AK's writings on running, biking, and other stuff I like to do
22.08.2010
Quest for Kings Marathon report
categories: Race Reports, Running Logs, Trail Runs
tags:

I finally did my first official marathon…in a somewhat ‘unofficial’ race.  Unofficial in the sense that there was no entry fee, no timing chips, and only 4 entrants.  Only 2 of which started at the same time!  But it was indeed a race, and it was my first official Marathon race and it was a blast.  I now have a marathon PR of 5:45!! (shouldn’t be too hard to get that down I suppose, that is a TOUGH marathon course)

My friend Craig Lloyd organized this race, and initially more people were going to come, but it only ended up being 4 of us in the end.  The rules of the race were this:  Start your clocks at the trailhead fence at Henry’s fork, tag Kings Peak, and stop your watch at the fence when you get back.  Fastest time back to the fence gets to keep the Cowbell.

It just so happens that from the fence, to the peak and back is exactly 26.2 miles.  But it also just so happens, that it is only 26.2 miles exactly if you take a specific route through the gunsight pass cutoff.  Craig and I took this route, but on the way back we cut off about .8 miles by going straight down off gunsight pass and avoiding a big long switch back…so my actual mileage to the peak and back was 25.4.

Here were my race goals in order of priority:

  1. Appropriately pace myself to enjoy the entire day.
  2. Properly fuel myself to finish feeling strong like I did at Leadville last week
  3. Win the race
  4. Finish the course between 5:00-5:15

Pre-race

the night before, Craig and I did a super easy 5.5 mile run up to a lake, which was fun.  We hung out after, had a nice big dinner of pasta and cheese bread, and chatted around the fire on a gorgeous, clear mountain evening.  We were going to start at 6:00 am, but we didn’t get to bed until midnight because of waiting for Craig’s parents who got lost, so we opted to sleep in until 6:30.  Scott, who had arrived at 2 am apparently, gave us a nice wakeup call at 5:40 since he of course had no way of getting the ‘sleep in’ memo.   We still went back to sleep til 6:30, then had some oatmeal in our tent and got up to get going.

Scott left just before 7 am to get a bit of a head start, and Craig and I took off at about 7:20.

Craign ringing the bell to start

The night before, Craig and I organized our packs and fueling, and I packed approximately 2300 calories total between 3 EFS liquid shots (1200 calories), 3-4 servings of 1st endurance optygen and ultragen, and 1 clif shot.  I ended up using between 1800-1900 calories total throughout the race, which was between 300-350 per hour average.  I took them in really consistently throughout and it worked perfectly for me.

Start to Elkhorn Crossing – 5.45 miles – 58:19 – 1000 Feet net ascent

The first 5 miles are pretty mellow and steady.  But there is almost no part of the trail that isn’t rocky or root covered.  I was feeling fresh, and the pace was easy.  My heart rate was quickly at about 149-150, and I just kept it there.  I was content to keep a very relaxed, conversational pace.   Oddly though, the conversation part wasn’t much there.  It was like Craig and I used up all our conversation the night before on our run and around the fire, and now there was just nothing left to say.  But really I think Craig was just kind of solemn and quiet because almost from the first step he just wasn’t feeling it for some reason.  He mentioned a side ache within the first mile.  I asked if he thought our pace was too fast, and he thought it was fine.  But I let him take the lead for the next couple miles because I hoped he could get into a rhythm.

We had made a plan the night before, that we would try to stick together and push each other up to the peak, and even possibly back down to gunsight, and then open it up and see where the last 10 miles took us.  I was really hoping he didn’t fall off pace before gunsight, because I had no clue about the course, and I knew there were going to be some navigational issues at the top section when there was no trail.

Fortunately, craig held the steady pace, and we motored on.

Elkhorn to Gunsight supposed water stop – 4.3 Miles – 56:50 – 1250 Feet net ascent

Looking up toward the peaks we're heading to

Craig cruising through the beautiful valley

During this section we caught Scott who had started 30 minutes before us.  He was looking strong, and held with us for a while.  But toward the end, Craig seemed to be fading just a bit as it got steeper.  I just focused on keeping my heart rate between 148-150 – and I was able to easily run almost all the inclines while keeping it there, so I did.  But toward gunsight it was opening up a gap on Craig.  I really didn’t want to be opening a gap at that point, but I also wanted to keep my steady pace, and I really wasn’t pushing my heart rate at all.  In fact, I have raced all day at LOTOJA with my HR in the 160′s, so 150 is a conservative all day pace for me.  But I was content with it.

I stopped at the bottom of the final push up gunsight because Craig yelled from behind that there should be water there.  He caught up and we searched a couple minutes for water, to no avail.  The flow wasn’t good enough.  So we kept going.

Me heading up toward dollar lake

Almost to gunsight pass, about 2 hours into the day

Gunsight to the final ascent – 2.5 miles – 55:12 – 1100+ feet net ascent

Just over gunsight pass there was a snow field where we wasted a couple more minutes searching for water.  I packed snow in my hand held bottle because I was unsure if there was going to be another location to get water.  This was pretty concerning to me, so I felt that having snow was safer than nothing.  The night before, Craig was totally confident there would be flowing water at Gunsight (don’t worry craig, I forgive you;), so I had decided to only fill my hydration pack with 40 oz. instead of 70 oz.  Mistake!  I should have kept the 70 oz. and I could have avoided multiple stops.  But I thought it would be nice to have a little less weight.  In an unsupported mountain run of 5+ hours, it’s definitely a good idea to go over-prepared rather than under.

Anyway, we got snow in our bottles, but a few minutes were lost, and we were on our way again.

It was clear at this point that Craig was really not feeling it, because at my comfortable pace I kept creeping ahead of him.  He told me the way to go around gunsight, but I still made a mistake and went too high.  The problem was there was a MASSIVELY HUGE cairn marking the way to go, and it was way above me.  Craig warned me to stay low, and I thought I was, but it was a huge marker.  Anyway, I came around a ridge and looked around to see multiple peaks, a huge rock talus field, and I had ZERO clue which way to go.

I looked back to find Craig, and he was nowhere in sight.  I kept moving forward, not even knowing which peak I should be aiming for.  moments later, I looked down and Craig was hundreds of yards below me moving through the valley.  I yelled for him, which I realize now was pointless.  Obviously he knew where he was going, and I just needed to get back to him.  He saw me and waved the direction.  I cut down the hill toward him and within a few minutes was back up to him with not too much effort.

I’m glad I was back with him, because he could show me the way to go.  If he wouldn’t have been up there with me I’m certain I would have spent a bunch of time lost on the wrong route in a super slow talus field.

The next bit of fortune was we hit a small river crossing!  Nice…fresh water.  We both found a clear hole and filled up our water bottles.  That was a very welcome water source, and gave me confidence that I would have plenty of water for the round trip now.  If that water would not have been there, I would have gone through some serious dehydration that day for sure.

Final climb to the peak – 3/4 mile – 24:20 – 775 feet net ascent (included 2 minute stop talking to faceless ghost)

Craig on the summit, really windy up there

As we left the saddle before the ridge to the peak, we saw Eric (facelessghost) picking his way down the boulders toward us.  That was a huge surprise!  What the heck was he doing up here??  Oh yeah, there was a race going on.  He just didn’t bother to tell anyone he was going to participate!   OK, turns out he did email Craig at the last minute, but we didn’t get the message.  And somehow, he managed to get onto the trailhead in the morning at 6:30 WITHOUT seeing us, even though our campsite was within 100 yards of the trail head and RIGHT on the road.  Weird.  Kind of a bummer too, because it would have been cool to know that he was in the race, and have another person to be pushed by.  Although, he is out of Craig and My league I think.

