smaller one tried to climb up an aspen tree. I immediately turned around, afraid that I would frighten the two bears into losing each other. It also crossed my mind that Mama Bear was probably within earshot of her cubs and wouldn't appreciate me bugging them. No worries, they were there first. I decided to run the road again for a while and saw a few guys fishing and three runners also enjoying the morning. I hiked quite a few hills on the way back as my legs seemed to lack some pep.
7/29 - 11.26 miles. 3:01:25. Gilpin Lake Trail (1161) - Gold Creek Trail (1150). Finally, I can check the famous "Zirkel Circle" off my list after wanting to do this route for over two years. My first attempt, two summers ago with Katy, ended rather abruptly when a rogue tree branch nearly scalped my then-girlfriend. This time I ran it with Richard Williams and we didn't run Mica Lake Trail, opting to do just the classic North Routt County mountain loop. It looked like it might rain all morning but we didn't get wet until the final two miles and, by then, it was a pleasant, light rain that cooled us off. The hike up was steady and relaxed for the first 3 miles and we didn't run a whole lot. There were many, many people on the trail and even more sitting at Gilpin Lake when we finally arrived there. I'm not used to sharing the trail with so many people (unless it's a race!) but I love seeing people getting out in the woods so it was cool to exchange greetings with them. Gilpin Lake was incredible and I can really see why it is such a popular destination. After leaving the lake, we climbed up and over a saddle and enjoyed 5 glorious miles of downhill all the way back to the trail head. The single track trail was both runnable and fairly technical but we were feeling good on the return so we kept up a pretty brisk pace most of the way down. Gorgeous track!
Two good runs on the weekend although I lacked a couple of maintenance runs during the week. Overall, feeling very good and looking forward to a few more wilderness runs with Richard in August. Right now, the only race I'm considering for next month is Continental Divide Trail Run on the 18th. Richard and I are planning to do an out-and-back run on the entire Mad Creek (Swamp Park) Trail in mid-August as a final long run (44 miles) before the RRR100. Next Sunday, I am planning on taking him to Sheriff Reservoir to check out the Black Mountain Trail.
7/23 - Rest.
7/24 - Rest.
7/25 - 1 mile. Walking with Katy.
7/26 - A couple miles. Stagecoach. No watch. Just shaking things out a bit.
7/27 - Rest.
7/28 - 10.66 miles. 1:59:19. 700'v. Stagecoach. Some trail and alot of dirt road for this casual morning run. The weather was pretty clear but humid when I set out down the dirt road on my way to Sarvis Creek Trail. After a 2 mile warm up on the road I was ready to run some single track but only made it about a half mile up Sarvis Creek before running into two, dog-sized bear cubs. One bolted down the trail, FAST! and the smaller one tried to climb up an aspen tree. I immediately turned around, afraid that I would frighten the two bears into losing each other. It also crossed my mind that Mama Bear was probably within earshot of her cubs and wouldn't appreciate me bugging them. No worries, they were there first. I decided to run the road again for a while and saw a few guys fishing and three runners also enjoying the morning. I hiked quite a few hills on the way back as my legs seemed to lack some pep.
7/29 - 11.26 miles. 3:01:25. Gilpin Lake Trail (1161) - Gold Creek Trail (1150). Finally, I can check the famous "Zirkel Circle" off my list after wanting to do this route for over two years. My first attempt, two summers ago with Katy, ended rather abruptly when a rogue tree branch nearly scalped my then-girlfriend. This time I ran it with Richard Williams and we didn't run Mica Lake Trail, opting to do just the classic North Routt County mountain loop. It looked like it might rain all morning but we didn't get wet until the final two miles and, by then, it was a pleasant, light rain that cooled us off. The hike up was steady and relaxed for the first 3 miles and we didn't run a whole lot. There were many, many people on the trail and even more sitting at Gilpin Lake when we finally arrived there. I'm not used to sharing the trail with so many people (unless it's a race!) but I love seeing people getting out in the woods so it was cool to exchange greetings with them. Gilpin Lake was incredible and I can really see why it is such a popular destination. After leaving the lake, we climbed up and over a saddle and enjoyed 5 glorious miles of downhill all the way back to the trail head. The single track trail was both runnable and fairly technical but we were feeling good on the return so we kept up a pretty brisk pace most of the way down. Gorgeous track!
Two good runs on the weekend although I lacked a couple of maintenance runs during the week. Overall, feeling very good and looking forward to a few more wilderness runs with Richard in August. Right now, the only race I'm considering for next month is Continental Divide Trail Run on the 18th. Richard and I are planning to do an out-and-back run on the entire Mad Creek (Swamp Park) Trail in mid-August as a final long run (44 miles) before the RRR100. Next Sunday, I am planning on taking him to Sheriff Reservoir to check out the Black Mountain Trail.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Fortnight Summary: July 8 - July 22
7/8 - 10.6 miles. 3:07:25. 2650'v. Lower Bear Creek Trail. Easy with Richard.
7/9 - Rest.
7/10 - 4.3 miles. :49:33. Stagecoach.
7/11- 3.59 miles. :36:17. Stagecoach.
7/12 - 2.30 miles. :26:42. Stagecoach.
7/13 - Rest.
7/14 - Rest. Travel to Leadville. Set up camp, eat and relax.
7/15 - Leadville Silver Rush 50 Mile. 47.5 miles. 9:49:56. 7,382'v.
7/16 - Rest. Despite feeling completely thrashed after the race yesterday, I felt pretty good when I woke up the next morning. My legs didn't start feeling sore until around noon the next day and then pretty rough in the afternoon. Slept OK that night but could feel my legs. Took an extra round of Juice Plus and drank alot of juice and berries for anti-oxidants.
7/17 - Rest. Pretty sore, primarily in the quadraceps but not so much anywhere else. A little soreness on top of my left foot. Slept like a champ.
7/18 - 3.42 miles. :39:08. Stagecoach. Easy road run felt awesome. Legs really weren't sore today at all. Just fatigued a bit but the run seemed to help shake out the cobwebs.
7/19 - 4.39 miles. :45:05. Stagecoach. Ran a few easy miles after starting out a little quick. Legs feel pretty good at the beginning of the run but after a while they felt a little dead. Walked a little, too.
7/20 - Rest.
7/21 - Spring Creek Memorial Trail Run. 9 miles. 1:17:24. My third year running this race and I just love it. This year, the field was much smaller and alot of fast people didn't show up so it was anybody's race up front. Local Austrian-stud-speedster, Harald Niedl, who always seems to finish in the top five of whatever race he's in, finally scored a win in 1:11. Followed by high school stand-out runner, Chris Zirkle. I was feeling good and went out fast at the start, running in 4th, but knew the pace was too hot for me and even asked if anyone wanted to pass as we rolled down the first hill, across the first bridge and onto the gradually uphill rocky trail. Several people passed me before we made the climb up to the actual Spring Creek trailhead. I eased into a strong powerhike once we turned off the single track and started up Elevator Shaft, a steep drainage that course follows for a few hundred vertical feet. I opted not to pass immediately and stayed behind a few people to keep my breathing and heart rate down and felt really good the entire climb through the ferns and aspens. There were several trees downed along the course but even the tallest ones didn't really impede my ascent as I began to alternate running into my climb. I passed about 4 runners on the climb and soon caught site of Walter McGill as we made a gradual descent through the trees on a somewhat rocky trail. I could see Kelly Heany about 15 yards in front of Walter. About a mile later, we all emerged from the forest together and turned on a dirt road to leave the Tatanka Ridge property. We lamented running the dirt road up to Dry Lake as our least favorite part of the race. Having done this race a couple of times now, I know that the 3/4 mile dirt road climb can be really tough. It's a grind and there is one spot where you can't see around the corner but it looks like you are at the top and then you go a little farther and see the road just keeps going up. By this time another runner had caught us, so the four of us relaxed a bit and we talked a little bit as we ran. A few minutes later, we finally reached the Dry Lake parking lot and I sped up to be the first one on Spring Creek Trail. I was feeling really good as we started the 4.5 mile descent to the finish and I love to run this trail downhill. It's just a blast. There are 13 bridges that you cross as the dirt trail snakes it's way through aspen and pine trees, rocks, logs, ferns and water. There are a few small ascents along the way but overall the trail drops a couple thousand feet over those 4.5 miles. It's sublime. The rest of the way down the trail, I just tried to maintain a fast but in control cadence. In last year's race, I ran the down hill too hard and the last mile or so really hurt. I wanted to avoid that this year and be able to run strong at the end and enjoy the experience. Cruising over the final miles of the course, I just felt rock solid and kept wondering if I should push harder or maintain. I found myself wishing someone was close enough behind me to scare me into running faster. In the end, I'm amazed at how my legs have recovered from Silver Rush because I felt I could have run faster. My legs just felt that solid. In hindsight, I wish I had worn a watch for this race. I ran by feel today and even when I was going hard I was pretty much in control. If I had worn a watch, I would've set split-time goals for the ascent and descent and pushed harder to make those goals. If I had pushed a little harder at any time during the race I'd be able to claim a PR for the course instead of finishing five seconds slower than last year! Oh well, I finished sixth. Top ten three years in a row! Woo-hoo!
7/22 - Rest. Ahh. Feels good to stay home and relax.
The last couple weeks have been pretty solid. I had a nice taper going into Silver Rush and the legs felt good and delivered on race day. I knew I was capable of posting a sub-10 finish and I ran a smart enough race to make it happen, even if I had a rough spot at the end. I think my troubles really stemmed more from the nutrition end and not fitness because I still had leg strength but was just feeling lousy in my stomach and head. Between the altitude and heat, I was lacking adequate electrolyte intake because I kept watering down my Gatorade over the last 2.5 hours. The nausea was a real eye-opener though. In a way, I'm glad I experienced that so that I know what will happen if I fall behind on fueling. Lesson learned there.
Recovery after the 50 was also the best it's ever been. I was feeling it Monday and Tuesday, after the race, but ran easy on Wednesday and Thursday, without any discomfort. Friday off seemed like enough rest to run hard at Spring Creek and I'm just a little sore (mostly hamstrings) and fatigued today (Sunday). With less than two months until Run Rabbit Run, I will keep up with my 3 scheduled maintenance runs during the week and long runs on the weekend. I'm hoping to work out a 40-mile wilderness run with Richard Williams in mid-August, that will be my last long run before RRR. The only race I might do in August is Continental Divide but as much as I like that race, I'm not 100% sure that will register.
7/9 - Rest.
7/10 - 4.3 miles. :49:33. Stagecoach.
7/11- 3.59 miles. :36:17. Stagecoach.
7/12 - 2.30 miles. :26:42. Stagecoach.
7/13 - Rest.
7/14 - Rest. Travel to Leadville. Set up camp, eat and relax.
7/15 - Leadville Silver Rush 50 Mile. 47.5 miles. 9:49:56. 7,382'v.
7/16 - Rest. Despite feeling completely thrashed after the race yesterday, I felt pretty good when I woke up the next morning. My legs didn't start feeling sore until around noon the next day and then pretty rough in the afternoon. Slept OK that night but could feel my legs. Took an extra round of Juice Plus and drank alot of juice and berries for anti-oxidants.
7/17 - Rest. Pretty sore, primarily in the quadraceps but not so much anywhere else. A little soreness on top of my left foot. Slept like a champ.
7/18 - 3.42 miles. :39:08. Stagecoach. Easy road run felt awesome. Legs really weren't sore today at all. Just fatigued a bit but the run seemed to help shake out the cobwebs.
7/19 - 4.39 miles. :45:05. Stagecoach. Ran a few easy miles after starting out a little quick. Legs feel pretty good at the beginning of the run but after a while they felt a little dead. Walked a little, too.
7/20 - Rest.
7/21 - Spring Creek Memorial Trail Run. 9 miles. 1:17:24. My third year running this race and I just love it. This year, the field was much smaller and alot of fast people didn't show up so it was anybody's race up front. Local Austrian-stud-speedster, Harald Niedl, who always seems to finish in the top five of whatever race he's in, finally scored a win in 1:11. Followed by high school stand-out runner, Chris Zirkle. I was feeling good and went out fast at the start, running in 4th, but knew the pace was too hot for me and even asked if anyone wanted to pass as we rolled down the first hill, across the first bridge and onto the gradually uphill rocky trail. Several people passed me before we made the climb up to the actual Spring Creek trailhead. I eased into a strong powerhike once we turned off the single track and started up Elevator Shaft, a steep drainage that course follows for a few hundred vertical feet. I opted not to pass immediately and stayed behind a few people to keep my breathing and heart rate down and felt really good the entire climb through the ferns and aspens. There were several trees downed along the course but even the tallest ones didn't really impede my ascent as I began to alternate running into my climb. I passed about 4 runners on the climb and soon caught site of Walter McGill as we made a gradual descent through the trees on a somewhat rocky trail. I could see Kelly Heany about 15 yards in front of Walter. About a mile later, we all emerged from the forest together and turned on a dirt road to leave the Tatanka Ridge property. We lamented running the dirt road up to Dry Lake as our least favorite part of the race. Having done this race a couple of times now, I know that the 3/4 mile dirt road climb can be really tough. It's a grind and there is one spot where you can't see around the corner but it looks like you are at the top and then you go a little farther and see the road just keeps going up. By this time another runner had caught us, so the four of us relaxed a bit and we talked a little bit as we ran. A few minutes later, we finally reached the Dry Lake parking lot and I sped up to be the first one on Spring Creek Trail. I was feeling really good as we started the 4.5 mile descent to the finish and I love to run this trail downhill. It's just a blast. There are 13 bridges that you cross as the dirt trail snakes it's way through aspen and pine trees, rocks, logs, ferns and water. There are a few small ascents along the way but overall the trail drops a couple thousand feet over those 4.5 miles. It's sublime. The rest of the way down the trail, I just tried to maintain a fast but in control cadence. In last year's race, I ran the down hill too hard and the last mile or so really hurt. I wanted to avoid that this year and be able to run strong at the end and enjoy the experience. Cruising over the final miles of the course, I just felt rock solid and kept wondering if I should push harder or maintain. I found myself wishing someone was close enough behind me to scare me into running faster. In the end, I'm amazed at how my legs have recovered from Silver Rush because I felt I could have run faster. My legs just felt that solid. In hindsight, I wish I had worn a watch for this race. I ran by feel today and even when I was going hard I was pretty much in control. If I had worn a watch, I would've set split-time goals for the ascent and descent and pushed harder to make those goals. If I had pushed a little harder at any time during the race I'd be able to claim a PR for the course instead of finishing five seconds slower than last year! Oh well, I finished sixth. Top ten three years in a row! Woo-hoo!
7/22 - Rest. Ahh. Feels good to stay home and relax.
The last couple weeks have been pretty solid. I had a nice taper going into Silver Rush and the legs felt good and delivered on race day. I knew I was capable of posting a sub-10 finish and I ran a smart enough race to make it happen, even if I had a rough spot at the end. I think my troubles really stemmed more from the nutrition end and not fitness because I still had leg strength but was just feeling lousy in my stomach and head. Between the altitude and heat, I was lacking adequate electrolyte intake because I kept watering down my Gatorade over the last 2.5 hours. The nausea was a real eye-opener though. In a way, I'm glad I experienced that so that I know what will happen if I fall behind on fueling. Lesson learned there.
Recovery after the 50 was also the best it's ever been. I was feeling it Monday and Tuesday, after the race, but ran easy on Wednesday and Thursday, without any discomfort. Friday off seemed like enough rest to run hard at Spring Creek and I'm just a little sore (mostly hamstrings) and fatigued today (Sunday). With less than two months until Run Rabbit Run, I will keep up with my 3 scheduled maintenance runs during the week and long runs on the weekend. I'm hoping to work out a 40-mile wilderness run with Richard Williams in mid-August, that will be my last long run before RRR. The only race I might do in August is Continental Divide but as much as I like that race, I'm not 100% sure that will register.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Leadville Silver Rush 50
The Leadville Silver Rush 50 is a great race. Sunday morning, around 300 (of nearly 600 registered) runners lined up at the Dutch Henri Hill starting line to tackle just short of 50 miles of mountainous jeep and foot trails at elevations from ten to 12,000'. The starting area was already bursting with energy as music blared and the announcer counted down the time to the shotgun start. At 6 A.M., a run in the mountains seemed like a good idea.
The weather was clear and cool in the morning after some light rain the night before. The race begins with a short, steep climb up Dutch Henri Hill before entering a pine forest and beginning a slow, winding climb up to the first aid station around mile 6. Going into the race, I knew that alot of the course was on jeep trails and wasn't expecting it to be as fun as my beloved single track but I was impressed early on with the trail's footing, varied technicality and overall runnabilty. Once the intial pack stretched out a bit, I ran with a nice guy from the Denver area for a while, chatting it up about elite mountain runner Matt Carpenter's idea of "even-ness of effort" as we got warmed up. I moved ahead after a few minutes and ran within myself for a while just getting into the groove. What I found most impressive about the course were the incredible and expansive views of the very large mountains in the area around Leadville both initially and then, at the higher points of the course. Around mile 3, the trail paralleled a wide valley, Iowa Gulch, with some relic mining structures from the abandoned Hellena Mine and massive tailing piles at the foot of several enormous, treeless peaks. After Aid 1, the trail continued up the gulch on the rough jeep road through an open area with bushes and the occasional fir or spruce tree to the base of the Iowa Amphitheatre, watched over by Mount Sherman (14,036'), then met up with dirt County Road 6 for a 3 mile descent to the Printer Boy Aid Station (mile 13.5). Here, I met up with Katy and Bronwyn, who had come down to crew for me and did so in smashing style, I might add. As rolled in, I handed my water bottle to Bron, who immediately filled it and asked me what I needed and what I wanted to eat. Katy got some sunscreen on me and refilled my running vest with a fresh supply of gels and trail mix. I changed my shirt and was out of there in under two minutes.
A short, fast descent through a pine forest on near-single track trail greeted me next and I was elated to be in the cool trees as the morning temperature began to climb a bit. After about a mile descent, the course crossed a road and began a steady climb up a dirt road for the next mile or so before turning onto a double track that continued the climb back in the trees. So far in the race, I had kept my pace conservative and my effort even. Elevated, but even. I was running easy on the downhills and flats and hiking very well on the climbs. I was feeling really good and in control. As the climb continued above treeline, I was affored an awesome view of the town of Leadville, Turquoise Lake and Mount Massive (14,421'). Spectacular! Around here, I met Adam Whitehead, a native of Zimbabwe, living and working in Denver now, and we shared the climb. I asked Adam what he did for work and when he replied that he was into wealth management, I commented that I did the exact opposite. In addition to doing the 50, Adam was competing in the Leadman competition, which means he's a badass. We talked it up and took in the impressive views as we climbed up to 12,000' on a rocky jeep road. After cresting a false summit, the course descended a bit before climbing, again to 12,000' in prepartion for the descent to the race turnaround at Stumptown. A little ways into the descent, I partnered up with a runner named Jason (Jay Baker), a Frontier Airlines pilot and triathlete from Denver. We were both in the zone and chatted like a couple of old ladies about racing and life, all the while cheering on the front runners who were now passing us on their way out. Because I was having so much fun talking to him, I was a little sad to part company at Stumptown as I handed off my vest to Bronwyn and frantically chewed on some food. I continued on a convoluted loop climb up to the proper turnaround and met back up with Bronwyn to grab my refilled vest and water bottles. At this time, I took on a second water bottle filled with Gatorade in anticipation of the afternoon heat and headed back on the course. I hit the turnaround in under five hours.
The long climb back up to 12,000' after Stumptown was the first time I really had to push the effort. Between the altitude and the steepness of the trail, the effort to get back to the top of this climb was substantial. Still, I stuck to my program of eating gels and real food (clementines and a trail mix I pre-made of cashews, dried blueberries and cherries and M&Ms) and drinking to ensure I was properly fueling my body for the effort. The next descent and climb went well but I was definitely shakier than I was earlier in the race. This was the section of the course that is above treeline so I distracted myself by looking far off into the surrounding mountains. At the next aid station, I refilled my bottles and grabbed some pretzels but they turned to paste when I put them in my mouth so I didn't eat many. As the trail descended again, the temperature began to rise but I felt steady again and I knew I was going to get to see Katy again at the Printer Boy Aid Station. (I didn't get to see her at Stumptown because my lovely pregnant wife was getting some rest.) There was one more climb before the aid but I still felt good the entire way, just hiking smooth and strong up through the pine trees. I got pumped up by the crowd of people amassed on the road as I exited the forest and ran a little harder to give the spectators a good show, looking for my crew all the while. Once spotted, they changed out my gear and I put on a fresh pair of socks. I paused to take a picture with a cute puppy at the race and I kissed my wife and left again.
Earlier in the race, I had been told by one of the other runners that the next section was the crux of the race and now I believe him. A short descent on paved road takes you back to a 3 mile climb on dirt road back up to foot of Iowa Amphitheatre. By now, the mid-day heat has arrived and you are completely exposed on that road as you climb achingly slow up, up and up. I shuffled, hiked and walked. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat for one hour. I reached the top around the seven hour mark and relished the idea of a mostly downhill finish. Mostly.
I found myself grinding away the final miles of the race. I had felt so good the first half, it was hard to believe that I was starting to fade and I just kept calculating the time-to-mile pace that would let me finish in my under-10 hour goal. I hit the final aid station, still in pretty good spirits and chowed on some watermelon and had my water bottles refilled. I had been diluting my Gatorade bottle with water and, in hindsight, I suffered on electrolytes toward the end because I had been doing that. Particularly because it warm. As a result, I just slowly faded over the last part of the race. I could feel it coming and tried to keep taking on calories in the form of gels but I just continued to struggle as the miles wore on at the end. I still managed a pace in the high 10 min/mile but it I could tell it wouldn't last as the wheels started falling off the wagon. With only a few miles left in the race, I linked up with another runner (Sean Wetstine) who was still feeling good enough to talk to me and provide some encouragement. We shuffled along and I couldn't believe it didn't feel like we were getting closer to the finish. I checked my GPS and it just didn't tick off the distance quick enough for my liking. Then, the nausea. Whoa. My stomach did a 180 and started messing with me. I finally stopped dead in my tracks and coughed, heaved and cramped. No vomit just pain. Oh. I'm in the hurt locker now. I just turned and started up the trail. Just move forward. Finish. I walked. I hiked. I shuffled. I looked at my GPS and saw that we should be at the finish and all I saw on the course was a foot trail climbing up a hill, into the trees. "Those fuckers. They added a mile to the course." I thought to myself and I was right. I just kept moving and actually managed to run again. I told myself to take advantage of the lie that my brain was telling my body and kept moving.
Finally, I saw and heard people as I crested the top of Dutch Henri Hill and relief overwhelms me. I ran hard down the trail to the finish line. I saw Katy and Bronwyn and the red carpet finish and nothing mattered for a moment except the fact that I was finished and I did it under 10 hours. 9:49:56. Then, I remembered to look for the runner who pulled me through those final miles so that I can thank him but he's lost in the crowd. I am humbled.
Silver Rush was another great experience and full of surprises. The course is definitely tough, scenic and worthy of the effort. Towards the end of my race, the clouds started moving in and it rained and hailed for a while a few minutes after I finished. I immediately thought of the 200 or so runners still out on the course dealing with the mountain weather and how we are just visitors to those high peaks that we spent the day running through, up and down. Despite feeling low at the end of the race, the overall experience was exceptional and I got to run with some really amazing people.
The weather was clear and cool in the morning after some light rain the night before. The race begins with a short, steep climb up Dutch Henri Hill before entering a pine forest and beginning a slow, winding climb up to the first aid station around mile 6. Going into the race, I knew that alot of the course was on jeep trails and wasn't expecting it to be as fun as my beloved single track but I was impressed early on with the trail's footing, varied technicality and overall runnabilty. Once the intial pack stretched out a bit, I ran with a nice guy from the Denver area for a while, chatting it up about elite mountain runner Matt Carpenter's idea of "even-ness of effort" as we got warmed up. I moved ahead after a few minutes and ran within myself for a while just getting into the groove. What I found most impressive about the course were the incredible and expansive views of the very large mountains in the area around Leadville both initially and then, at the higher points of the course. Around mile 3, the trail paralleled a wide valley, Iowa Gulch, with some relic mining structures from the abandoned Hellena Mine and massive tailing piles at the foot of several enormous, treeless peaks. After Aid 1, the trail continued up the gulch on the rough jeep road through an open area with bushes and the occasional fir or spruce tree to the base of the Iowa Amphitheatre, watched over by Mount Sherman (14,036'), then met up with dirt County Road 6 for a 3 mile descent to the Printer Boy Aid Station (mile 13.5). Here, I met up with Katy and Bronwyn, who had come down to crew for me and did so in smashing style, I might add. As rolled in, I handed my water bottle to Bron, who immediately filled it and asked me what I needed and what I wanted to eat. Katy got some sunscreen on me and refilled my running vest with a fresh supply of gels and trail mix. I changed my shirt and was out of there in under two minutes.
A short, fast descent through a pine forest on near-single track trail greeted me next and I was elated to be in the cool trees as the morning temperature began to climb a bit. After about a mile descent, the course crossed a road and began a steady climb up a dirt road for the next mile or so before turning onto a double track that continued the climb back in the trees. So far in the race, I had kept my pace conservative and my effort even. Elevated, but even. I was running easy on the downhills and flats and hiking very well on the climbs. I was feeling really good and in control. As the climb continued above treeline, I was affored an awesome view of the town of Leadville, Turquoise Lake and Mount Massive (14,421'). Spectacular! Around here, I met Adam Whitehead, a native of Zimbabwe, living and working in Denver now, and we shared the climb. I asked Adam what he did for work and when he replied that he was into wealth management, I commented that I did the exact opposite. In addition to doing the 50, Adam was competing in the Leadman competition, which means he's a badass. We talked it up and took in the impressive views as we climbed up to 12,000' on a rocky jeep road. After cresting a false summit, the course descended a bit before climbing, again to 12,000' in prepartion for the descent to the race turnaround at Stumptown. A little ways into the descent, I partnered up with a runner named Jason (Jay Baker), a Frontier Airlines pilot and triathlete from Denver. We were both in the zone and chatted like a couple of old ladies about racing and life, all the while cheering on the front runners who were now passing us on their way out. Because I was having so much fun talking to him, I was a little sad to part company at Stumptown as I handed off my vest to Bronwyn and frantically chewed on some food. I continued on a convoluted loop climb up to the proper turnaround and met back up with Bronwyn to grab my refilled vest and water bottles. At this time, I took on a second water bottle filled with Gatorade in anticipation of the afternoon heat and headed back on the course. I hit the turnaround in under five hours.
The long climb back up to 12,000' after Stumptown was the first time I really had to push the effort. Between the altitude and the steepness of the trail, the effort to get back to the top of this climb was substantial. Still, I stuck to my program of eating gels and real food (clementines and a trail mix I pre-made of cashews, dried blueberries and cherries and M&Ms) and drinking to ensure I was properly fueling my body for the effort. The next descent and climb went well but I was definitely shakier than I was earlier in the race. This was the section of the course that is above treeline so I distracted myself by looking far off into the surrounding mountains. At the next aid station, I refilled my bottles and grabbed some pretzels but they turned to paste when I put them in my mouth so I didn't eat many. As the trail descended again, the temperature began to rise but I felt steady again and I knew I was going to get to see Katy again at the Printer Boy Aid Station. (I didn't get to see her at Stumptown because my lovely pregnant wife was getting some rest.) There was one more climb before the aid but I still felt good the entire way, just hiking smooth and strong up through the pine trees. I got pumped up by the crowd of people amassed on the road as I exited the forest and ran a little harder to give the spectators a good show, looking for my crew all the while. Once spotted, they changed out my gear and I put on a fresh pair of socks. I paused to take a picture with a cute puppy at the race and I kissed my wife and left again.
Earlier in the race, I had been told by one of the other runners that the next section was the crux of the race and now I believe him. A short descent on paved road takes you back to a 3 mile climb on dirt road back up to foot of Iowa Amphitheatre. By now, the mid-day heat has arrived and you are completely exposed on that road as you climb achingly slow up, up and up. I shuffled, hiked and walked. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat for one hour. I reached the top around the seven hour mark and relished the idea of a mostly downhill finish. Mostly.