We talked for a couple minutes and we parted ways.  Apparently he had spent some time lost trying to find his way too, and still hit the summit in under 3 hours.  Craig and I knew we were both out of the running to win now, since we weren’t even on pace to hit the summit in 3 hours, and we’re not as fast as him to begin with.  Oh well, it was cool to meet you briefly Eric, look forward to hearing how the day went for you.

Summit back to above Gunsight pass = 2.5 miles – 54:32

We passed Scott pretty close coming down from the summit

I made it to the summit in a still conservative pace, keeping my HR at or below 150 the whole time.  And I put a gap of 5 minutes on Craig.  At the top I took some video, and then fumbled in the wind for a couple minutes trying to untangle my headphones.  I realized I had them, after all, thinking I hadn’t brought them, and I decided it would be nice to have some tunes on the way down if I was going to be alone for a while anyway.

Passed Craig a few minutes later, and then saw Scott coming up shortly thereafter.  I was surprised to see Scott so close, and really happy for him.  Nice job Scott!   You pushed a great pace up to that summit!

Craig caught me half way down the descent, and I was glad to see him in better spirits.  We pushed together back to the water hole on Anderson pass.  I filled up a bit faster this time and kept going, opening up a small gap.  It was really tough running down this section.  It’s a tundra field and there are TONS of rocks.  And they are all super sharp.  It’s just not fast going down at all and it beats up your feet pretty good.

But we were moving steady enough, and around through the cutoff back to gunsight I ran past 2 runners coming up.  I recognized Andy Dorais, who Nan and I knew from her days at BYU, and so I stopped to chat with him.  He was running with Kyle Perry, a pro runner for New balance who won the NCAA steeplchase in 2009.  It was cool to catch up with Andy.  And during my stop, Craig caught back up and we all chatted a bit.  As you can see, we were really intensely focused on our time in this race…er…something.

It was funny because Kyle commented that was the farthest he had ever run.  It was about 11 miles in.  And I thought…wow…he’s got a tough day ahead of him.  We bid farewell and were off again.

Gunsight to Elkhorn crossing down – 4.43 miles – 42:32 – 9:36/mile

At this point, Craig needed to search for some more water, but I had plenty in my hydration pack so I pressed on.  I just kept my pace locked in at about 150 HR and pushed down the mountain.  It was pretty steady running, but still not super fast.  I really thought I could crank out a bunch of 7:30 miles down this part, but it was just too rocky and hard on the feet.  There were sections where my pace got into the 6′s, but then others where it was back up to 10 and 11 min. per mile just because of the terrain.

Elkhorn crossing to Finish – 5.46 miles – 53:50 – 9:52/mile

And the same thing again on this section.  I felt fine.  My legs and most especially my feet were getting tired at this point.  The feet had taken a beating on all the rocks.  But I still thought I could go faster down this section.  But it wasn’t the case.  Mentally I was totally content keeping my pace at 150 HR.  And the trail is just too darn rocky to really get a smooth rhythm going.

But nevertheless, I still did this section 5 minutes faster down than up.  I’m pretty sure that every other person in the race and otherwise did this section slower coming down than up.  It’s just a long haul through a rocky trail.  And it is also really rolly.  It’s not just down hill here, it actually has a bunch of short uphill sections.

But overall I still had plenty of energy and was still well fueled.  And my legs still felt totally fine.  The only thing hurting were my feet, and my left hip a little bit.  So it was not a problem running all the uphills, and I ran every step of the last 10 miles.  In fact, I still felt just as powerful on the uphills as I did in the morning, didn’t mind them at all.

Finish Totals: 5:45:42 – 25.41 Miles – Avg HR: 143 – 4637 Feet Ascent – 4637 Feet Descent

Craig and I afterward in our matching colors, not intentional. Still unsure who got the cowbell at this point

So I finished, and felt great.  I didn’t feel like I was pushing a very hard effort the last 10 miles, and kept half expecting Craig to catch up to me.  I wouldn’t have minded if he did, because I would have enjoyed the company and would have loved it if I had somebody to push me harder through that last section.  As it was I was content at my 150 heart rate and just enjoying the cruise down to the finish.

Not at any point during that race did I not enjoy myself.  Although my feet were pretty tired toward the end, I still found myself really enjoying being out there, and cruising through the mountains.  We had phenomenal sunny weather, and it was just gorgeous out there.y sa

Craig came in 12 minutes later, and I was glad to see him pretty close behind, I figured he wouldn’t be far.

We enjoyed relaxing in the river after, and drinking lots of cold fluid.  We packed up our camp and hung out.

I spoke to two other runners who I passed on the trail coming down.  They said they had seen Eric running down earlier, and he looked hashed.  That surprised Craig and I, and made us wonder if he had beaten us after all.  The other two runners said I looked totally fresh compared to Eric.  And I did feel really fresh…I ran past them almost like they were standing still at that point.

So with the unknown of Eric’s time, Craig had to keep the cowbell until further review of who the actual winner was.

Later that night I got a text from Craig saying that Eric finished in 6:01.  WHAT?!?  Total surprise to me…with how fast he was at the peak, we were sure he would have slaughtered us.  He really must have blown up or something though, because he was slower going down than he was going up.  But it turns out he did add 2 miles going down because he went around the valley below gunsight instead of taking the cutoff.

I made it to the peak in 3:14, and my descent time was 2:31.  I think Eric said he was at the peak in like 2:55, which puts his descent at 3:06.   Even with the 2 extra miles, its clear that he must have hit a wall or something.

SWEET!!  A WIN FOR ME!  Oh, and you better believe I feel totally accomplished since I beat 3 OTHER PEOPLE!!  No but seriously though, beating Craig is definitely an accomplishment, because he is a very solid mountain runner, with a bunch of solid races this year.  And, beating the faceless ghost is totally awesome!!  I am 100% certain that I could not beat him if something drastic hadn’t happened to him at the end, because his pace in his previous races blow mine away.  He beat Craig in the sapper joe 50K by almost an hour, and it wasn’t like craig was sitting around, he took 4th that day.  So I will just have to bask in the momentary glory of having beaten him on the ‘Quest for Kings’ while I can!  Thanks for letting me win Eric!  And so apparently I get the cowbell for the year.  Can’t wait for the rematch already!

Goal Review

So how did I do on my goals in this race??  Let’s see…

  1. Appropriately pace myself to enjoy the entire day. – NAILED IT!!  Don’t think I could have possibly paced myself any more even than I did.  And I thoroughly enjoyed the entire race because of it.
  2. Properly fuel myself to finish feeling strong like I did at Leadville last week – PERFECT! Thanks again to 1st Endurance and Vespa, I felt energized the entire race.
  3. Win the race – HECK YEAH!! Can’t believe I actually beat faceless ghost, but ‘thems the breaks’ I guess.  Too bad he ran 2 extra miles!
  4. Finish the course between 5:00-5:15 – Didn’t pull that one off – don’t really care that much though, as that was my lowest priority goal.  And I’m certain even with the same pace I ran and just not wasting time on the course I could have done it in 5:30.  Next year I can probably go sub 5 if I keep improving my fitness.  That’s a TOUGH course though, not to be underestimated at all, even though the ascent vs. mileage numbers don’t appear very daunting compared to other courses like north fork.