I found myself grinding away the final miles of the race. I had felt so good the first half, it was hard to believe that I was starting to fade and I just kept calculating the time-to-mile pace that would let me finish in my under-10 hour goal. I hit the final aid station, still in pretty good spirits and chowed on some watermelon and had my water bottles refilled. I had been diluting my Gatorade bottle with water and, in hindsight, I suffered on electrolytes toward the end because I had been doing that. Particularly because it warm. As a result, I just slowly faded over the last part of the race. I could feel it coming and tried to keep taking on calories in the form of gels but I just continued to struggle as the miles wore on at the end. I still managed a pace in the high 10 min/mile but it I could tell it wouldn't last as the wheels started falling off the wagon. With only a few miles left in the race, I linked up with another runner (Sean Wetstine) who was still feeling good enough to talk to me and provide some encouragement. We shuffled along and I couldn't believe it didn't feel like we were getting closer to the finish. I checked my GPS and it just didn't tick off the distance quick enough for my liking. Then, the nausea. Whoa. My stomach did a 180 and started messing with me. I finally stopped dead in my tracks and coughed, heaved and cramped. No vomit just pain. Oh. I'm in the hurt locker now. I just turned and started up the trail. Just move forward. Finish. I walked. I hiked. I shuffled. I looked at my GPS and saw that we should be at the finish and all I saw on the course was a foot trail climbing up a hill, into the trees. "Those fuckers. They added a mile to the course." I thought to myself and I was right. I just kept moving and actually managed to run again. I told myself to take advantage of the lie that my brain was telling my body and kept moving.
Finally, I saw and heard people as I crested the top of Dutch Henri Hill and relief overwhelms me. I ran hard down the trail to the finish line. I saw Katy and Bronwyn and the red carpet finish and nothing mattered for a moment except the fact that I was finished and I did it under 10 hours. 9:49:56. Then, I remembered to look for the runner who pulled me through those final miles so that I can thank him but he's lost in the crowd. I am humbled.
Silver Rush was another great experience and full of surprises. The course is definitely tough, scenic and worthy of the effort. Towards the end of my race, the clouds started moving in and it rained and hailed for a while a few minutes after I finished. I immediately thought of the 200 or so runners still out on the course dealing with the mountain weather and how we are just visitors to those high peaks that we spent the day running through, up and down. Despite feeling low at the end of the race, the overall experience was exceptional and I got to run with some really amazing people.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Weekly Summary: May 21 - May 28
5/21 - Rest.
5/22 - 6 miles. 1000'. Steamboat Ski Area. Ran 10 minutes to warm up from The Lodge thru the base area and up Right of Way to Thunderhead. From there, I did 5-minute hill intervals on Why Not Road up to Vagabond saddle (where the tepee is in the winter) before turning around and continuing intervals all the back to The Lodge. Pretty hard effort both uphill and down for my first "speed work" session of the year. My aerobic base is in good order after a solid winter/early spring of gradual build ups so I figure it is time to start adding some anerobic workouts.
5/23 - 7 miles. 700'. Spring Creek Trail. Nice and easy steady state recovery run in some cool, wet weather on Spring Creek. Kept the effort on the flats and downhills at 8 min/mile and did all the climbs without any hard breathing.
5/24 - 7 miles. 400'. Stagecoach. A couple downhill miles warming up at 8:30 min/mile, then 3 miles steady at 7:00 min/mile on Elk Run Trail next to the lake. Uphill back to the house at 8-9:30 min/mile. Solid effort.
5/25 - Rest.
5/26 - 2.5 hours. 3000'. Howelsen Hill, Emerald Mountain - Larry's - Quarry Mountain Trail - Ridge Trail (out) - Ridge Trail - Lane of Pain -Little Moab-Blackmere Drive-Howlesen Base area -roads (in). Tough, hilly run from downtown over Emerald Mountain on several trails and out towards Cow Creek on the Ridge Trail. Many, many healthy climbs this day, starting with Howelsen Hill face. Ridiculous climbing at some points. Ran some good wooded single track on the ascent up Emerald with a couple of open meadows on the way. Once on top of Emerald there are several brutally steep climbs afterward before finally hitting a couple miles of meandering downhill on the way out to Cow Creek. It was warm and I went through a lot of water. Long, long downhill from the top of Emerald via Lane of Pain, Little Moab and Blackmere Drive.
5/27 - 6 miles. Stagecoach. Route County Road 18. - Easy effort across the dam and down the road for a few miles. Super windy day and a little chilly.
5/28 - 12 miles. 1980'v. "Mad Creek" (Swamp Park) Trail. Six miles of gradual uphill on Mad Creek until I reached it's junction with Red Dirt. Along the way, I crossed the creek a couple of times, spotted a deer and power hiked most of the ascent with trekking poles. About 1:15 to the turnaround 6.2 miles up trail. I ran just about every step downhill except for the most technical footing parts. The trail is almost entirely in the woods with only a few small meadows and follows the creek the whole way and, aside from about a dozen really technical sections, is really smooth track. Very easy to run on.
8 day total: 50 miles. 6080'v.
A decent amount of miles and vertical this week made for some good running. Almost all of it on trails, which makes me even happier. Just more or less trying to mix it up and make sure my runs are fun and challenging with a little rest and easy recovery runs thrown in.
5/22 - 6 miles. 1000'. Steamboat Ski Area. Ran 10 minutes to warm up from The Lodge thru the base area and up Right of Way to Thunderhead. From there, I did 5-minute hill intervals on Why Not Road up to Vagabond saddle (where the tepee is in the winter) before turning around and continuing intervals all the back to The Lodge. Pretty hard effort both uphill and down for my first "speed work" session of the year. My aerobic base is in good order after a solid winter/early spring of gradual build ups so I figure it is time to start adding some anerobic workouts.
5/23 - 7 miles. 700'. Spring Creek Trail. Nice and easy steady state recovery run in some cool, wet weather on Spring Creek. Kept the effort on the flats and downhills at 8 min/mile and did all the climbs without any hard breathing.
5/24 - 7 miles. 400'. Stagecoach. A couple downhill miles warming up at 8:30 min/mile, then 3 miles steady at 7:00 min/mile on Elk Run Trail next to the lake. Uphill back to the house at 8-9:30 min/mile. Solid effort.
5/25 - Rest.
5/26 - 2.5 hours. 3000'. Howelsen Hill, Emerald Mountain - Larry's - Quarry Mountain Trail - Ridge Trail (out) - Ridge Trail - Lane of Pain -Little Moab-Blackmere Drive-Howlesen Base area -roads (in). Tough, hilly run from downtown over Emerald Mountain on several trails and out towards Cow Creek on the Ridge Trail. Many, many healthy climbs this day, starting with Howelsen Hill face. Ridiculous climbing at some points. Ran some good wooded single track on the ascent up Emerald with a couple of open meadows on the way. Once on top of Emerald there are several brutally steep climbs afterward before finally hitting a couple miles of meandering downhill on the way out to Cow Creek. It was warm and I went through a lot of water. Long, long downhill from the top of Emerald via Lane of Pain, Little Moab and Blackmere Drive.
5/27 - 6 miles. Stagecoach. Route County Road 18. - Easy effort across the dam and down the road for a few miles. Super windy day and a little chilly.
5/28 - 12 miles. 1980'v. "Mad Creek" (Swamp Park) Trail. Six miles of gradual uphill on Mad Creek until I reached it's junction with Red Dirt. Along the way, I crossed the creek a couple of times, spotted a deer and power hiked most of the ascent with trekking poles. About 1:15 to the turnaround 6.2 miles up trail. I ran just about every step downhill except for the most technical footing parts. The trail is almost entirely in the woods with only a few small meadows and follows the creek the whole way and, aside from about a dozen really technical sections, is really smooth track. Very easy to run on.
8 day total: 50 miles. 6080'v.
A decent amount of miles and vertical this week made for some good running. Almost all of it on trails, which makes me even happier. Just more or less trying to mix it up and make sure my runs are fun and challenging with a little rest and easy recovery runs thrown in.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Desert RATS 25 miler Race Report
Ironically, it took not going for a run today to allow me the time to write a race report for last Saturday's outing, which turned out quite well. I headed down to the Grand Junction area on late Friday afternoon with Aaron Baker, who was cool enough to invite me to stay at his parent's house for the weekend. The drive down was stunning as we paralleled the Colorado River and Aaron's company was hilarious, as usual. We fueled up on some delicious Mexican food courtesy of Los Jilberto's and I got a great night sleep in a comfortable bed, rather than sleeping in my truck.
I woke up around 4:30 a.m., early enough to get to the race start area, check in and then run a couple miles on the course to warm up. I returned to the start area, grabbed my vest and water bottles, took a few pictures and jumped into the last quarter of the pack of about 200 runners (both 25 and 50 mile racers). The first mile was on a wide gravel road and I slowly worked my way to mid-pack before the course turned onto single track. I kept the pace very manageable but still found myself moving faster than the people I was running with, so I picked my way past small groups when the trail was wide enough. After passing one small group, I heard someone whine, "Let people know what side you're passing on!" Gee, I thought this was a race. "Right on." I replied. The climb continued on for about a mile before we hit an awesome rolling, technical, slick rock section that went on for 3-4 miles. After cresting the ridge, the views of canyons and the Colorado River below were spectacular. I was still able to pass every now and then but I noticed myself being overly cautious about passing when OW! I rolled my right ankle and heard it make a popping sound. The pain was immediate and I started to consider dropping from the race before I even hit the first aid station. Damn. Not an auspicious beginning. I slowed a bit but kept moving and reassessing whether or not my ankle was OK to continue and finish. As I ran into the first aid station, I decided to keep going and see how things would play out. On the next climb, I felt like the pain would be manageable and was determined to finish. After that, I would only experience an occasional sharp pain when I ran downhill. I decided to just stick to my original plan and run slow, hike all the hills, take some pictures, enjoy the views and concentrate on staying hydrated and nourished.
From there, my run played out really well and I felt good the rest of the morning (with the exception of my ankle and, later, my tender feet). I had started eating gels after the first half hour and continued eating one every 45 minutes as well as drinking water quite often and eating something quickly at each aid station (chips, a banana, M&Ms, etc.). As a result, my energy levels never decreased and I didn't get tired during the race. I maintained a moderate pace that was still fast enough for me to keep catching small groups of runners, pass them, then keep working away until I got to the next group. The beautiful desert rock kept me inspired the entire time. Around the 10 mile mark, I hiked, then ran, for a couple miles with a guy named Rob (Ganger) from the Denver suburb of Englewood and struck up a conversation. It turns out that he will be running all of the ultra-trail races that I'm doing this summer. I enjoyed his company and the pace he was running so it was a pleasant to continue with him for half an hour or so. He was doing the 50 miler, so his pace was a little slower and I passed him in the late teen miles and pressed on by myself. Around the 20 mile mark, I hit another aid station, where I had my water bottle filled for the third time and also had my electrolyte bottle filled. The morning had been pretty cool but it was starting to warm into the high 70s/low 80s, which felt quite warm to me. After that, the course began it's last major climb, about 800 feet back to the top of the Mack Ridge. I was still feeling so good that I reeled in at least 6 more runners before hitting the top. It was clear to me that staying fueled early was really paying dividends at this point in the race. Everyone I passed looked so fatigued and was really struggling. One guy pleaded, "I'm a road runner!" as he slowly hiked up the rocky trail. I couldn't help but feel like I knew something that my contemporaries were not privy to, so I just kept the tempo even. The only issues I had at this point were that my feet were feeling pretty tender from miles of rocky trail that I wasn't quite accustomed to after running on dirt roads and snow all winter. The final descent, perhaps a mile and a half or so and very technical and steep was a little painful and I was glad to get back to the last mile of gravel road as it was just slightly less rough on my feet. As I neared the finish, I didn't really charge to the end like I usually do, but rather casually jogged it in, wondering if I should do the 3 extra miles I had planned on doing before the race started. I did about a half mile and decided I just wanted to stop, relax and enjoy the scene at the start/finish area. I milled about, ate some post-race food and talked it up with some of the other runners. When I saw Rob going back out on his second lap, I ran out to wish him luck and told him I'd be looking for him at a future race. I stayed around for another half hour or so, took some more pictures then decided it was getting too hot out for me and it was time to head out and begin my recovery.
In all, it was another wonderful celebration of running and worth the time and energy to come and run in another beautiful Colorado location. I ended up with a 28.29 mile/5:04:30 total effort and race result of 25.5 miles/4000+' in 4 hours, 22 minutes. In the following days, my quadraceps were very sore but I've recovered nicely and went for a hike/run last night for about 45 minutes. Since Quad Rock is in only 3 weeks, my plan from here is to get some decent 2-3 hour runs in the next two weekends and keep my weekday maintenance runs very modest or just rest altogether. At this point in my training, most of my fitness base is already set, so I don't have anything to gain by running hard, especially so close to doing a 50 miler. Looking ahead, I think Quad Rock is going to be a really tough race, with alot of elevation change (+/- 11,000') and, probably, high temperatures, so it could turn into a death march if I'm not careful!
I woke up around 4:30 a.m., early enough to get to the race start area, check in and then run a couple miles on the course to warm up. I returned to the start area, grabbed my vest and water bottles, took a few pictures and jumped into the last quarter of the pack of about 200 runners (both 25 and 50 mile racers). The first mile was on a wide gravel road and I slowly worked my way to mid-pack before the course turned onto single track. I kept the pace very manageable but still found myself moving faster than the people I was running with, so I picked my way past small groups when the trail was wide enough. After passing one small group, I heard someone whine, "Let people know what side you're passing on!" Gee, I thought this was a race. "Right on." I replied. The climb continued on for about a mile before we hit an awesome rolling, technical, slick rock section that went on for 3-4 miles. After cresting the ridge, the views of canyons and the Colorado River below were spectacular. I was still able to pass every now and then but I noticed myself being overly cautious about passing when OW! I rolled my right ankle and heard it make a popping sound. The pain was immediate and I started to consider dropping from the race before I even hit the first aid station. Damn. Not an auspicious beginning. I slowed a bit but kept moving and reassessing whether or not my ankle was OK to continue and finish. As I ran into the first aid station, I decided to keep going and see how things would play out. On the next climb, I felt like the pain would be manageable and was determined to finish. After that, I would only experience an occasional sharp pain when I ran downhill. I decided to just stick to my original plan and run slow, hike all the hills, take some pictures, enjoy the views and concentrate on staying hydrated and nourished.