Conclusion

MOUNTAIN RUNNING IS FUN!!!

(most pictures courtesy of craig)

16.08.2010
Simms hill repeats
categories: FiveFinger Runs, Running Logs
tags:

As inspired by George, I did some simms hill repeats today since its close to home.  And it felt really good.

I started out REALLY slow.  My left hip had some minor soreness, probably from the weekends efforts report.  But it warmed up after about 2 miles and felt fine.  Here are my splits for the hill repeats (the hill section I ran is .48 miles):

5:26 up (11:22 pace) – 3:45 down (7:52 pace)

4:36 up (9:37 pace) – 3:33 down (7:25 pace)

3:30 up (7:18 pace) – 2:37 down (5:24 pace)  - Kind of funny to see my uphill pace drop 2 minutes per mile each lap.  I’m sure that last lap though was approaching the limit of how fast I can run up that hill because my heart rate was in the mid 170′s at the top.  I’m sure I could run it faster, but probably not much at this point.

I took the first lap really easy both ways, just to continue my warm up really.  After each lap I just rested for about 15 seconds grabbing a drink of water then headed back up.

The 2nd lap I decided to put forth moderate effort both ways.  But I didn’t pushed a bit harder on the uphill than the down.

Then the 3rd lap I wanted to push it really hard.  It felt cool to run up the hill faster than I had just run down it.  To look down at my pace and see it in the low 7′s surprised me, but I just kept at it and was able to hold it pretty steady to the top.  Then I went all out on the down hill too.  My mile pace for that total mile up/down the hill was 6:21/mile.  Which I was pretty pleased with considering its a 190 foot ascent over 1/2 mile.  Not sure if I could have repeated that last repeat time again though.  I think sometime I’ll do that again and see if I can 2 or more laps at the pace of my last lap.

Then I just ran easy 9 min pace the couple miles back home.  I really enjoyed the progressive pushing workout.

02.08.2010
Goshawk Ridge trail run
categories: Running Logs, Trail Runs
tags:

I got up early (5:15) and ran the Goshawk ridge trail loop today.  The way I run it this is an 11.5 mile loop with 1235 Feet ascent.

The last time I ran this loop was Feb 12.  That day I ran the loop in 1:54 – 9:59/mile.

Today I ran it in 1:38:51 – 8:36/mile –  which was a comfortable pace.

Its cool to see the incremental improvement in fitness by looking back at past results.

This is a gorgeous run in the early morning.  Its largely in the shade and pine trees.  It’s a pretty fast trail because its never very steep.  I stopped running it for a while because I was more interested in the higher, steeper climbs.  But it was really fun to come back to this trail and be able to do a faster paced trail run.  I remember when I was running this in the winter the climb up goshawk ridge seemed hard.  Today it seemed super easy.  I guess that’s due to fitness level and also being accustomed to 800+ ft/mile climbs lately.

Also enhancing the fun of the run this morning were the really great sounds of two albums I got recently: Band of Horses: Infinite Arms and Yeasayer: Odd Blood.  I really enjoy a lot of the songs on both albums, and a couple songs in particular on both are outstanding.

Did an hour of pushups, pullups and core p90x afterward.  Feeling groovy.

31.07.2010
Grays and Torreys peaks run
categories: Running Logs, Trail Runs
tags:

That was a cool run…very difficult, but very enjoyable.  It was really cool running at high altitude.  I started the run at 11,100 feet.  Almost to the tree line already, and then climbed 2 14,300 foot peaks, Grays peak, and Torreys peak which are right next to each other (seperated by a mile and a 600 foot descent and ascent).  Here’s how my run splits went:

.36 miles from the car to the trailhead in 5:41 – slow, walking with Pat and Chris, some realtor friends with the brokerage, Your Castle, that I have a license with.  (a group of them had put together the hike, so I came along…but not to hike per se)

The Ascent: 3.64 miles from the trailhead to the summit of Grays peak at 11,170 up to 14,310 ft.  That was tougher than I thought it would be.  I thought, no big deal, 3000 feet ascent over a 9 mile run, no biggie.  Not nearly as much climbing as my run last weekend.  WRONG.  Between the two peaks it was actually 3800 Feet ascent and descent over 9 miles total, which is significantly (30%) more than 3000.  Anyway, I climbed 3140 Feet in 3.64 miles, in 1:13:33 (20 min/mile).  Avg is 862 feet ascent per mile…umm…yeah, that’s pretty steep.  I was able to run the first 2 miles of that.  The last 1.6 was mostly power hiking, with brief run spurts on the less rocky, less steep sections.  It was a lot steeper than I anticipated.  Also, the altitude…wow!  I knew to expect an affect, but I didn’t know exactly what to expect it to feel like.  It was pretty interesting to feel how my body reacted to the altitude.  I could definitely notice a decrease in my output ability as I got up into the 13-14000 foot range.  But I think my body acclimated somewhat once I was up there.  The 2nd climb up to Torreys felt like I handled it more easily and smoothly.  It was REALLY cool to be so high and be running/hiking for so long above the tree line.  The views were incredible (which I only started noticing for the most part once I reached the summit because my head was just buried in the trail trying to hit the peak until then.)

There were literally herds of people up there, which was the only drawback to the run.  I passed AT LEAST 200 people on the run up.  It was kind of crazy actually.  That apparently is the most popular hike in the front range or something…better do that one mid-week next time…holy smokes.  It definitely slowed the progress having to step around so many people.  Oh well…glad for them that they were up there enjoying the beauty also.

I hung out on the peak of Grays for about 4:29, then headed over to Torrey’s peak.

It was .82 miles to Torreys – it took me 20:44 – 25 min/mile – it was super rocky, technical and slow descending the 600 feet to the saddle, then it was basically straight up 600 feet in 1/3 of a mile to Torreys peak.  Steep stuff up there.  It was beautiful from both peaks, and I enjoyed 5 minutes on the peak there too.  Just taking pictures and loving the views of everything.

Then I headed down to the trailhead – 3.62 miles in 44:07 – 12 min avg – I actually stopped for about 5 minutes or so on the way down when I ran into Charles and Pat who were still on the way up.  This was about about 2.5 miles up the trail, they still had about a mile to go, and probably 45 min to an hour more of hiking to reach the first peak.  I was down to my car about 20 minutes later.  Its a pretty big difference of time on the trail between hiking and running.

My total time out there was 2:37.  My running time was about 2:22:30 – 15:50/mile avg. It was a really enjoyable run.  I’d like to run some more 14K peaks this summer while I have the chance, its really cool up there.  Unfortunately I’ve got most eekends booked already and the community service time I need to finish in August isn’t going to help my cause of getting out mid-week, but we’ll see what I can pull off I guess…I’m sure I’ll be pulling some early mornings out to try to squeeze in a couple more high altitude runs.

The valley where the trail comes up, from Grays peak

Part of the herd on the peak of Grays...it was impeccably gorgeous up there on the peaks and I really applaud all these folks for getting out and taking advantage of the beauty in our back yard

better view of hikers coming up the switchback scree field to grays

Yours truly with Torreys peak in the back ground courtesy of a random dude

Grays peak from Torreys peak

Crazy looking 2000+ foot insanely steep decent off of one side of Torreys

29.07.2010
5K tempo run
categories: FiveFinger Runs, Running Logs
tags:

After seeing all the happy runners yesterday I must have gotten the bug.  Tonight when I went out for a 7 mile jaunt I couldn’t resist the urge to throw in a 5K tempo run in the middle to see what my 5K fitness level is currently.

For dinner I happened to load up on steak and potatoes.  Then at about 7:30 I enjoyed a nice helping of pumpkin pie and ice cream to get myself all fueled up and ready to run.  Then I finished off my kids pie and ice cream.  Then I was ready to roll!

Nan said she would puke if she tried to run on that…I just felt well fueled.

I threw 10 oz. in my water bottle and headed out.

Decided to warm up for 2 miles and then do a  5K attempting to hold 6 min. pace as long as I could.

I was surprised to feel that for two miles it was pretty comfortable and felt great to hold 6 min. pace.  Then with about 3/4 mile to go it started a slight incline and my pace weakened.

I finished 5K in 18:55 at a 6:07/mile pace.  Felt pretty good about that actually.   I would have been last place by far against all the skinny elite dudes last night, but for this 187 pounder, 18:55 is moving the right direction for a 5K pace.  I’ve never done one under 18 min.  I know I could if I trained consistently for that, but I prefer mountain running at easy slash fun pace over killing myself on speed workouts at this point.

But it is fun to go out and push the limits of my speed/pain threshold every now and then.  I got it out of my system tonight.  Now I’m ready to go run Grays and Torreys peaks early this sat. AM.  Anybody want to come do run some 14ers?

(oh yeah…and happily all the pumpkin pie stayed inside my body very nicely!  Maybe I had a lot more pace pushing in me?….no…no I don’t have the desire to push the pace to puke levels…that’s never fun.)

17.07.2010
North Fork 50K Race Report
categories: Race Reports, Running Logs, Trail Runs
tags:

It was a beauty of a day in the Colorado Mountains today near Pine….well…3 hours of it was exceptionally beautiful…the other couple hours I can’t testify of specifically because my mind was not appreciating it at the time.  More on that below…but here’s my race report:

Started at the front this time

I regretted starting at the back of the pack in my first 50K, so I flip-flopped and started right in the front this time.  I’m glad I did.  I warmed up really slow for about 3/4 mile before the race also which felt good.

My goal going into this race was to do it in 5 hours.  It was an arbitrary goal based on a training run with Cody in Logan a couple weeks ago where I felt good for 17.5 miles at 9:20/mile pace.  That run had as much total climbing as this race, so I figured, why not shoot for a 9:30/mile pace at this race and see what happens?  (I can give you several reasons why not in hindsight, but I’m glad I shot high in the end).

20 Miles of purely joyful single track in mostly shade

That pretty much sums up the first 20 miles of the race. I was LOVING being out there, and thoroughly enjoying the trail and the mountains.  Made a few acquaintances with people on the trail, which was nice, but mostly ran alone the entire time.

I settled in by myself just behind the lead group of about 10-12 runners.  Most of those were doing the 50 Mile course and so not in my race.  Apparently the 50 miler had deeper competition, since a bunch of them were going out very strong.    I wanted to do my own comfortable pace and within a mile and half they were mostly out of sight.  But I was ahead of and out of sight of the remainder of the runners.

Once I got to the top of the first climb I decided to take advantage of my weight and open it up on the down hill.  After a while I caught the lead 50 mile woman who was running a really strong pace.  I didn’t pass her, and I actually eased up a bit and let her go a little ahead…I really didn’t want to go out too fast and zap all my energy.

I passed right through the first aid station, didn’t need anything.  I was carrying a 20 and 10 oz. handheld bottle, which ended up working perfect for me.  We just got a 10 oz nathan bottle with a strap, and I liked using that because it has a nozzle which just squirts water out when you squeeze the bottle without having to open the top.  I highly recommend that type of bottle cap, so much easier to use.

At the 2nd aid station at mile 9.9, the female 50 miler was leaving as I got there and I took 20 seconds just to fill my 10 oz and headed out.  I was carrying a clif shot and 10 power gel gummy things, which was plenty for the time being.

Here are my splits:

Aid 1 – 4.53 Miles – 42:44 – 9:25/mi – 1100 feet up

Aid 2 – 9.83 miles into race –  5.30 Mile from last aid – 42:48 – 8:04/mi – 300 feet up – 1000 Feet down

My pace at this point was in the 8:40/mile range, which I knew was faster than I was shooting for.  I’m not completely sure how to judge my overall pace in mountain runs, and I felt like I needed to take advantage of gaining time while I felt good…maybe the wrong feeling to follow, I’m not sure actually in hindsight.  I’m still trying to determine that.

20 seconds in Aid 2

Aid 3 – 5.63 Miles – 58:35 – 10:24/mi – 1000 feet up in 2.5 miles – then 300 feet down over 3 miles

I took it pretty easy going up this uphill, I was steady though.  I ran the whole thing, then I opened up my speed going down a bit, not as fast as the first big down hill though.  I caught up to Steve who was in the 50K about mile 13 and we chatted, then I proceeded forth.  Neither of us knew how many other 50K runners were ahead of us, but we were pretty sure it wasn’t many (found out later from Steve that it was none, so apparently I took the lead of the race at this point.  Wish I would have known that, I would have probably eased up a bit.  Although, I really wasn’t racing to win, I was just shooting for an overall time goal at this point.)

I was in Aid 3 for 1:31 refilling both bottles and eating some watermelon.

Aid 4 – 19.54 miles into the race –  4.08 Miles from last aid – 37:19 – 9:09/mi – 700 foot descent for 3.25 and then up 100 to the aid station

I was in Aid 4 for 3 minutes, I had to jog back to my drop bag and deposit my shirt so it wouldn’t be dangling behind my pants.  My overall average at this point was up to about 9:11/mile.  I figured I still had a shot of averaging 9:30/mile overall, this would get me at the finish in about 4:55 if I could pull that off.  I had one more 1000 ft climb, some down hill, then a 3-400 foot climb, and downhill to the finish.   The first two 10 mile sections were pretty similar, and I figured that was pretty good figuring.

Then within a half mile after aid 4 all my figuring started to be rapidly thrown out as invalid.

Half mile up the trail I realized that I left my Vespa pouch on the water jug at the aid station.  Since that was a critical element of my race nutrition plan, I was somewhat dismayed and annoyed at myself for this.  This started a trigger of mental events that led me pretty much to mental worthlessness.  It was a strange and difficult experience.

This next section of the course annihilated me.  But I’m pretty sure I helped the course out a lot with a bunch of self-annihilation.