From there, my run played out really well and I felt good the rest of the morning (with the exception of my ankle and, later, my tender feet). I had started eating gels after the first half hour and continued eating one every 45 minutes as well as drinking water quite often and eating something quickly at each aid station (chips, a banana, M&Ms, etc.). As a result, my energy levels never decreased and I didn't get tired during the race. I maintained a moderate pace that was still fast enough for me to keep catching small groups of runners, pass them, then keep working away until I got to the next group. The beautiful desert rock kept me inspired the entire time. Around the 10 mile mark, I hiked, then ran, for a couple miles with a guy named Rob (Ganger) from the Denver suburb of Englewood and struck up a conversation. It turns out that he will be running all of the ultra-trail races that I'm doing this summer. I enjoyed his company and the pace he was running so it was a pleasant to continue with him for half an hour or so. He was doing the 50 miler, so his pace was a little slower and I passed him in the late teen miles and pressed on by myself. Around the 20 mile mark, I hit another aid station, where I had my water bottle filled for the third time and also had my electrolyte bottle filled. The morning had been pretty cool but it was starting to warm into the high 70s/low 80s, which felt quite warm to me. After that, the course began it's last major climb, about 800 feet back to the top of the Mack Ridge. I was still feeling so good that I reeled in at least 6 more runners before hitting the top. It was clear to me that staying fueled early was really paying dividends at this point in the race. Everyone I passed looked so fatigued and was really struggling. One guy pleaded, "I'm a road runner!" as he slowly hiked up the rocky trail. I couldn't help but feel like I knew something that my contemporaries were not privy to, so I just kept the tempo even. The only issues I had at this point were that my feet were feeling pretty tender from miles of rocky trail that I wasn't quite accustomed to after running on dirt roads and snow all winter. The final descent, perhaps a mile and a half or so and very technical and steep was a little painful and I was glad to get back to the last mile of gravel road as it was just slightly less rough on my feet. As I neared the finish, I didn't really charge to the end like I usually do, but rather casually jogged it in, wondering if I should do the 3 extra miles I had planned on doing before the race started. I did about a half mile and decided I just wanted to stop, relax and enjoy the scene at the start/finish area. I milled about, ate some post-race food and talked it up with some of the other runners. When I saw Rob going back out on his second lap, I ran out to wish him luck and told him I'd be looking for him at a future race. I stayed around for another half hour or so, took some more pictures then decided it was getting too hot out for me and it was time to head out and begin my recovery.
In all, it was another wonderful celebration of running and worth the time and energy to come and run in another beautiful Colorado location. I ended up with a 28.29 mile/5:04:30 total effort and race result of 25.5 miles/4000+' in 4 hours, 22 minutes. In the following days, my quadraceps were very sore but I've recovered nicely and went for a hike/run last night for about 45 minutes. Since Quad Rock is in only 3 weeks, my plan from here is to get some decent 2-3 hour runs in the next two weekends and keep my weekday maintenance runs very modest or just rest altogether. At this point in my training, most of my fitness base is already set, so I don't have anything to gain by running hard, especially so close to doing a 50 miler. Looking ahead, I think Quad Rock is going to be a really tough race, with alot of elevation change (+/- 11,000') and, probably, high temperatures, so it could turn into a death march if I'm not careful!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Week.ly Summary: Apr 2 - Apr 8
4/2 - Off.
4/3 - 7.00 miles. :57:47. Stagecoach. PM. Down to Elk Run Trail on the south shore of the lake. Up tempo running on the rolling, gravel trail.
4/4 - 5.01 miles. :47:14. Howelsen Hill. PM. Short but hard effort run on the quickly-drying trails on Howelsen. I got reminded how steep trails can get especially compared to the flat roads I've been running this winter.
4/5 - 5.67 miles. :57:11. Stagecoach. PM. Easy out and back on trails and dirt roads around Stagecoach. Then did another mile of slow running in Vibram Five Fingers.
4/6 - Rest.
4/7 - 18.33 miles. 3:00:05. Stagecoach. AM. Long lollipop loop run around the lake from the house. Fueled my run with ClifBloks and gels, taking one gel every hour and Bloks every half an hour, roughly. One 22 oz. bottle of water, one 18 oz. bottle of Gatorade. Cold morning had me starting out with a vest over my long sleeve shirt but I warmed up enough to take off the vest, my beanie and gloves by the time I hit the lake (4 miles). The run around the lake was primarily on nice, wide dirt trail, with a couple miles of dirt road and I took an even, comfortable, cruising pace. Felt strong right up to the end. I'm looking forward to getting 31 miles in the desert next weekend.
4/8 - 5.74 miles. 1:13:19. Spring Creek Trail. PM. Early afternoon trail run with Benihana.Great run for me and the dog, I had great tacky footing and he got to wade in the creek several times, which is pretty important if you're a Husky. Easy running on the warm up and cool down miles with only about 1.5 miles of uptempo running in the middle. Beautiful spring day. A little barefoot running in the grass afterwards.
Weekly Total: 41.75 miles
Another solid week. I'm stoked to be: healthy, getting quality miles, plenty of rest, eating well, in love and generally, very happy. I'm really looking forward to heading to Fruita next Friday, not just to go running in the desert but also to just be around other runners and attend my first Desert RATS Trail Running Festival. I guess the race is also known as the Spring Desert Ultra or Fruita 50, if you're doing the big boys' run. Even though I'm only doing the 25 mile race but technically running an ultra that day (with my 6 bonus training miles), I guess I can call the race by that name, too. And even though it is just a training run for me, it's exciting to have the trail running season underway. Next weekend, local trails will also be opening up and, thanks in no small part to our dry winter, be very runnable, at least up to 8,500'. That gives me a full 4 months of running on trails in preparation for RRR. I can't help but think that in that time I might be able to get into good enough shape to run in the front of the Tortoise pack and finish around 24 hours. For my first 100-miler, I really shouldn't be thinking about that, I should just focus on finishing.
4/3 - 7.00 miles. :57:47. Stagecoach. PM. Down to Elk Run Trail on the south shore of the lake. Up tempo running on the rolling, gravel trail.
4/4 - 5.01 miles. :47:14. Howelsen Hill. PM. Short but hard effort run on the quickly-drying trails on Howelsen. I got reminded how steep trails can get especially compared to the flat roads I've been running this winter.
4/5 - 5.67 miles. :57:11. Stagecoach. PM. Easy out and back on trails and dirt roads around Stagecoach. Then did another mile of slow running in Vibram Five Fingers.
4/6 - Rest.
4/7 - 18.33 miles. 3:00:05. Stagecoach. AM. Long lollipop loop run around the lake from the house. Fueled my run with ClifBloks and gels, taking one gel every hour and Bloks every half an hour, roughly. One 22 oz. bottle of water, one 18 oz. bottle of Gatorade. Cold morning had me starting out with a vest over my long sleeve shirt but I warmed up enough to take off the vest, my beanie and gloves by the time I hit the lake (4 miles). The run around the lake was primarily on nice, wide dirt trail, with a couple miles of dirt road and I took an even, comfortable, cruising pace. Felt strong right up to the end. I'm looking forward to getting 31 miles in the desert next weekend.
4/8 - 5.74 miles. 1:13:19. Spring Creek Trail. PM. Early afternoon trail run with Benihana.Great run for me and the dog, I had great tacky footing and he got to wade in the creek several times, which is pretty important if you're a Husky. Easy running on the warm up and cool down miles with only about 1.5 miles of uptempo running in the middle. Beautiful spring day. A little barefoot running in the grass afterwards.
Weekly Total: 41.75 miles
Another solid week. I'm stoked to be: healthy, getting quality miles, plenty of rest, eating well, in love and generally, very happy. I'm really looking forward to heading to Fruita next Friday, not just to go running in the desert but also to just be around other runners and attend my first Desert RATS Trail Running Festival. I guess the race is also known as the Spring Desert Ultra or Fruita 50, if you're doing the big boys' run. Even though I'm only doing the 25 mile race but technically running an ultra that day (with my 6 bonus training miles), I guess I can call the race by that name, too. And even though it is just a training run for me, it's exciting to have the trail running season underway. Next weekend, local trails will also be opening up and, thanks in no small part to our dry winter, be very runnable, at least up to 8,500'. That gives me a full 4 months of running on trails in preparation for RRR. I can't help but think that in that time I might be able to get into good enough shape to run in the front of the Tortoise pack and finish around 24 hours. For my first 100-miler, I really shouldn't be thinking about that, I should just focus on finishing.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Weekly Summary: Mar 12 - Mar 18
3/12 - Rest.
3/13 - 7.0 miles. 1:00:04. ~450'v. Stagecoach. PM. First after work run this year that started and ended before the sun went down. After a little more than a mile of warming up, I pushed it a little hard for the next 6 miles and felt great. Especially solid effort on the last hill at the end of the run. My route went from the house down to the far end of the South Shore neighborhood and back to the house, primarily on dirt roads with a little asphalt in the beginning and end of the run.
3/14 - 4.71 miles. :58:09. Burns. PM. Katy and I drove down just north of Burns to run some dry trails. It was fun and great to be running on dirt again. We took it easy but ran some pretty hilly terrain so the effort and time on feet was more like a full 5+ miler. I wish I had brought my altimeter so that I could've calculated the altitude change, as there was certainly a few hundred feet of ups and downs. Just a little scouting mission to see if I want to come back down there this weekend to do my long run on trails and dirt roads.
3/15 - 7.59 miles. 1:03:29. Stagecoach. PM. Half-mile warm up before running 6.5 miles up-tempo on a really hilly route (CR 16 to CR 14 going towards Oak Creek and back). Finished 7 miles in :56:37 before cooling down and worked pretty hard on the uphills to keep the overall pace around 8:00/mile. I was glad to have some cows keep me company as I ran by them while they grazed. I'm thinking my full on race pace for 10K is probably around 7:15-7:30/mile these days.
3/16 - Rest.
3/17 - 24.01 miles. 3:52:37. 1,810'v. Stagecoach. AM. Decided against driving to Burns to do my long run and, instead, ran from the house out towards Lynx Pass (same as last weekend) on a county dirt road. The morning was a little on the cool side (high 30s/low 40s) and a bit cloudy but the sun eventually came out a couple hours later when I was turning around. I had the dirt road almost entirely to myself the entire time (saw one biker, one skunk, a couple of vehicles and some folks saddling up some horses) and it was sufficiently dry or muddy or frozen or rocky enough to keep it interesting. I ended up turning around after the Morrison Divide (Muddy Slide) trailhead where the road is no longer maintained in the winter. This run felt incredible and I have to credit my friend and nutritionist, Bronwyn Rittner (and my fiance, Katy, whose daily diet is impeccable and keeps me on track) for making me realize the importance of eating on a regular schedule while going on a long run and how beneficial it is to an endurance athlete. Since I started running ultras, I always knew that it was necessary to eat and drink to fuel the body for the work of going further but today's run was the first time I actually told myself, "OK, eat a gel every 45-55 minutes, sip some water every 20 minutes or so, eat more food (I made my own mix of cashews, pistachios, chocolate chips and raisins, and carried it in a small 4 oz. container) at least once an hour and drink some electrolyte replenishment (I just went with Gatorade and carried about 15 oz. in a bottle) whenever necessary." The difference it made could not have been more obvious. At no time during my run did I feel tired or a lack energy. In fact, I took a split time every 6 miles (1:02:56, :57:37, :57:41, :54:22) and ran a negative split for the second half (granted, the return was mostly downhill) and the last 6 miles nearly 9 minutes faster than the first 6 (also granted, I ran the first couple miles slow in order to warm up). I still contended with a little soreness in my core muscles toward the end, which I think is understandable over 24 miles, but really had no other physical problems and, mentally, I think I could have gone several more miles. (Of course, I don't want to imply that running this distance was effortless. As I sit here and write, my legs are getting tighter, my hamstrings and glutes are getting sore and it's getting hard to walk the first few steps every time I get up!) I cooled down over a half mile to keep my legs moving for 4:00:07 and then immediately started replenishing electrolytes and ate a small meal within an hour of finishing because it helps the body to recover faster (it's actually recommended to eat within 45 minutes to allow best/quickest absorbtion of nutrients) . Bronwyn has let me borrow her copy of "Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook" by Nancy Clark, MS, RD, which I've found very useful and informative.
3/18 - 5.40 miles. :48:55. ~400'v. Stagecoach. PM. Easy five miler around the neighborhood and back to the house with the usual hills that entails. Windy and high clouds as some weather is supposed to move in tonight and hit us with some rain and/or snow.
Weekly Total: 49.20 miles.
Finally got the mileage I was shooting for thanks to some nice weather, the time change and the discipline to go out and make it happen. Numbers aside though, the biggest breakthrough of the week (and possibly of all the endurance training I've ever done) had to do with nutrition. For the first time, since I ran my first marathon in 1992, I had a long run where I never once felt tired, physically drained or mentally fatigued and it was, quite simply and honestly, because I took the time to eat and drink on a regular schedule while I kept moving. In a six, eight or even ten mile race this isn't much of a consideration, you just need to stay hydrated, mostly. As the distance and time increase beyond that, however, it matters very much. In my past ultras and long runs, I have refueled, but never with the consistency that those activities actually require. In the past, I would go until I felt tired or hungry, then push through it for a while and eventually, eat or drink something and, sometimes, bounce back to keep going. Or, more often, just keep pushing through and finish tired, hungry, exhausted, sore and generally lucky to be alive. Finally, after years of struggling through events, I've realized that there is no reason to bonk and that "hitting the wall" is actually avoidable. To me, this is nothing short of a breakthrough and makes me look forward to really pushing my endurance to a new level.
3/13 - 7.0 miles. 1:00:04. ~450'v. Stagecoach. PM. First after work run this year that started and ended before the sun went down. After a little more than a mile of warming up, I pushed it a little hard for the next 6 miles and felt great. Especially solid effort on the last hill at the end of the run. My route went from the house down to the far end of the South Shore neighborhood and back to the house, primarily on dirt roads with a little asphalt in the beginning and end of the run.
3/14 - 4.71 miles. :58:09. Burns. PM. Katy and I drove down just north of Burns to run some dry trails. It was fun and great to be running on dirt again. We took it easy but ran some pretty hilly terrain so the effort and time on feet was more like a full 5+ miler. I wish I had brought my altimeter so that I could've calculated the altitude change, as there was certainly a few hundred feet of ups and downs. Just a little scouting mission to see if I want to come back down there this weekend to do my long run on trails and dirt roads.
3/15 - 7.59 miles. 1:03:29. Stagecoach. PM. Half-mile warm up before running 6.5 miles up-tempo on a really hilly route (CR 16 to CR 14 going towards Oak Creek and back). Finished 7 miles in :56:37 before cooling down and worked pretty hard on the uphills to keep the overall pace around 8:00/mile. I was glad to have some cows keep me company as I ran by them while they grazed. I'm thinking my full on race pace for 10K is probably around 7:15-7:30/mile these days.