The mind is a funny thing I found out, and mine happens to be pretty stubborn and annoying at times like these.  Here is what was going on with my mind at this point:

  1. Mind: That sucks that you forgot that VESPA pouch…stupid.
  2. Me: I’ll just run back and get it…no…that’s lame, would add a mile and cost me tons of energy.
  3. Mind: You really screwed up not taking that vespa.
  4. Me: It will be fine, I’ve got plenty of gel, salt and water.
  5. Mind: Nope, its totally going to screw up your race.
  6. Me: huh….we’ll see I guess
  7. Mind: You’re tired.  You only got 4.5 hours of sleep last night and 5 the night before…you can’t expect to keep running fast on so little sleep.  You may as well quit now…you’re way too tired.
  8. Me: Yeah….I do feel pretty tired all of a sudden (strange how I felt fantastic half a mile ago).
  9. Mind: This is getting hot, and tiring.  Why are we still running, this isn’t fun anymore?  Let’s just stop.
  10. At about Mile 22 I succumbed to this one, stopped and stretched for 2 minutes, got passed by a dude.
  11. Mind: This really sucks…and we still have 9 more miles of this…I really wish we could just quit at this point:

OK you get the picture.  It was a battle with my mind, , and my mind’s demands grew stronger and stronger and would not let up,  and I lost that battle unfortunately.  I suffered pretty bad between these aid stations, and walked up the hill a lot, and lost huge time on my average.  And that was also a very handy little tool in my minds arsenal to dig at me with and discourage me with.

Aid 5 – I don’t know…Not good.  stopped to stretch in the middle there somewhere.  Suffered through the 1100 foot climb.  Walked a lot.

At this aid station they had Ice, which was REALLY nice.  I was really sick of warm water at that point.  It felt good.  But it also felt kind of weird and messed with me a bit.  The ice and cold in my system was kind of a shock.

Suffer Fest 2010!

If someone would have notified me that Suffer Fest 2010 was starting today at precisely 10:15 AM, I’m pretty sure I would have stayed home and sat that one out. (Glad they didn’t tell me that, because overall I loved the race…but did not enjoy the suffer fest portion.)

At mile 25 I was running down hill slowly and any slight uphill rise I was now walking.  My mind was out of it.  I didn’t want to be out there anymore…I had definitely lost all competitive drive.  I just wanted to be done running, and went through my options of quitting.  Fortunately there weren’t any quitting options, because I would have taken them.  I’m glad I didn’t.

But I did feel perfectly justified at this point when I found a shady grove of trees off the side of the road and proceeded to crawl in and lay down on the ground.  My main justification to myself was that Killian Jornet was passed by Geoff Roes in the Western States 100 as he was laying in the river for who knows how long, and he still pulled off a 3rd place finish.  Perhaps a quick rest was just what I needed!  (it certainly was all the excuse I needed at that point)

Ahhhh.  Done.  Not running anymore.  Running sucks.  Why was I still trying to run?  Haven’t I run far enough for one day?  Running is not fun for me right now…I’ve had enough fun for one day.  So I’ll just lay here and that will be nicer.

It was nicer for the moment.  I was glad to not be running any more.  I was stretching, and relaxing.  But soon, my logic (and pride) kicked into gear and told me that I really didn’t want to throw away a perfectly fine race out of complete mental weakness and that I would not be happy with myself for caving in to my mind completely.

A couple people (one guy, one gal, in the 50K) passed me unawares as I was laying there vegging.   I got up and got moving again after being in there for almost 4 minutes.  I did feel a little better.  But I walked for a couple minutes, and the backs of my hammies were kind of tight when I walked, so it was actually more comfortable to run again and I did.  It wasn’t fun though, I assure you of that.  It was mentally painful.  It wasn’t really physically painful, mostly mental.  It was really strange.

Why??? What’s up with that?  Why couldn’t I just kick my mind into gear and keep loving the run?  I was still in beautiful country, single track, gorgeous day.  But I couldn’t convince myself it was fun anymore for the life of me.  Weird.  So I just focused on putting one foot in front of the other as best I could.

Finally after summiting the climb and running a LONG plateau, I hit the last aid station and it was virtually 3 miles of down hill from there.  I was able to pick up my pace to 7:30′s and was FINALLY recovering energy and feeling pretty decent again.  Still not fantastic, but much better.  It was nice to be moving somewhat quickly again.

Finished!  Nice, very glad to stop running.

It was fun running in the last half mile to the finish with all my kids!  I couldn’t keep up with Abe though…I tried…but by that point I was ready to stop and was content with my 8 min mile pace on the flat trail to the finish.

Total time: 5:39:15 – 10:52/mile average – 4800 feet ascent – 4800 feet descent.

Turns out I was 10th overall and 1st in my age group of 30-39.  I was pretty pleased with that result after the major breakdown I had.

I didn’t hit my goal of sub 5 hours, but I did hit my goal of being in the top 10, so that’s cool I guess.

In thinking back now, I realize that I could have won that thing possibly.  OK, ok, 10th place is a far cry from first, but it is certainly possible that if I could have staved off the bonk somehow I could have won.  I was in the lead at Mile 20 and feeling good before my mistake and the ensuing mental drama.  I ended up losing by about 22 minutes to the first guy who came in at 5:17.  So take out the 6 minute nap stop, the 3 minute stretch stop, and remove the bonk and I think I really could have done it closer to 5 hours.  Which is kind of cool to think of.  I could see how running with the attempt to actually win a race would add another element of fun into the mix.  But I wasn’t attempting to win this race at any point today, I was jut focused on hitting a time goal, which happened to be faster than the eventual winning time.

Even though running completely sucked for about 5-6 miles today…I’m over that.  I’m grateful for the the 20 miles of pure running bliss and the opportunity to put my body and mind to the test and see what I’m made of.  Definitely some room for improvement, which is great.  I’m happy that I shot for a high goal, even though I missed it, because I think I’m better for it.  It was a cool experience to attempt it.  And you miss all the shots you don’t take right?

As far as the North Fork 50 race, I give it two big thumbs up!  A fantastic trail system and location for a race, a very runnable and very smooth, fun course, and well put on.  Great food and atmosphere afterward etc.  Great La Sportiva race shirts.  I’m guessing I’ll be back next year to try to beat my time by an hour.  I’m pretty sure I could run that course in under 4:45 with another year of experience.  It would be fun to do it (or maybe it would hurt even worse the last 10 miles…either way it would be less time in the pain cave I suppose).

Here are some shots running into the finish with the kids.   It was REALLY nice to see them at that point.

Ali catching up

The kids loving the finish sprint

Me loving being so close to the finish

This guy absolutely smashed the 50 Miler in about 7 1/2 hours...he looked spent from the fast pace on a hot afternoon.

03.07.2010
Good times in Logan
categories: Running Logs, Trail Runs
tags:

We went to Logan and stayed with Scott Ensign and his family last night.  Thanks Scott!!

Nan ran the 15K Freedom run down Blacksmith fork this morning, won the women’s race and set a course record I think in 53:15 or so.  Congrats and nice run Nan!

After the race Cody Draper was nice enough to take me on an amazingly fun trail run starting at Richards Hollow up Blacksmith Fork. Fortunately I was feeling good, and he is still in recovery mode from winning the Logan peak race last week, so I was able to hang with him for the 8.75 mile run straight up.   The run up felt great, weather was outstanding, and the scenery and trail incredible.  We caught sight of a moose walking out of the meadow as we entered at one point, 100 yards away or so.  And all but 2 miles of the uphill was a gorgeous single track.

We cruised the downhill pretty fast, and the most fun section for me was the 2-3 mile section through smooth single track, blasting through river crossings and running sub 6 min/pace.  The river crossings were awesome because it just drenched my legs and feet in brisk water…felt so good.  There were probably 10 of them but I would have loved more.