3/16 - Rest.
3/17 - 24.01 miles. 3:52:37. 1,810'v. Stagecoach. AM. Decided against driving to Burns to do my long run and, instead, ran from the house out towards Lynx Pass (same as last weekend) on a county dirt road. The morning was a little on the cool side (high 30s/low 40s) and a bit cloudy but the sun eventually came out a couple hours later when I was turning around. I had the dirt road almost entirely to myself the entire time (saw one biker, one skunk, a couple of vehicles and some folks saddling up some horses) and it was sufficiently dry or muddy or frozen or rocky enough to keep it interesting. I ended up turning around after the Morrison Divide (Muddy Slide) trailhead where the road is no longer maintained in the winter. This run felt incredible and I have to credit my friend and nutritionist, Bronwyn Rittner (and my fiance, Katy, whose daily diet is impeccable and keeps me on track) for making me realize the importance of eating on a regular schedule while going on a long run and how beneficial it is to an endurance athlete. Since I started running ultras, I always knew that it was necessary to eat and drink to fuel the body for the work of going further but today's run was the first time I actually told myself, "OK, eat a gel every 45-55 minutes, sip some water every 20 minutes or so, eat more food (I made my own mix of cashews, pistachios, chocolate chips and raisins, and carried it in a small 4 oz. container) at least once an hour and drink some electrolyte replenishment (I just went with Gatorade and carried about 15 oz. in a bottle) whenever necessary." The difference it made could not have been more obvious. At no time during my run did I feel tired or a lack energy. In fact, I took a split time every 6 miles (1:02:56, :57:37, :57:41, :54:22) and ran a negative split for the second half (granted, the return was mostly downhill) and the last 6 miles nearly 9 minutes faster than the first 6 (also granted, I ran the first couple miles slow in order to warm up). I still contended with a little soreness in my core muscles toward the end, which I think is understandable over 24 miles, but really had no other physical problems and, mentally, I think I could have gone several more miles. (Of course, I don't want to imply that running this distance was effortless. As I sit here and write, my legs are getting tighter, my hamstrings and glutes are getting sore and it's getting hard to walk the first few steps every time I get up!) I cooled down over a half mile to keep my legs moving for 4:00:07 and then immediately started replenishing electrolytes and ate a small meal within an hour of finishing because it helps the body to recover faster (it's actually recommended to eat within 45 minutes to allow best/quickest absorbtion of nutrients) . Bronwyn has let me borrow her copy of "Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook" by Nancy Clark, MS, RD, which I've found very useful and informative.
3/18 - 5.40 miles. :48:55. ~400'v. Stagecoach. PM. Easy five miler around the neighborhood and back to the house with the usual hills that entails. Windy and high clouds as some weather is supposed to move in tonight and hit us with some rain and/or snow.
Weekly Total: 49.20 miles.
Finally got the mileage I was shooting for thanks to some nice weather, the time change and the discipline to go out and make it happen. Numbers aside though, the biggest breakthrough of the week (and possibly of all the endurance training I've ever done) had to do with nutrition. For the first time, since I ran my first marathon in 1992, I had a long run where I never once felt tired, physically drained or mentally fatigued and it was, quite simply and honestly, because I took the time to eat and drink on a regular schedule while I kept moving. In a six, eight or even ten mile race this isn't much of a consideration, you just need to stay hydrated, mostly. As the distance and time increase beyond that, however, it matters very much. In my past ultras and long runs, I have refueled, but never with the consistency that those activities actually require. In the past, I would go until I felt tired or hungry, then push through it for a while and eventually, eat or drink something and, sometimes, bounce back to keep going. Or, more often, just keep pushing through and finish tired, hungry, exhausted, sore and generally lucky to be alive. Finally, after years of struggling through events, I've realized that there is no reason to bonk and that "hitting the wall" is actually avoidable. To me, this is nothing short of a breakthrough and makes me look forward to really pushing my endurance to a new level.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Weekly Summary: Mar 5 - Mar 11
3/5 - Rest. Snowshoe with Benihana. 2.04 miles. 1:13:51. I want to make sure I'm doing something active on Mondays so I can add it as a running day in a few weeks.
3/6 - 7.11 miles. 1:04:24. Steamboat. Yampa River Core Trail. Downtown to Casey's Pond and back. Tried to run fast but didn't have the wheels today. Then, on my way back to town I see Katy ahead of me on the trail and I try to catch her. It took at least a mile before I finally did but it was fun surprising her. Enjoyed the rest of the run with her.
3/7 - 5.84 miles. :51:18. Steamboat. From JDs house, I ran by the high school then up the hill and past the middle school and to the turn off for Buff Pass Road before turning around. First mile easy, second mile around 8:30 pace, third and fourth around 7:00 and last mile back down to 9:00. Chased local high school speedster Charles Rhode for a while. That kid is fast! And I'm getting old!
3/8 - 6.33 miles. 1:00:31. Steamboat. PM. Ran up a snow-packed Spring Creek Trail until it got too punchy to run anymore. An inner right quadracep/groin pain irritated me for most of the run so I almost cut it down to 5 miles but it subsided enough for me to finish with 6.
3/9 - Rest. Soaked at the Old Town Hot Springs for a little while with JD.
3/10 - Rest. Still a bit of lingering pain so I decided to skip my run. I did get to support Katy as she ran a fast 5 miles for the Creekside team doing the Steamboat Pentathlon. I really enjoyed spectating the event and getting the opportunity to talk with participants and other spectators alike. The pentathlon is a really unique event that starts with running up Howelsen Hill to your skis or snowboard and downhilling back to the transition area. A 2.5 mile snowshoe run is next followed by a 4 mile skate ski. Then, an 11 mile bike ride and, finally, a 5 mile road run. It was a beautiful day and there were a few hundred people in attendance.
3/11 - 17.35 mile. 2:50:18. 1530'v. Stagecoach. AM. Mid morning run 8.5 miles out and back on the dirt road to Lynx Pass from the house. It's been getting into the 40s for the last few days so the road has been getting really muddy in the afternoons, thus the morning start when things were still slightly frozen. It was a great run with hardly any vehicle traffic to contend with and beautiful blue skies. I took a quick detour up Silver Creek Trail to check conditions, take a piss and eat a clementine, but it's still completely snowed in for a few more weeks. I turned around another mile up the road and laughed as I noticed that I had been enjoying a tailwind on the way out. No wonder it seemed so easy! I went a little further and saw Katy's car as she had driven out to check on me so we chatted a little as I ran. She headed home and I spent the next 1:15 working my way back down the road as it warmed up and it got muddier. It was mostly downhill with the exception of a 250' climb about 2 miles from the end and another 200' as I finished.
Weekly Totals: 36.63 miles.
Some good runs this week despite coming up short on total mileage again. Assuming it doesn't snow much in the coming weeks and barring injuries, I should be able to get 45-48 miles/week. Next weekend, I have a 24 mile long run to complete. Now that I've gotten into some longer runs, I'm also having opportunities to work out what I should be eating before, during and after these efforts. I got to sit down with Bronwyn and discuss my diet and several suggestions from her to ensure that I am replenishing not only electrolytes after my long run, but also making sure that I eating a protein/carbohydrate/vegetable meal within 45 minutes of finishing to hasten recovery.
3/6 - 7.11 miles. 1:04:24. Steamboat. Yampa River Core Trail. Downtown to Casey's Pond and back. Tried to run fast but didn't have the wheels today. Then, on my way back to town I see Katy ahead of me on the trail and I try to catch her. It took at least a mile before I finally did but it was fun surprising her. Enjoyed the rest of the run with her.
3/7 - 5.84 miles. :51:18. Steamboat. From JDs house, I ran by the high school then up the hill and past the middle school and to the turn off for Buff Pass Road before turning around. First mile easy, second mile around 8:30 pace, third and fourth around 7:00 and last mile back down to 9:00. Chased local high school speedster Charles Rhode for a while. That kid is fast! And I'm getting old!
3/8 - 6.33 miles. 1:00:31. Steamboat. PM. Ran up a snow-packed Spring Creek Trail until it got too punchy to run anymore. An inner right quadracep/groin pain irritated me for most of the run so I almost cut it down to 5 miles but it subsided enough for me to finish with 6.
3/9 - Rest. Soaked at the Old Town Hot Springs for a little while with JD.
3/10 - Rest. Still a bit of lingering pain so I decided to skip my run. I did get to support Katy as she ran a fast 5 miles for the Creekside team doing the Steamboat Pentathlon. I really enjoyed spectating the event and getting the opportunity to talk with participants and other spectators alike. The pentathlon is a really unique event that starts with running up Howelsen Hill to your skis or snowboard and downhilling back to the transition area. A 2.5 mile snowshoe run is next followed by a 4 mile skate ski. Then, an 11 mile bike ride and, finally, a 5 mile road run. It was a beautiful day and there were a few hundred people in attendance.
3/11 - 17.35 mile. 2:50:18. 1530'v. Stagecoach. AM. Mid morning run 8.5 miles out and back on the dirt road to Lynx Pass from the house. It's been getting into the 40s for the last few days so the road has been getting really muddy in the afternoons, thus the morning start when things were still slightly frozen. It was a great run with hardly any vehicle traffic to contend with and beautiful blue skies. I took a quick detour up Silver Creek Trail to check conditions, take a piss and eat a clementine, but it's still completely snowed in for a few more weeks. I turned around another mile up the road and laughed as I noticed that I had been enjoying a tailwind on the way out. No wonder it seemed so easy! I went a little further and saw Katy's car as she had driven out to check on me so we chatted a little as I ran. She headed home and I spent the next 1:15 working my way back down the road as it warmed up and it got muddier. It was mostly downhill with the exception of a 250' climb about 2 miles from the end and another 200' as I finished.
Weekly Totals: 36.63 miles.
Some good runs this week despite coming up short on total mileage again. Assuming it doesn't snow much in the coming weeks and barring injuries, I should be able to get 45-48 miles/week. Next weekend, I have a 24 mile long run to complete. Now that I've gotten into some longer runs, I'm also having opportunities to work out what I should be eating before, during and after these efforts. I got to sit down with Bronwyn and discuss my diet and several suggestions from her to ensure that I am replenishing not only electrolytes after my long run, but also making sure that I eating a protein/carbohydrate/vegetable meal within 45 minutes of finishing to hasten recovery.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Weekly Summary: Feb. 6 - Feb. 12
2/6 - Rest.
2/7 - 6.09 miles. 1:15:58. - 4.12 miles. :36:37. Steamboat. Noon. Lunch road and trail run from 4th street around the middle school and back. PM. 1.97 miles. :39:20. Stagecoach. After work, did a couple miles with the dogs at an easy pace.
2/8 - 3.7 miles. :35:14. Steamboat. Noon. Lunch road and trail run from 4th street but ran the reverse of yesterday's route and used the trail a bit more. Didn't run in the evening so I could spend some time with my beautiful future wife and my dogs.
2/9 - 6.08 miles. 1:29:02. ~750'v. Stagecoach. PM. - ~.5 mile, ~:20:00, 400'v. hike with the dogs. Let them pull me up the hill then I ran behind them on the way down the hill. They're so fun! Followed by a 5.58 mile, ~350'v. 1:09:02 snow run/trudge in 2-5" of new powder. Those hills were tough. Didn't get seven miles for the day but the time on my feet more than made up for it.
2/10 - Rest.
2/11 - 11.48 miles. 3:46:33. ~1200'v. Stagecoach. AM. After a couple of days of snow, I wanted to have some fun instead of the usual Saturday long run so I broke out the splitboard and made a one-mile touring loop in the open space by the house. It took a little longer than a half hour to put in the initial trail. I did two more laps in the same track then, on the 4th one, I started a new track about half way through the loop so I could break into some virgin snow again. After 4.32 miles in 2:03:42, my legs were feeling pretty heavy, so I figured it was time to go run a few miles. It was a beautiful, sunny day and a warm one, as well. I changed into a pair of shorts and a long sleeved shirt and looked, I'm sure, completely out of place as I ran on snow covered roads around Stagecoach (6.46 miles, 1:15:52). After that, I took the dogs for a walk as I cooled down (.57 miles, :18:59). Quite a bit short on overall mileage but I got a great "time on feet" workout.
2/12 - 8.01 miles. 1:26:xx. ~500'v. Stagecoach. AM. Ran the first couple road miles with Katy before I jumped on the snowpacked and groomed trail. That didn't do much for traction though, the snow was loose enough to slow me down to 11-minute miles as I ran along the south shoreline to where the boat ramp would be.
Week: 35.56 miles. ~3000'v. 8 hours, 21 minutes!
Came up quite a few miles short of 42 for the week but with 8 hours on my feet, I'd say that was pretty worthy for almost 40 kilometers! Alot of slow running, trudging and splitboard touring should be good for my leg strength and endurance, if not for a fast leg turnover. No matter, speed work (which I do plan on doing this spring/early summer) is not essential for ultramarathon success (re: finishing!) and it's always worth skipping a few miles if I'm spending that time with the ones I love.
2/7 - 6.09 miles. 1:15:58. - 4.12 miles. :36:37. Steamboat. Noon. Lunch road and trail run from 4th street around the middle school and back. PM. 1.97 miles. :39:20. Stagecoach. After work, did a couple miles with the dogs at an easy pace.
2/8 - 3.7 miles. :35:14. Steamboat. Noon. Lunch road and trail run from 4th street but ran the reverse of yesterday's route and used the trail a bit more. Didn't run in the evening so I could spend some time with my beautiful future wife and my dogs.
2/9 - 6.08 miles. 1:29:02. ~750'v. Stagecoach. PM. - ~.5 mile, ~:20:00, 400'v. hike with the dogs. Let them pull me up the hill then I ran behind them on the way down the hill. They're so fun! Followed by a 5.58 mile, ~350'v. 1:09:02 snow run/trudge in 2-5" of new powder. Those hills were tough. Didn't get seven miles for the day but the time on my feet more than made up for it.
2/10 - Rest.
2/11 - 11.48 miles. 3:46:33. ~1200'v. Stagecoach. AM. After a couple of days of snow, I wanted to have some fun instead of the usual Saturday long run so I broke out the splitboard and made a one-mile touring loop in the open space by the house. It took a little longer than a half hour to put in the initial trail. I did two more laps in the same track then, on the 4th one, I started a new track about half way through the loop so I could break into some virgin snow again. After 4.32 miles in 2:03:42, my legs were feeling pretty heavy, so I figured it was time to go run a few miles. It was a beautiful, sunny day and a warm one, as well. I changed into a pair of shorts and a long sleeved shirt and looked, I'm sure, completely out of place as I ran on snow covered roads around Stagecoach (6.46 miles, 1:15:52). After that, I took the dogs for a walk as I cooled down (.57 miles, :18:59). Quite a bit short on overall mileage but I got a great "time on feet" workout.
2/12 - 8.01 miles. 1:26:xx. ~500'v. Stagecoach. AM. Ran the first couple road miles with Katy before I jumped on the snowpacked and groomed trail. That didn't do much for traction though, the snow was loose enough to slow me down to 11-minute miles as I ran along the south shoreline to where the boat ramp would be.
Week: 35.56 miles. ~3000'v. 8 hours, 21 minutes!
Came up quite a few miles short of 42 for the week but with 8 hours on my feet, I'd say that was pretty worthy for almost 40 kilometers! Alot of slow running, trudging and splitboard touring should be good for my leg strength and endurance, if not for a fast leg turnover. No matter, speed work (which I do plan on doing this spring/early summer) is not essential for ultramarathon success (re: finishing!) and it's always worth skipping a few miles if I'm spending that time with the ones I love.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Weekly Summary: Jan 30 - Feb 5
1/30 - Rest. After Saturday's long run and my hike/run yesterday, I was grateful for a day to chill. Legs felt heavy all day until the evening when they finally started to bounce back.
1/31 - 7.01 miles. 1:02:49. ~700'v. Spring Creek Trail. Noon. Fantastic midday run in the sun. Unbelievably warm (high 30s/low 40s) and my legs felt so good I had to push the pace almost the entire run on snow packed trail (with even a few spots of dirt). It's so crazy to see dirt and grass here in January/February. Oh well, the trail was sick. Good footing, for the most part. There were a few slick spots and I could've worn MicroSpikes for this one but managed just fine without. I feel like I turned a corner in my fitness, also. I boogied up the top of the ridge above Spring Creek, almost effortlessly, at a pace that would've normally would've had me pretty winded. At the turnaround, I was geeked for the downhill and clipped off 6:40-7:17/miles for the entire descent back into town. Jazzed.
2/1 - ~5 miles. Steamboat. Noon. Ran the road loop through Old Town to the middle school and onto the Butcherknife Canyon Trail and back to JDs house. Then, went snowboarding on the mountain for a few hours with my man, Dizzle. Fastest I've gone on a snowboard all year! Capped it off with a couple of beers at Gondola Pub and Grill. Nice one.
2/2 - 7.46 miles. 1:22:46. Stagecoach. PM. Took the dogs on a half mile hike up the hillside before going for my run. Then, I enjoyed an afternoon run from the house down to the south shore of the reservoir before doing a couple of tough, snowy trail miles along the the shoreline. The weather began to deteriorate as I left the house and it got colder and windier. I punched through some deep snow to get from the trail back up to CR 16 and headed back home.
2/3 - Rest. Took Benny and Nanuk on a nice, mellow hike up the mountain and my legs felt good. I considered going for a short run but thought better of it.
2/4 - 16.12 miles. 2:43:26. 1400'v. Stagecoach. AM. Today's long run fully kicked my ass. Fully. One of the things I love about running is that it teaches humility and I got a good lesson today. It's funny that people who know I run a lot will assume that it comes easily and do not understand that even though I enjoy running, it is still work. Today, it was very hard work! It was a clear but cold morning and I waited until about 9:30 a.m., when it finally warmed up into the teens, to leave the house. I ran icy, hilly dirt roads for the first 4 miles and opted to wear running gaiters and MicroSpikes because, despite any new snowfall this week, I would be running a few miles on the trail next to the reservoir, which was still snow packed. The footing wasn't that bad but it made me work and I noted that my pace slowed about 45 seconds to a minute per mile once I hit the trail. I stayed on the trail for a couple miles and arrived at the dam right at the 10 kilometer mark. I crossed the dam and ran a couple more miles of dirt/ice/slush/snow road out toward Sarvis Creek. By the turn around, I was fading a bit energy-wise, and I knew it was mostly an uphill run back home, so I thought things might get tough towards the end. Around the 10 mile mark, I ate a Honey Stinger gel. Once I got back on the dirt road, my feet felt a little heavy but I sucked it up and maintained a decent pace. With about 2.5 miles to go, I hit a steady 200' climb that slowly took the wind out of my sails. By the top of the hill, I felt like I was crawling. I was also dealing with some chafing issues and a tender spot on my left foot from my crampons. Fortunately, I had a mile of gradual downhill after that, which allowed me to regroup a little before I hit a final 100' climb in the last quarter mile. I tried to cool down with a few minutes of walking but it took me a good 20 minutes to finally come down after that effort. Tough one.
2/5 - 7.46 miles. 1:13:33. ~400'v. Stagecoach. AM. Ran 4 road miles with Katy before doing 3 more by myself. Nice and mellow paced effort under sunny skies.
Weekly Total: 43.05 miles.
A good week of running with the total mileage increased into the 40s. The next two weeks I will be keeping my weekday mileage the same as this week, with an 18 mile long run on Saturday. I feel like my training has been going very well for the past 8 weeks, in terms of workouts, but I really think one of the contributing factors has been because I am focusing not just on running, but also, on nutrition. In the past, I've never had difficulty motivating myself to run or workout because it's something I enjoy doing but I have never been one to take my nutrition very seriously. As I get older and learn more, I am realizing that this is an area that I should have been paying much more attention to all along. As Americans, we live in a country with a bountiful food supply, but, truthfully, little of what we choose to eat is actually good for us. By this, I mean that what we eat should not just keep us from starving, it should enrich our lives and health. If you eat what is good for you, regardless of your athletic involvement, your body will fight off illness better and you will not gain and carry around excessive weight. As an athlete, eating right plays a tremendous role in muscle performance, growth and recovery. Specifically, I'm talking about managing oxidative stress, which is, in laymen's terms, the body's ability to remove toxins from it's cells. The best way to do this is simple: eat foods rich in antioxidants, ie. fruits and vegetables.
For athletes, nutrition is important because we put ever increasing stress on our muscles as we intensify our training regimen. Without ridding ourselves of the toxins that build up in our muscles they cannot properly recover and grow and we cannot reach our greatest performance potential. In the past two years, I have been able to maintain a fairly consistent running schedule but not without dealing with plenty of aches and pains, soreness, illness and injury. In that time, however, I have become very aware of how my body reacts to the stress I put it under when I go for a particularly hard or long run and how long it takes to recover from said activities. In the past couple of months, Katy has really been helping me watch what I eat and making a concerted effort to make sure that includes much more fruit and vegetables (and less sugar). As a supplement, I've also been taking a product called JuicePlus, which is simply capsulized fruits and vegetables. The result has been noticably faster muscle fatigue recovery and an increase in my energy levels. I've started working with a nutritionist, Bronwyn Rittner, to help me monitor what I'm eating and, more importantly, how it affects me, as my training and racing schedule gets tougher throughout the year. My goal simply being to get the most out of my natural ability and to be happy in the knowledge that I'm doing the right things to facilitate a healthy lifestyle.
1/31 - 7.01 miles. 1:02:49. ~700'v. Spring Creek Trail. Noon. Fantastic midday run in the sun. Unbelievably warm (high 30s/low 40s) and my legs felt so good I had to push the pace almost the entire run on snow packed trail (with even a few spots of dirt). It's so crazy to see dirt and grass here in January/February. Oh well, the trail was sick. Good footing, for the most part. There were a few slick spots and I could've worn MicroSpikes for this one but managed just fine without. I feel like I turned a corner in my fitness, also. I boogied up the top of the ridge above Spring Creek, almost effortlessly, at a pace that would've normally would've had me pretty winded. At the turnaround, I was geeked for the downhill and clipped off 6:40-7:17/miles for the entire descent back into town. Jazzed.
2/1 - ~5 miles. Steamboat. Noon. Ran the road loop through Old Town to the middle school and onto the Butcherknife Canyon Trail and back to JDs house. Then, went snowboarding on the mountain for a few hours with my man, Dizzle. Fastest I've gone on a snowboard all year! Capped it off with a couple of beers at Gondola Pub and Grill. Nice one.
2/2 - 7.46 miles. 1:22:46. Stagecoach. PM. Took the dogs on a half mile hike up the hillside before going for my run. Then, I enjoyed an afternoon run from the house down to the south shore of the reservoir before doing a couple of tough, snowy trail miles along the the shoreline. The weather began to deteriorate as I left the house and it got colder and windier. I punched through some deep snow to get from the trail back up to CR 16 and headed back home.
2/3 - Rest. Took Benny and Nanuk on a nice, mellow hike up the mountain and my legs felt good. I considered going for a short run but thought better of it.
2/4 - 16.12 miles. 2:43:26. 1400'v. Stagecoach. AM. Today's long run fully kicked my ass. Fully. One of the things I love about running is that it teaches humility and I got a good lesson today. It's funny that people who know I run a lot will assume that it comes easily and do not understand that even though I enjoy running, it is still work. Today, it was very hard work! It was a clear but cold morning and I waited until about 9:30 a.m., when it finally warmed up into the teens, to leave the house. I ran icy, hilly dirt roads for the first 4 miles and opted to wear running gaiters and MicroSpikes because, despite any new snowfall this week, I would be running a few miles on the trail next to the reservoir, which was still snow packed. The footing wasn't that bad but it made me work and I noted that my pace slowed about 45 seconds to a minute per mile once I hit the trail. I stayed on the trail for a couple miles and arrived at the dam right at the 10 kilometer mark. I crossed the dam and ran a couple more miles of dirt/ice/slush/snow road out toward Sarvis Creek. By the turn around, I was fading a bit energy-wise, and I knew it was mostly an uphill run back home, so I thought things might get tough towards the end. Around the 10 mile mark, I ate a Honey Stinger gel. Once I got back on the dirt road, my feet felt a little heavy but I sucked it up and maintained a decent pace. With about 2.5 miles to go, I hit a steady 200' climb that slowly took the wind out of my sails. By the top of the hill, I felt like I was crawling. I was also dealing with some chafing issues and a tender spot on my left foot from my crampons. Fortunately, I had a mile of gradual downhill after that, which allowed me to regroup a little before I hit a final 100' climb in the last quarter mile. I tried to cool down with a few minutes of walking but it took me a good 20 minutes to finally come down after that effort. Tough one.
2/5 - 7.46 miles. 1:13:33. ~400'v. Stagecoach. AM. Ran 4 road miles with Katy before doing 3 more by myself. Nice and mellow paced effort under sunny skies.
Weekly Total: 43.05 miles.
A good week of running with the total mileage increased into the 40s. The next two weeks I will be keeping my weekday mileage the same as this week, with an 18 mile long run on Saturday. I feel like my training has been going very well for the past 8 weeks, in terms of workouts, but I really think one of the contributing factors has been because I am focusing not just on running, but also, on nutrition. In the past, I've never had difficulty motivating myself to run or workout because it's something I enjoy doing but I have never been one to take my nutrition very seriously. As I get older and learn more, I am realizing that this is an area that I should have been paying much more attention to all along. As Americans, we live in a country with a bountiful food supply, but, truthfully, little of what we choose to eat is actually good for us. By this, I mean that what we eat should not just keep us from starving, it should enrich our lives and health. If you eat what is good for you, regardless of your athletic involvement, your body will fight off illness better and you will not gain and carry around excessive weight. As an athlete, eating right plays a tremendous role in muscle performance, growth and recovery. Specifically, I'm talking about managing oxidative stress, which is, in laymen's terms, the body's ability to remove toxins from it's cells. The best way to do this is simple: eat foods rich in antioxidants, ie. fruits and vegetables.
For athletes, nutrition is important because we put ever increasing stress on our muscles as we intensify our training regimen. Without ridding ourselves of the toxins that build up in our muscles they cannot properly recover and grow and we cannot reach our greatest performance potential. In the past two years, I have been able to maintain a fairly consistent running schedule but not without dealing with plenty of aches and pains, soreness, illness and injury. In that time, however, I have become very aware of how my body reacts to the stress I put it under when I go for a particularly hard or long run and how long it takes to recover from said activities. In the past couple of months, Katy has really been helping me watch what I eat and making a concerted effort to make sure that includes much more fruit and vegetables (and less sugar). As a supplement, I've also been taking a product called JuicePlus, which is simply capsulized fruits and vegetables. The result has been noticably faster muscle fatigue recovery and an increase in my energy levels. I've started working with a nutritionist, Bronwyn Rittner, to help me monitor what I'm eating and, more importantly, how it affects me, as my training and racing schedule gets tougher throughout the year. My goal simply being to get the most out of my natural ability and to be happy in the knowledge that I'm doing the right things to facilitate a healthy lifestyle.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Emerald Mountain Trail Run Race Report
Well, quite frankly, I got to "live the dream" again today. I woke up early (as usual) and walked the dogs as the sun began to rise over the Continental Divide. In the dawn's early light, the sky was clear, the air was cool and crisp and the leaves on the aspens, while still mostly green, were beginning to show signs of the approaching autumn. The morning temperatures in the high 30s would eventually give way to a gorgeous day in the 70s. The thought of getting to run a mountain trail race in this weather was all I needed to feel good about the life I have.
I arrived at the base of Howelsen Hill early enough to do a little warm up running on the final part of the course and then, a little more on the bike path with Derek McClung before the race start. This was the final race in the Steamboat Springs Running Series and it was really nice that it was actually a smaller field of runners than at the other races in the series. It gave the race a really "local" feel. Katy showed up to see me off, which always makes me feel lucky and very happy and I was ready to run. My goals for the race were to finish in 1:03 and as the first Masters (age groups 40+, since I just entered a new age group last Tuesday) and, above all, to have fun. Runners assembled behind the yurt next to the Sombrero Ranch's stables at the Rodeo Grounds and, at "Go!", we took off on our 12-kilometer, 1,130 vertical foot mountain tour.