The last 2.5 miles down hill were pretty steep and sometimes technical, so I hung back a bit there, content to cruise in at 8:30 pace back to the car and just lose myself in the mountain.

What a perfect run, and great company.  Thanks Cody…that was a blast!!  I usually run by myself, it was great to have good company on a great trail.

We did a total of 17.5 miles, avg about 9:20 pace, in about 2:44 total time (I forgot to stop the clock for maybe 5 minutes of stop time)  - Garmin says 6000 Feet Ascent – which has got to be high…we started at 5300 feet and topped out at 8900 – so 3600ft.  Of course there were ups and downs along the way, but an extra 2400 feet?  I’m sure the garmin is generous.

It was a perfect training run for me since it was 2 weeks out from the northfork 50K and the elevation gain was slightly more challenging than the race but not much.  Feeling that good during that run got me excited to see what I can do at my 2nd 50K.

Here are some pictures and a video of last night hanging out at Scott’s house with some other FRBers, the race this AM, and the subsequent trail run.  What a fun time:

Nan and Ali at Scotts house

Paul P and Dave S

good times at the Ensign house

Scott and Cody

Paul finishing strong, actually he made it look like a stroll through the park to blow everyone away

15K under 48 minutes? ummmm...yeah, that's fast.

Nan mirroring Paul's insanely fast finish that didn't even look hard to her.

I think she finished in 53:15 or so...I think 4-5 minutes in the lead

Scott pushing strong to the finish

Early on in the run up Richards hollow, what is cody stopping for? Oh...yeah, that.

View down into logan from the high point of our run around 9000 ft.

Cody pointing out Logan peak

Cody and I at the half way, about to head down

River crossings abounded...very refreshing

19.06.2010
What a glorious colorado day in the mountains!
categories: Mountain Biking, Running Logs, Trail Runs
tags:

Woke up at 4:30 in our tent to a train passing right by our campsite…no wonder the site wasn’t taken!  But it was perfect timing because I was itching to get out for a run.

Ran from 5 – 7 am – We were camping by the moffat tunnel at about 9200 Feet – I ran up the road a mile until the wilderness area single track started, which was simple phenomenal trail.  I ran into a couple huge Elk in the pre-dawn which was kind of cool, they were about 100 feet off and just ran across the trail and off into a gully.

I was just out to take it easy and run enjoyably through the mountains.  I couldn’t help stopping to snap pictures and take in the beauty.  Did about 8 miles with about 2600 feet ascent.  All really easy paced…14 something miles was my overall average which included all my stopped time enjoying the scenery.  Enjoyed the climbs and the descents quite a bit, really just loved being out in the mountains running around in the pre-dawn and then sunrise.  I’m not a morning person AT ALL – except when I’m in the mountains, then I can hardly wait unitl its light enough to get out and bike or run or fish or whatever it is…mornings are so amazing in the mountains.

Ran with my nathan hydration pack which I really like a lot, thanks for the tip Jon - I don’t even notice I’m wearing it because its so high on the back and light, and it packs 70 oz. of water…I love having ample water.

After I got back, we took down our camp and took Nan down to start her race.

She did amazing as usual…you can read her report – she ran 15 super hilly miles at about 9000 Feet elevation in like 6:28/mile pace…1:36.  She’s crazy fast.  She got beat by a lady Named Nuta who did a 2:24 marathon at chicago and has been pro for a while.  Although, Nan did beat Nuta in the Bolder Boulder a few weeks ago.  Nuta had the advantage in this race though because she trained specifically on the course and had won it the year before.  It was fun to watch the race, Nan certainly gave her some stiff competition.

Then the absolute highlight of the day was doing the family fun race with the kids.  I ran with Breanne, my 4 year old, who ran the entire mile, and just loved it.  She was so proud of herself and her metal for finishing.  And my 2 year old even ran/got carried by Nan, for a half mile and was THRILLED with getting to pick a prize and a metal.  Abe also ran it much faster than Breanne and I, they all loved it, and I think I loved it more.  Its so much fun to see the kids getting excited about running and camping and life in general.

Oh, and then I got home to a GORGEOUS new mt. bike on my front porch…does this day ever stop!! (sorry, runners, I may lose you here unless you were/are a biker too).  I got the major hookup on a dealer cost on a Fuji 29er outland full suspension with sram XO components…a totally sweet set up.  I have to admit, since I’m a lot more into running these days, the whole part about the cost and the gear required for biking doesn’t do it so much for me anymore, and is actually kind of a nuisance.  But I also admit I was pretty stoked to put the bike together for the sake of getting out and hitting some trails.

And, I must say, it did not let me down.  The challenge with biking is that if it is going to be reallyfun, you really need good gear, which costs a lot.  But with the right gear, biking is fantastic stuff.  No more beat up 10 year old bike means you will see me mixing in a lot more mt. bike rides on the trails I’m running this summer.  It was such a blast riding for an hour and a half this afternoon up and down some crazy steep stuff, just pouring sweat by the buckets on the way up, and bombing the down hills.  Tons of fun!

I was so ready for a saturday like that after a busy week of work (and 12 hours of community service which was putting a damper on my morning workout routine)

Here’s some pics from the day:

Before sunrise, and before starting to really climb on the early run

Sunrise in the mountains

Cool pond near one of the high points

Coming down, gorgeous day, awesome trail

One of the many bridges along the trail, I love running back and forth across rivers, its always fun.

Often the trail was a river, and it felt great getting soaked – I love how my roclites held up with getting completely soaked, even early in the run, it never bothered me once, they drain really well.

Looking back at the tunnel where the trains go through the mountain here.

Start of Nans race

Right after they started, Nan going out strong (I think she realized after a little too strong perhaps)

Breanne absolutely loving her first mile race

Ali pretty thrilled with her metal and her prize, she couldn’t stop talking about running either, pretty funny.

Biking at White Ranch, why have I not ridden or run this trail before now??? 15 minutes away and absolutely awesome!

Just look at the views from the white ranch trail, and this doesn’t do it justice

Rob Davis, now there is a dude who can ride a bike, I was seriously in awe at the crazy technical stuff he was able to ride that I had no chance on…I have to bow down to him on the technical riding scene.

05.06.2010
My first 30 mile run
categories: Goals, Race Reports, Running Logs, Trail Runs
tags:

Golden Gate Dirty Thirty 50K Race report

That race was incredibly cool and fun!  Pretty much blew the Bolder Boulder out of the water in fun and coolness…sorry Bolder Boulder, you’re cool, just not ‘that’ cool.

Here’s the short version of the race report:  This race lived up entirely to my prediction of “31 miles of pure gorgeous weather mountain running beat down”.  Everything was absolutely perfect about the race and the day…so much fun.  I finished and felt great and I still feel surprisingly great and energetic and not very stiff.

And here’s the long version of the report:

The night before

My buddy Jentry arrived with Nicole and his friend Matt, and then Adam arrived at about 10pm from AZ, he was also signed up to run with us.   We stocked up on a bunch of pasta and veggies and then just got our stuff together for the race.  My plan for the race was to just go out easy for the first 10 miles and try to stay with Jentry and Adam.  I tend to want to push it sometimes and I thought it would be best to really not push it at all at first considering I’ve never run longer than 21 miles before.  We got to bed about 11 and had to get up about 4 in order to head up to the race.