Everyone seemed to be in great spirits and as we made the first hill going past Olympian Hall and there was alot of chatter and laughing. I watched and laughed out loud at the ridiculously fast pace that Nick Sunseri was already on as he barralled up the trail next to the ski jumps. It was obvious he was on to another win as he ran away from the rest of the field. Two other runners chased him with myself, Harry Niedl, Walter Magill and Tammy Jacques already 30 seconds back, and we all began climbing. Before we hit Blackmere Drive and started up towards Emerald Mountain, Harry moved up into 4th position. Then, Walter and Tammy moved up about 10 seconds ahead of me. We stayed like this for a few minutes and then turned on to the winding, uphill single track of Larry's. Here, I started to feel really good and moved past Walter and, then Tammy, a couple minutes later. We jumped back on Blackmere for the climb up to the top of the quarry and I could hear Tammy's footsteps hot on my tail as we neared the race's apex. (In hindsight, it would have been great if the race continued up Lane of Pain to the summit of Emerald Mountain. This would add an absurdly steep climb up another 400(ish)' in less than half a mile and, I think, really legitimize this as a "mountain race.") I managed to hold her off until the top of Little Moab and then bombed down the gnarly, rocky trail to open a gap. At the bottom of Little Moab (just a short 100+ yard, 100' descent), the course jumped back on the winding single track of Lupine. I absolutely love running the smooth single track with it's tight corners in the scrub oak and occasional rocky steps. I kicked it down a gear and did most of the mile or so downhill through the woods at just over a 6 minute/mile pace.
I kept listening for footsteps behind me but they never materialized. After a couple minutes, I saw a white t-shirt in front of me and ran a little harder to catch it. Here, I passed Eddie Rogers, who runs in either Vibram Five Fingers (a "foot glove") or sandals. Today, he was wearing what looked like a home-made, Tarahumara Indian-style sole tied to his feet and ankles with rope or line. While I like his barefoot approach to trail running (I race "minimal"-style trail flats, Inov-8 Talon 240's), I just don't think you can run as fast in sandals or barefooted as you can in shoes. Once I got in front of Eddie, I hammered the pace to put on a good gap on him and to take advantage of the long, gradual downhill of the next few miles. There were a few, small uphill sections but the rest of Lupine was a fun, fast, meandering run through the trees before the course finally broke into a meadow and the made the turn out to the Bluffs Loop.
I ended up running the Bluffs Loop by myself and could feel myself starting to fade on the occasional uphill. Fortunately, there weren't many ups and I was able to keep my tempo quick all the way back to the Rodeo Grounds and the race finish. As I reached the portion of the course I had pre-run earlier in the morning, I opened up to the fastest I could run and sprinted the last few hundred yards to the finish. I managed a 4th place overall and first place Masters finish in a very satisfying 1:01:46. Nick Sunseri killed another course for the win in :50:11 with Adam Loomis of Eau Claire, Wisconsin in second (:56:04) and Harry Niedl in third (:57:37). Local mountain biker extraordinare, Tammy Jacques went on to win the women's race in a quick 1:03:07, followed by Steamboat's Kristin Stemp (1:12:47) and Veronica Ventuno (1:13:30) of Denver. Derek McClung ran the race of the day in my book, finishing 14th in 1:10:28, nearly 5 minutes faster than he expected.
Just as much fun as the race was hanging out with all the other runners afterwards. Steamboat has a small but great community of runners, both road and trail alike. With food catered from some of the town's fantastic little restarants and free water, gatorade and beer(!) to drink, runner's milled about, telling stories from their personal races and talking about all things running. The atmosphere was festive and light. Clearly, the race series regulars have become pretty familiar with one another and are supportive and friendly. Furthermore, the running series consistently raffles off the coolest gear at the end of every race. Tech t-shirts, Big Agnes sleeping bags, backpacks, magazine subscriptions and free nights at the Sheraton make it better to be lucky than fast at a Running Series race.
In all, another fantastic race put on by the race directors and volunteers make me glad to live and play in such a wonderful little town in the Rocky Mountains. The consistently good participant turnout is testament to the quality and enjoyability of the races that are put on by the SSRS. Thanks for the memories and see you next summer, Running Series!
I arrived at the base of Howelsen Hill early enough to do a little warm up running on the final part of the course and then, a little more on the bike path with Derek McClung before the race start. This was the final race in the Steamboat Springs Running Series and it was really nice that it was actually a smaller field of runners than at the other races in the series. It gave the race a really "local" feel. Katy showed up to see me off, which always makes me feel lucky and very happy and I was ready to run. My goals for the race were to finish in 1:03 and as the first Masters (age groups 40+, since I just entered a new age group last Tuesday) and, above all, to have fun. Runners assembled behind the yurt next to the Sombrero Ranch's stables at the Rodeo Grounds and, at "Go!", we took off on our 12-kilometer, 1,130 vertical foot mountain tour.
Everyone seemed to be in great spirits and as we made the first hill going past Olympian Hall and there was alot of chatter and laughing. I watched and laughed out loud at the ridiculously fast pace that Nick Sunseri was already on as he barralled up the trail next to the ski jumps. It was obvious he was on to another win as he ran away from the rest of the field. Two other runners chased him with myself, Harry Niedl, Walter Magill and Tammy Jacques already 30 seconds back, and we all began climbing. Before we hit Blackmere Drive and started up towards Emerald Mountain, Harry moved up into 4th position. Then, Walter and Tammy moved up about 10 seconds ahead of me. We stayed like this for a few minutes and then turned on to the winding, uphill single track of Larry's. Here, I started to feel really good and moved past Walter and, then Tammy, a couple minutes later. We jumped back on Blackmere for the climb up to the top of the quarry and I could hear Tammy's footsteps hot on my tail as we neared the race's apex. (In hindsight, it would have been great if the race continued up Lane of Pain to the summit of Emerald Mountain. This would add an absurdly steep climb up another 400(ish)' in less than half a mile and, I think, really legitimize this as a "mountain race.") I managed to hold her off until the top of Little Moab and then bombed down the gnarly, rocky trail to open a gap. At the bottom of Little Moab (just a short 100+ yard, 100' descent), the course jumped back on the winding single track of Lupine. I absolutely love running the smooth single track with it's tight corners in the scrub oak and occasional rocky steps. I kicked it down a gear and did most of the mile or so downhill through the woods at just over a 6 minute/mile pace.
I kept listening for footsteps behind me but they never materialized. After a couple minutes, I saw a white t-shirt in front of me and ran a little harder to catch it. Here, I passed Eddie Rogers, who runs in either Vibram Five Fingers (a "foot glove") or sandals. Today, he was wearing what looked like a home-made, Tarahumara Indian-style sole tied to his feet and ankles with rope or line. While I like his barefoot approach to trail running (I race "minimal"-style trail flats, Inov-8 Talon 240's), I just don't think you can run as fast in sandals or barefooted as you can in shoes. Once I got in front of Eddie, I hammered the pace to put on a good gap on him and to take advantage of the long, gradual downhill of the next few miles. There were a few, small uphill sections but the rest of Lupine was a fun, fast, meandering run through the trees before the course finally broke into a meadow and the made the turn out to the Bluffs Loop.
I ended up running the Bluffs Loop by myself and could feel myself starting to fade on the occasional uphill. Fortunately, there weren't many ups and I was able to keep my tempo quick all the way back to the Rodeo Grounds and the race finish. As I reached the portion of the course I had pre-run earlier in the morning, I opened up to the fastest I could run and sprinted the last few hundred yards to the finish. I managed a 4th place overall and first place Masters finish in a very satisfying 1:01:46. Nick Sunseri killed another course for the win in :50:11 with Adam Loomis of Eau Claire, Wisconsin in second (:56:04) and Harry Niedl in third (:57:37). Local mountain biker extraordinare, Tammy Jacques went on to win the women's race in a quick 1:03:07, followed by Steamboat's Kristin Stemp (1:12:47) and Veronica Ventuno (1:13:30) of Denver. Derek McClung ran the race of the day in my book, finishing 14th in 1:10:28, nearly 5 minutes faster than he expected.
Just as much fun as the race was hanging out with all the other runners afterwards. Steamboat has a small but great community of runners, both road and trail alike. With food catered from some of the town's fantastic little restarants and free water, gatorade and beer(!) to drink, runner's milled about, telling stories from their personal races and talking about all things running. The atmosphere was festive and light. Clearly, the race series regulars have become pretty familiar with one another and are supportive and friendly. Furthermore, the running series consistently raffles off the coolest gear at the end of every race. Tech t-shirts, Big Agnes sleeping bags, backpacks, magazine subscriptions and free nights at the Sheraton make it better to be lucky than fast at a Running Series race.
In all, another fantastic race put on by the race directors and volunteers make me glad to live and play in such a wonderful little town in the Rocky Mountains. The consistently good participant turnout is testament to the quality and enjoyability of the races that are put on by the SSRS. Thanks for the memories and see you next summer, Running Series!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Continental Divide Trail Run Race Report
Holy shit. That is a tough race. Especially when it starts the morning after one of your best friends gets married and you clipped your quadracep on a rock while tubing down the Yampa River that afternoon and you've been at sea level for most of the week before and...OK, that's enough excuses. Here's how the race went down:
The 2011 Ski Haus Continental Divide Trail Run, which is a Trail Runner Magazine Trophy Series race, sold out with 125 runners, again proving that the Steamboat Springs Running Series is really getting the attention it deserves. It was another gorgeous morning, the weather clear and cool and perfect for racing. After meeting at the Knoll parking lot at the Steamboat Ski Area, runners are loaded onto shuttles which take them to the race start at the Fish Creek Falls trail head. At the race start, runners practically sprinted to the trail to avoid bottle necking and continued down the trail and crossed the footbridge at the bottom of Fish Creek Falls. Immediately afterwards, runners begin the first of many, many climbing sections. Gaining 500' in the first mile and 1500' in the first 3.5 miles, I found myself hiking much of the first part of the race. The trail is not only steep but also very, very rocky for the first few miles, making it very difficult to do any running at all (unless you are one of the rabbits at the very front of the race) since the footing is so sketchy. I managed to reach the 2nd waterfall in 33 minutes and took a few seconds to go down to a small pool and dunk my hat in an effort to cool off. After the second falls, the trail begins to climb more gradually and I was able to start running a little more, albeit conservatively, knowing that there was still much more uphill to deal with later in the race. About 4 miles in, the trail crosses a beautiful meadow that was pretty muddy. I tried to avoid getting my feet wet at first, but there was an unavoidable section of soupy mud and all bets were off. I laughed and said out loud, "Yep. It's a mountain race." I saw the runner in front of me turn his head a bit and smile in agreement. At the 5.5 mile mark, the course turns onto the Mountain View Trail, a 6 mile grind up the backside of Mt. Werner. I paused at the aid station, drank two cups of Cytomax, ate a Honey Stinger gel and pet a race volunteer's dog before I proceeded on.
I have a real love/hate relationship with Mountain View Trail. Running in this direction, it's a long, forested uphill run to get to the top of the ski area. It's a beautiful trail (that's the love), especially in the last 2 miles when the views out to the Continental Divide become really impressive. But it's tough (the hate). I always have a hard time on this trail. I ended up doing most of the trail alone, alternately running the flats, downhills and moderate uphills and hiking on the steeper climbs. My right quadracep was feeling pretty sore from hitting the rock in the river while tubing the day before but I just tried to keep moving and keep my heart rate from going too high. I stopped a couple of times to get some debris out of my shoes. Finally, in the last 1.5 miles, I caught a glimpse of two runners about a hundred yards in front of me and I felt like I would be able to catch them, if not before the summit, then, hopefully on the 2.5 mile descent to the Gondola. I managed to reel in the first guy and kept steady after the next, catching him in last .5 mile before the summit. At the summit, I was so relieved to finally be done with (almost) all that heinous uphill. By now, we had climbed well over 3000'. On the descent, I saw two more runners in front of me and I ran my fastest to catch them both. I was able to catch the first runner on Storm Peak Challenge and gave him an "attaboy" as I passed. There was a short, bushwacking detour to the course due to logging operations on the mountain, which was actually really fun. There was a ton of flagging to let you know where to run but NO trail. Just low brush, grass and rocks. I managed to pass the second runner here and then did all I could to stay fast on the remainder of the downhill as we hit dirt road again. Like the Mt. Werner race I did a couple weeks ago, this course finishes with a very cruel 400+ yard uphill run to the gondola. I felt like I was moving in slow motion but happily crossed the finish line in 2:30:41 (19th), nearly 6 minutes off my goal time of 2:25 but proud, none the less, to finish this grueling race.
Nick Sunseri won the race, destroying yet another course record, in a blistering 1:47:50! We talked before the race and were both a little dubious about the advertised race distance of 15 (or 16) miles. Both of our GPS watches calculated the course at 14.3 miles. Nobody disputed the 3400' of vertical gain. Other locals also recording fast times were Josh Smullin (3rd, 2:05.30),Harry Niedl (4th, 2:07.10), Bill Goldsmith (5th, 2:08.13) Glen Light (8th, 2:15.34) and Gregg Joyce (14th, 2:25.36).
The 2011 Ski Haus Continental Divide Trail Run, which is a Trail Runner Magazine Trophy Series race, sold out with 125 runners, again proving that the Steamboat Springs Running Series is really getting the attention it deserves. It was another gorgeous morning, the weather clear and cool and perfect for racing. After meeting at the Knoll parking lot at the Steamboat Ski Area, runners are loaded onto shuttles which take them to the race start at the Fish Creek Falls trail head. At the race start, runners practically sprinted to the trail to avoid bottle necking and continued down the trail and crossed the footbridge at the bottom of Fish Creek Falls. Immediately afterwards, runners begin the first of many, many climbing sections. Gaining 500' in the first mile and 1500' in the first 3.5 miles, I found myself hiking much of the first part of the race. The trail is not only steep but also very, very rocky for the first few miles, making it very difficult to do any running at all (unless you are one of the rabbits at the very front of the race) since the footing is so sketchy. I managed to reach the 2nd waterfall in 33 minutes and took a few seconds to go down to a small pool and dunk my hat in an effort to cool off. After the second falls, the trail begins to climb more gradually and I was able to start running a little more, albeit conservatively, knowing that there was still much more uphill to deal with later in the race. About 4 miles in, the trail crosses a beautiful meadow that was pretty muddy. I tried to avoid getting my feet wet at first, but there was an unavoidable section of soupy mud and all bets were off. I laughed and said out loud, "Yep. It's a mountain race." I saw the runner in front of me turn his head a bit and smile in agreement. At the 5.5 mile mark, the course turns onto the Mountain View Trail, a 6 mile grind up the backside of Mt. Werner. I paused at the aid station, drank two cups of Cytomax, ate a Honey Stinger gel and pet a race volunteer's dog before I proceeded on.