The Morning

We loaded up on Oatmeal and headed out to the race.  I drank a vespa on the way.  My plan was to drink a Vespa every 2 hours, and eat salt caps every hour minimum.  Then for food I was going to just eat at all the aid stations and make sure I had 2 gels with me to eat in between stations.   We got there about 25 minutes early, got all geared up and headed to the start line to sign in and give them our drop bags.

We were all complete newbies to the Ultra racing scene and so we felt like everyone there was a complete ultra rock-star all decked out in their gators and mountain gear.

I was originally just going to wear my waist strap with two 10 oz bottles for water.  But when I saw half the people there with 40-100 oz of water they were going to carry, my judgment got the better of me, and I ran to my drop bag and grabbed a hand held 20 oz. nathan water bottle.  VERY GLAD I DID THAT!  I would have been seriously suffering out there with only 20 oz. of water between aid stations, because the critical stations in the middle and end of the race were about an hour and a half apart with huge mountain climbs in between.  I finished off 40 ounces within 5 to 10 minutes of each aid station as it was.

The race is on

About 5 minutes after 6 they started the race.  We were in the VERY back of the pack to start.  After the start I kind of regretted that because we were stuck walking in the single file line on a lot of the initial single track…but really that only lasted the first mile or so and it probably didn’t make any significant difference.  In fact it was probably good to force myself to go out really slow.

But my plan to stay with Jentry for 10 miles failed miserably after about 1.5 miles.  It turned out our comfortable paces were too different.  I didn’t go out too hard at all, I was walking a lot of the uphills right from the beginning, but I still ended up ahead of Jentry and Adam after about two miles.  It was clear that we were going to need to do our own things, so I just proceeded forth and got into my own groove.

I clicked my lap button on my garmin at each aid station so I could see how long I was stopped and be able to see the progression of the race in the stats afterward.  Otherwise, I only used my garmin to see my running time so I could gauge when I should eat and take s-caps and vespa.

Section 1 –  1 hour – 4.75 miles – 2000 Feet ascent – 1324 Feet descent – 12:48/mile avg

This first lap was super easy, cool, shady, and just plain fun.  It was such amazing weather up there on the trails at 7-8000 feet.  Words can’t describe how perfect the weather was.   And the trail just meandered up this valley crossing the stream on bridges about 11 times.  Simple gorgeous way to start the day.  I was so thrilled to be out there just soaking up the cool mountain air and cruising up the pristine single track.

First Aid station – 18 seconds, just stopped to top off my water bottle and eat an orange and I was on my way

Section 2 –   1:18:47 – 6.8 Miles – 2283 Feet ascent  -  1754 Feet descent – 11:35/mile avg

This section was equally as fun as the first.  I was surprised to notice afterward that this section is where we actually reached the highest point on the course, because I don’t remember it being a very challenging climb.  I’m so accustomed to running the hills in Boulder that are much steeper, so these hills felt really moderate.  I’m glad I was training on the steeper terrain, because mentally it really helped a lot I think.  The view from the top of that peak was amazing though.

I had fallen into a pace with a dude named Mike Enger who was really nice and great to run with.  He had just done a 50K the previous weekend in Gunnison that runs in Hartman Rocks.  I was impressed he was out there on this steep 50K a week later.  We ran with each other for a few miles here and then I went off ahead of him at some point…because I kept running pretty solidly up most of the hills since it was pretty moderate.  At this point the pace was still so leisurely I was taking photos with my phone and some video…I video documented a lot of the run, we’ll see how that comes out.  Much more at the beginning, not much at the end.  Here’s a shot of Mike.

Nicole and Matt were taking pictures of us and there to provide support at the entrance to aid station 2.

(Adam coming into Aid station 2)

(Jentry approaching Aid station 2)

Aid station 2 – 2:30 – I stayed here a little longer this time because I wanted to eat peanut butter and jam, bananas, and more oranges.  Then I was off after filling up my bottles.

Section 3 –   1:08:26 – 5.23 Miles – 1524 Feet ascent  -  2064 Feet descent – 13:04/mile avg

This was by far the most fun part of the race for me.  The coolness was just building up between each aid station and this one took the cake.  It had plenty of climbing, but was more of a descent, and the descent was fast down a lot of smooth rolling single track.  My tunes were blasting, I was feeling fantastic, and I was passing by a people pretty consistently.  And most of all I had multiple miles of absolute runners high around mile 15 and 16.  Just an extremely euphoric joyous feeling as I was flying through the mountains and feeling amazing.
I absolutely loved it.  When I came up to aid station 3 I was still on running cloud 9 and probably just grinning from ear to ear.  Nobody passed me in this section and I put a lot of distance on the people I was leap frogging with (payment for that to come soon…)
(Jentry running into aid 3, Nicole ran that section with him)

Aid station 3: 2:21 – At this station I had my drop bag, and so I ate more pb and J, bananas, a bunch of accelarade and then I grabbed my final Vespa out of my drop bag and dropped off my shirt which I had tucked into my belt at about mile 5.

Section 4 –   1:39:22- 6.61 Miles – 2532 Feet ascent  -  2551 Feet descent – 15:01/mile avg

My pace dropped a couple minutes per mile here.  I still felt great at the beginning of this section but it immediately started up a 2 mile climb right out of the aid station.

I passed a guy Chris from Louisville pretty quick who has years of Ultra experience and seemed to be struggling.  We had leap frogged a bit and we chatted for a while, then I kept charging up the hill.  But Chris commented that he would probably see me at the end, and I told him not to be so sure because I was in new territory from never having gone that far, so I had no idea how long I would stay ahead of him feeling great.

Sure enough, by the time we got to the top of the climb I was getting pretty tired and he and a lady from Boulder passed me as I stopped to dump the pebbles from my shoes.  I never saw them again until the turnaround at the top of windy peak on the next climb and we finished within 5-10 minutes of each other it turned out.

So at about mile 20 or so, I started noticing my legs getting pretty tired.  And I had the classic thoughts of 10 miles of pain to finish the race.  But I pushed those out and focused on the next steps and reminded myself how amazing it was out there, and it helped a lot.  I ran out of water with a mile to go to the aid station here.  Fortunately it was downhill so it wasn’t as bad as a 15 minute climb with no water.

Aid station 4: 4:45 – I hung out here for a while just eating, drinking and not being in too big of a hurry to move on…felt the need to recover a bit here at mile 24.  7 miles to go with a big climb coming up and then down hill to the finish/start area.

Section 5 –   1:41:17- 7:16 Miles – 2079 Feet ascent  -  2770 Feet descent – 14:08/mile avg

This section was mentally tough to start, which is probably why I hung out at the aid station longer eating up.  At this point, starting to run again was slow and the bounce and smoothness in the step was not really there that much any more.

It was a mile or so down hill, then the final big climb started.  At this point I was just getting through the down hill, and then the uphill was more enjoyable…it was a great excuse to walk!  Also, it was a pretty steady steep climb and it was absolutely gorgeous.  With every switch back going up new panoramic valley views opened up.  It was beautiful and enjoyable to power hike up the mountain, I was able to just get lost in it and really enjoyed it despite being tired.  My overall energy level and legs were feeling great actually…tired, but plenty of strength.  Nobody passed me at all through to the very top of the climb.

The summit was a 3/4 mile out and back so we had to get our race number marked at the top.  On my way up I saw all the people just ahead of me in the race and we exchanged greetings.

When I started down the hill I felt pretty slow.  It was a 1200 Foot descent over 2 miles, and it hurt more than the uphill.  The steep descents at this point required a lot of strength and were a lot more jarring.  A couple people passed me on this section.  I didn’t really care since I wasn’t concerned at all about racing others…but I was interested in getting back to the finish in under 7 hours at this point.  So I pushed it as much as I could muster, but I didn’t like going too hard going down hill here.  This course had 1 more little trick up its sleeve before the finish though, another steep 400 foot climb and then a fast 400 foot descent.  I hiked the uphill, but at the top there were several more moderate rollers of 50 to 100 yards in length.  I started passing a few people again here because I decided I was done walking any more uphill.  I powered through the final two or three little climbs and felt really good and had plenty of strength.  I seem to like pushing a lot harder on uphills than downhills.  But then I was feeling good from powering up those hills so I passed a couple more people on the descent.

FINISHED!

At the finish, my wife and kids were there to greet me which was really cool.  Nan timed it perfectly and arrived just minutes before I got there, which was pretty cool.  I was pushing hard to make it in under 7 hours at the end and I just made it by 2 or 3 minutes! (by my watch, I haven’t seen the official results yet).

My kids were all running after me to the finish, which I only noticed later in the pictures…here are a bunch of pictures at the finish area of the race. It was such a fun run, but it was SO nice to be done after 7 hours.  I’m really happy about accomplishing my goal of running 30 miles finally.

(Abe laughing at me totally crashed out on the lawn)

(Ali putting flowers on the corpse)

(Adam finishing VERY strong on the home stretch)

(Jentry finishing, looking a bit tired, awesome finish for his first ultra also!)

(Mustering the energy to gallop his steed across the line…then his calf cramped up!)

(I’m still trying to figure out the meaning of that pose)

(My wife is amazing!  I was so glad she came up to the finish with the kids)

(Breanne and Abe climbing up and down a steep hill side by the finish, totally proud to declare themselves mountain climbers)


(Soaking off in the creek afterward was incredibly refreshing)

(And now its official, we’ve run an ultra.  Coincidentally all of us are 30 years old right now and we all just did our first 30 mile run in our 30th year…except Breanne, but she’s a mountain climber now.)

This is what my garmin said at the end of the race.  I think I stopped it for a minute waiting for Adam near the beginning, otherwise I left it running including aid station stops and when I stopped to stretch and dump rocks out of my shoes one time.

30.61 Miles – Time: 6:57:15 – 13:33 per mile avg – Total Ascent: 10,571 FT  Total Descent: 10,590 FT


Conclusion:
I really like trail running and trail racing.  It’s super fun.

This was a fantastic location for an event.  The trails and scenery were amazing.  I’m looking forward to many more cool runs like this in the future.
I’m extremely pleased with how well my body handled the run today.  I had no pains in my legs or feet…just fatigue.  If you would have told me last October I would be able to do a 31 mile run through the mountains without injuring my legs badly, I wouldn’t have believed you.  I feel blessed to have finally learned how to be able to run long distances without hurting myself.  It has opened up so many cool possibilities for great adventures for me.
My transition into a distance runner seems to be finally panning out after about 6 months of various minor injuries along the way and my various body parts seem to have finally adapted to my new running form.  Everything seems to be working together at the same time now, which is really nice.
Also I’m pretty happy with my inov-8roclite shoes.  I had zero foot problems.  No blisters, no discomfort, they worked Awesome!  I am so glad I got them for this race because I literally stubbed my toes at least 30 times today….and NOT ONE of those times caused me any problem or pain!  If I would have been wearing the FF treks to race it I would have probably broken a toe or two and not even been able to finish.  I love the FF’s, but for gnarly trails, its really nice to have more protection.  The roclites work fantastic for me since they are so neutral and flat with a big comfortable toe box.

23.05.2010
Trail run in Phoenix
category: Running Logs
tags:

A mentor of mine, Dan Doran, flew my family to Phoenix this week because he wanted me to film a testimonial for his upcoming infomercial.

So that was a fun little free trip, actually we got paid a little bit too since they paid us per diem for food which was way more than necessary.

And it was a great opportunity to visit our step-family in Phoenix who we never see and do some running and playing in really nice weather.

The weather was between 80-85 Degrees which was really nice.  Nan won a little 5K race on Saturday morning in a time of 17:31.

Then we took the kids swimming at the resort which was fun.  Then I went trail running for a little while in the hills near scottsdale.

That was an experience.  Good and bad.

It was a phenomenal morning for a run.  On the hot side, but not too hot.  I really liked it.   I love running with just shorts and some water.  I found a trailhead in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve that looked cool and started running up.  It was a pretty easy/moderate uphill run for the first 2 miles that kept getting gradually harder and harder.   The last mile was a true butt kicker in every sense of the word, but I was ABSOLUTELY determined to run the entire way to the top (of the pass.  I didn’t see trails to the peaks, and I didn’t want to be away from the fam all day, so I settled for the pass as my goal from the onset which was a 3.5 mile run out and then 3.5 back.)

Here’s a pic of the pass I was headed too.

Well, I was within 1/4 mile of the top and I stubbed my SAME STINKING INJURED LEFT TOE as last week!  Such a pain.  I was barely moving going uphill at that point in about a 16 min/mile.  It hurt decently bad and I had to stop and sit down for a minute.  Which bummed me out, because I was feeling awesome.

By this point I was so close to the top I wasn’t turning back yet, even though it was now hurting my foot a little bit to run on.  I figured I had to make it down 3+ miles still anyway, so it wasn’t going to make a difference to go a bit more to the top.

But the next 1/4 mile was pretty much straight up.  I love super steep running, it feels so cool even though I’m going so slow, it just feels cool to keep running even though its so steep, and passing hikers and blowing by them at a sizzling 18 min/mile is kind of funny.  Its just funny that I’m going so slow and yet everyone else is moving at about 30 min/mile or less at that point.

I made it, and I felt really good about making it and not bailing because my stupid foot hurt a little.  But coming down was really slow going.  I was ultra cautious with my foot and I descended the 3.5 miles back to the car probably 10+ minutes SLOWER than I had ascended it.  It was between 35-40 minutes to get up, and a total of about 1:30 of total time out.  I don’t know because my watch died after 2 miles, and my phone battery died, so I had no clue what time it was.

Also, on the way down, the pads of my feet started hurting a lot, it was the weirdest thing.  I think I figured out why, and it was because of all the fine desert sand that got in my FF’s and was grinding against the front of my forefoot.

Super interesting roller coaster of a run.  Never had that unpleasant of a downhill run before, usually I really enjoy the downhill, but because of my hurt left foot and the pads of my feet hurting, it was just kind of surviving the downhill.  LOVED the uphill though.

And I’m really considering getting some different shoes to try out to protect my toes a bit better.  It seems that when I’m tired, I get sloppier and I’m at risk of painful toe stubbs, which seems to be a drawback of the FF’s in mountain running.

So anyone recommend a great shoe with a TOTALLY FLAT sole?!  I really don’t like a raised heal at all and I’d like to find a mountain shoe that will work as a supplement for me.   I love running in my FF treks, but I would like an alternative for certain occasions when I want more protection, specifically like right now when my foot is trying to recover from injury.

Here’s a picture driving up to the trailhead.  A beautiful place to go running.

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