I have a real love/hate relationship with Mountain View Trail. Running in this direction, it's a long, forested uphill run to get to the top of the ski area. It's a beautiful trail (that's the love), especially in the last 2 miles when the views out to the Continental Divide become really impressive. But it's tough (the hate). I always have a hard time on this trail. I ended up doing most of the trail alone, alternately running the flats, downhills and moderate uphills and hiking on the steeper climbs. My right quadracep was feeling pretty sore from hitting the rock in the river while tubing the day before but I just tried to keep moving and keep my heart rate from going too high. I stopped a couple of times to get some debris out of my shoes. Finally, in the last 1.5 miles, I caught a glimpse of two runners about a hundred yards in front of me and I felt like I would be able to catch them, if not before the summit, then, hopefully on the 2.5 mile descent to the Gondola. I managed to reel in the first guy and kept steady after the next, catching him in last .5 mile before the summit. At the summit, I was so relieved to finally be done with (almost) all that heinous uphill. By now, we had climbed well over 3000'. On the descent, I saw two more runners in front of me and I ran my fastest to catch them both. I was able to catch the first runner on Storm Peak Challenge and gave him an "attaboy" as I passed. There was a short, bushwacking detour to the course due to logging operations on the mountain, which was actually really fun. There was a ton of flagging to let you know where to run but NO trail. Just low brush, grass and rocks. I managed to pass the second runner here and then did all I could to stay fast on the remainder of the downhill as we hit dirt road again. Like the Mt. Werner race I did a couple weeks ago, this course finishes with a very cruel 400+ yard uphill run to the gondola. I felt like I was moving in slow motion but happily crossed the finish line in 2:30:41 (19th), nearly 6 minutes off my goal time of 2:25 but proud, none the less, to finish this grueling race.
Nick Sunseri won the race, destroying yet another course record, in a blistering 1:47:50! We talked before the race and were both a little dubious about the advertised race distance of 15 (or 16) miles. Both of our GPS watches calculated the course at 14.3 miles. Nobody disputed the 3400' of vertical gain. Other locals also recording fast times were Josh Smullin (3rd, 2:05.30),Harry Niedl (4th, 2:07.10), Bill Goldsmith (5th, 2:08.13) Glen Light (8th, 2:15.34) and Gregg Joyce (14th, 2:25.36).
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Mount Werner Classic Race Recap
It was another stellar summer morning with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-60s (after a little rain in the days before) and a near-full corral of runners began the 12-mile, 3,400 vertical foot trek to the top of Mt. Werner. The race website: (http://runningseries.com/races/mt_werner_classic.php) claims the course actually climbs 4,775' because of the multiple uphill and downhill sections along your way to the summit. I read once that a 1,000' climb is like running an extra mile. To call this race a challenge is no understatement.
I arrived early enough to see neighbor and friendly runner Bronwyn Rittner in the parking lot and walked down to the registration tent. Because I registered early enough, my race number was pre-printed with my name on it. I thought that was a cool, classy touch for the Race Director to think of. I did a little warm up running with local speedster, Harry Niedl (ended up finishing 3rd, 1:49:45) and let him know my plan was to start really slow and save as much as I could for later. My only goal was to beat last year's time of 2:06:04.
At the start, I stayed true to myself and started slowly, settling in with a pack of runners as we headed up Right of Way towards the bottom of Thunderhead lift. From there, we got on the dirt road up to snowmaking, instead of taking the single track. This was a detour from last year's course due to a mudslide that happened in the spring. As we approached the first view of the valley from the top of Bashor Bowl, I ran with Roy Cardwell from Vail, who I met at last year's race and we talked for a bit. Roy's running the Leadville Trail 100 in a couple of weeks. We got to talk for a while after the race, too, which was really nice. He says he'll be back next year. I hope so. We passed the first aid station at the Snowmaking Building and hopped on the Valley View trail to do the first section of serious climbing (of course, I say this after we have already grunted our way up a solid 7-800'). The weather was so nice and cool in the shady aspens. I ran with the two women's leaders (Nancy Citriglia and Kelly Bedell) for a little while, then pushed ahead once we got near some of the downhill sections. I caught Duke Barlow from Breckenridge just before the climb up Moonlight but he passed me as I hiked up a steep section and then got away from me. I was relieved once the course got to Duster because I knew that we had a relatively tame climb to Rendezvous on a mile plus dirt road. Nancy Citriglia of Winter Park was now the women's leader (went on to finish first in 2:03:46) came on strong here and passed me on Duster. At Rendezvous, the course runs down a dirt road to the bottom of Sunshine Lift and then, begins the gnarly 2ish mile climb to the summit on Pete's Wicked Trail. I was able to see the two runners in front of me on the occasional switchback, so even though I really started to feel beat, I had a goal in mind of staying somewhat close to them. I couldn't quite find a rhythm on the climb. Pete's is a pretty technical trail with water, rocks, logs, a bit of everything. And it's relentlessly steep. I checked my watch at one point and I had been running for 1 hour and 38 minutes, so I ate a Honey Stinger gel to give me a boost. It helped a little but, if not for the amazing wildflowers and the jaw-dropping view at the top of Sunshine Liftline, it would have felt like a bit of a death march to the summit. Once within sight of the top of Storm Lift, I was able to get my second wind, ready for a 2.5 mile downhill run to the gondola. Local runner, Mike Hlavacek, was at the summit aid station with some encouragement and a pitcher of water or margarita. Your choice. I thought he was joking at the time but found later that Nick Sunseri (local running stud and winner of this year's race in 1:41:19) and Roy had both taken Mike up on his offer. (Not for me, thanks.) On the descent, I just went for broke and clipped off my fastest downhill effort my legs could take. First, I passed a Chevy Suburban and, eventually, caught Nancy as I cruised down Storm Peak Challenge but she still managed to stay close behind me. Less than a mile from the finish, I see Eddie Rogers (Steamboat) running in Vibram Five Fingers and I really want to catch him at the end. I definitely had pace on him and I was feeling good. That is, until he saw me chasing him and kicked it down another gear. The final 400 yards or so of the race is another unforgiving dirt road climb up to the gondola and I was completely gassed. His strong stride indicated that he had more left than I did. He finally disappeard around a bend just before the finish and I did all I could to end with a smile.
Yes! Another wonderful time running a great race and I even PR'd the course with a time of 2:03:34 (Shooting to go under 2 hrs. next year and I managed to keep my top 10 streak intact by finishing 8th because a couple of real fast guys didn't run today.) I stuck around for a while, ate a little food and talked about trail running with a few of the other runners. It was a super beautiful day and I was glad to hang out at the top of the gondola with a bunch of people who had just run the same, awesome course. Everyone was just really in sync and friendly, so the event had a really positive vibe. Great time. The Race Directors, Emily Conjura and Cara Marrs, did an incredible job of putting on a Zero Waste Event. The course was well-marked and well-managed. I'm already looking forward to next year. This race is definitely a Classic.
I arrived early enough to see neighbor and friendly runner Bronwyn Rittner in the parking lot and walked down to the registration tent. Because I registered early enough, my race number was pre-printed with my name on it. I thought that was a cool, classy touch for the Race Director to think of. I did a little warm up running with local speedster, Harry Niedl (ended up finishing 3rd, 1:49:45) and let him know my plan was to start really slow and save as much as I could for later. My only goal was to beat last year's time of 2:06:04.
At the start, I stayed true to myself and started slowly, settling in with a pack of runners as we headed up Right of Way towards the bottom of Thunderhead lift. From there, we got on the dirt road up to snowmaking, instead of taking the single track. This was a detour from last year's course due to a mudslide that happened in the spring. As we approached the first view of the valley from the top of Bashor Bowl, I ran with Roy Cardwell from Vail, who I met at last year's race and we talked for a bit. Roy's running the Leadville Trail 100 in a couple of weeks. We got to talk for a while after the race, too, which was really nice. He says he'll be back next year. I hope so. We passed the first aid station at the Snowmaking Building and hopped on the Valley View trail to do the first section of serious climbing (of course, I say this after we have already grunted our way up a solid 7-800'). The weather was so nice and cool in the shady aspens. I ran with the two women's leaders (Nancy Citriglia and Kelly Bedell) for a little while, then pushed ahead once we got near some of the downhill sections. I caught Duke Barlow from Breckenridge just before the climb up Moonlight but he passed me as I hiked up a steep section and then got away from me. I was relieved once the course got to Duster because I knew that we had a relatively tame climb to Rendezvous on a mile plus dirt road. Nancy Citriglia of Winter Park was now the women's leader (went on to finish first in 2:03:46) came on strong here and passed me on Duster. At Rendezvous, the course runs down a dirt road to the bottom of Sunshine Lift and then, begins the gnarly 2ish mile climb to the summit on Pete's Wicked Trail. I was able to see the two runners in front of me on the occasional switchback, so even though I really started to feel beat, I had a goal in mind of staying somewhat close to them. I couldn't quite find a rhythm on the climb. Pete's is a pretty technical trail with water, rocks, logs, a bit of everything. And it's relentlessly steep. I checked my watch at one point and I had been running for 1 hour and 38 minutes, so I ate a Honey Stinger gel to give me a boost. It helped a little but, if not for the amazing wildflowers and the jaw-dropping view at the top of Sunshine Liftline, it would have felt like a bit of a death march to the summit. Once within sight of the top of Storm Lift, I was able to get my second wind, ready for a 2.5 mile downhill run to the gondola. Local runner, Mike Hlavacek, was at the summit aid station with some encouragement and a pitcher of water or margarita. Your choice. I thought he was joking at the time but found later that Nick Sunseri (local running stud and winner of this year's race in 1:41:19) and Roy had both taken Mike up on his offer. (Not for me, thanks.) On the descent, I just went for broke and clipped off my fastest downhill effort my legs could take. First, I passed a Chevy Suburban and, eventually, caught Nancy as I cruised down Storm Peak Challenge but she still managed to stay close behind me. Less than a mile from the finish, I see Eddie Rogers (Steamboat) running in Vibram Five Fingers and I really want to catch him at the end. I definitely had pace on him and I was feeling good. That is, until he saw me chasing him and kicked it down another gear. The final 400 yards or so of the race is another unforgiving dirt road climb up to the gondola and I was completely gassed. His strong stride indicated that he had more left than I did. He finally disappeard around a bend just before the finish and I did all I could to end with a smile.
Yes! Another wonderful time running a great race and I even PR'd the course with a time of 2:03:34 (Shooting to go under 2 hrs. next year and I managed to keep my top 10 streak intact by finishing 8th because a couple of real fast guys didn't run today.) I stuck around for a while, ate a little food and talked about trail running with a few of the other runners. It was a super beautiful day and I was glad to hang out at the top of the gondola with a bunch of people who had just run the same, awesome course. Everyone was just really in sync and friendly, so the event had a really positive vibe. Great time. The Race Directors, Emily Conjura and Cara Marrs, did an incredible job of putting on a Zero Waste Event. The course was well-marked and well-managed. I'm already looking forward to next year. This race is definitely a Classic.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Weekly Summary: July 26 - Aug 1
7/26 - Off.
7/27 - Off.
7/28 - 4.74 miles. :38.34. ~400'. Stagecoach. Easy run.
7/29 - Off.
7/30 - 10.63 miles. 2:15.08. ~2000'. Devil's Causeway Short Loop. East Fork Trail (1119) - Devil's Causeway Trail - Chinese Wall Trail (1803) - Bear River Trail (1120). Incredible morning run up to the tundra. Without pushing very hard and stopping for photos, I made it to the Causeway in :44, a solid 8 minutes faster than my first attempt two weeks ago. The next 3 miles were absolutely sublime. I felt like I was on top of the world as I ran 8 minute miles at over 11,000' taking in the endless views, surrounded by an ocean of wildflowers and still finding the occasional snow patch. The descent on Bear River Trail started out with a half mile of crossing snow patches, water crossings and rocky steps. Eventually, the trail entered the woods again, smoothed out in a few places and was very runnable. A couple of log bridges helped me cross some fast moving streams. It would've been nice to run for another hour or so but I wanted to get back home and take care of some things. Just a fantastic trail run with a little bit of everything. A ton of marmot sightings! Even with many stops to take photos (more posted on my Facebook page) and a short refueling stop, I was still able to run the entire loop in 2:02.54 and then did a short cool down. I will almost certainly try and run this loop for a fast time (1:30 - 1:45) at some point in the future.
7/27 - Off.
7/28 - 4.74 miles. :38.34. ~400'. Stagecoach. Easy run.
7/29 - Off.
7/30 - 10.63 miles. 2:15.08. ~2000'. Devil's Causeway Short Loop. East Fork Trail (1119) - Devil's Causeway Trail - Chinese Wall Trail (1803) - Bear River Trail (1120). Incredible morning run up to the tundra. Without pushing very hard and stopping for photos, I made it to the Causeway in :44, a solid 8 minutes faster than my first attempt two weeks ago. The next 3 miles were absolutely sublime. I felt like I was on top of the world as I ran 8 minute miles at over 11,000' taking in the endless views, surrounded by an ocean of wildflowers and still finding the occasional snow patch. The descent on Bear River Trail started out with a half mile of crossing snow patches, water crossings and rocky steps. Eventually, the trail entered the woods again, smoothed out in a few places and was very runnable. A couple of log bridges helped me cross some fast moving streams. It would've been nice to run for another hour or so but I wanted to get back home and take care of some things. Just a fantastic trail run with a little bit of everything. A ton of marmot sightings! Even with many stops to take photos (more posted on my Facebook page) and a short refueling stop, I was still able to run the entire loop in 2:02.54 and then did a short cool down. I will almost certainly try and run this loop for a fast time (1:30 - 1:45) at some point in the future.
Topo of the Causeway Short Loop.
Looking NW from the Devil's Causeway
The Devil's Causeway
7/31 - Off.
8/1 - 7.12 miles. :58.00. ~400'v. Stagecoach. Good uptempo run down to the south shore of the lake and back up to the house. Encountered a little skunk on the trail so I let him do his thing until he disappeared into the tall grass. Right after that, saw a gorgeous bald eagle perched atop a pole, checking out the critters around the lake. I think it was the same one Katy and I saw yesterday morning when we walked the dogs down to the dam. Very cool!
Weekly totals: 21+ miles. ~2800'v. Good week with low miles but what a fantastic run on Saturday. Probably my favorite run since the Lake of the Crags run I did last summer. Looking forward to running the Mt. Werner Classic this coming Saturday and hoping to run at least as fast as last year (2:06) if not a touch faster.
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