So, big excitement in the air. I got picked in the Western States 100 lottery. A roughly 15% chance and I made it. Goes to show that when you aren't really planning on something happening, then it does. So I immediately signed up for Vermont 100, Leadville 100, and I'm already in the lottery for the Wasatch 100. Let the training begin. I'm thinking now I should get a coach. I would love to go sub-24 at Western, Vermont and Leadville, and sub-30 at Wasatch. That's going to take some serious training and a coach may be the help I need to do that.
So, here's the new updated race/significant run schedule.
1/29-Winter Snowshoe Festival-probably the 25k, but maybe the 50k
2/12-Striders Winter Training Series 5K
2/19-Moab Red Hot 50K
2/26-Striders Winter Training Series 10K
3/12-Striders Winter Training Series 10 mile
3/25-3/26-Antelope Island Buffalo Run-my little gift to the ultrarunning world. I'm expecting around 600 runners in 2011
4/2-Striders Winter Training Series half marathon
4/16-Grand Canyon double crossing
4/23-Red Mountain 50K
5/14-Grandeur Peak "fun" run
5/21-Timp Trail Marathon
5/28-Pocatello 50 mile
6/4-Squaw Peak 50 mile
6/11-Boise Half Ironman
6/25-Western States 100
7/16-Vermont 100
8/6-Zion Traverse-This is about the only weekend I could do this one. I may have to put this run off until 2012.
8/20-Leadville 100
9/9-Wasatch 100
9/18-Rock Cut Hobo Run 50K
10/15-Mountain View Trail Half Marathon
11/5-Antelope Island 100K
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Putting together the 2011 race schedule
So I've been working on the 2011 race and significant run schedule for 2011. There's so many runs out there that I want to do plus the ones I've done in the past that I really like that it gets difficult to pick which ones I want to run.
I started out by signing up for the Western States lottery. I'll find out on Dec. 4th whether I got picked or not. With over 1500 runners vying for about 225 spots, my 15% chance doesn't look particularly good. I decided that if the lottery gods did smile upon me and I was picked, then I would go ahead and sign up for the Grand Slam of ultrarunning. For those that don't know waht that is, it's the four oldest 100 mile races in the country, done in the same year. Actually done in eleven weeks. Western States 100 starts this madness off, followed by the Vermont 100, then back to the mountains of Colorado for the Leadville 100 and to top things off, the Wasatch 100 in my back yard of Utah. Every year a couple dozen people declare their intent, but usually less than ten finish all four races.
I also entered the Wasatch 100 lottery as well. Last year I didn't get picked but I'm hoping my chances are better this time around. That lottery isn't until Feb. I love the Wasatch race. Every time I do it I swear I'm not doing it again, but it keeps drawing me back.
Signing up for Vermont and leadville shouldn't be an issue if I get into Western States.
So what do I do if I don't get into WS? Throw my hands up in despair.....not. Plenty of other great races out there. If I don't get into WS, then I'm planning on signing up for the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in France/Switzerland/Italy. It's a 166km trail race around Mont Blanc, the highest point in Europe. This race allows 2300 runners in and has a lottery as well. Some of my Speedgoat team mates ran it this past August and some are going to sign up for next year. That race would be a definite good time since I've never been to Europe before. I'll have to take Karen on that trip if I get in.
That's the big news on the race schedule. I have plenty of other races that I want to do, so here's the tenative list as of now:
1/29-Winter Snowshoe Festival-probably the 25k, but maybe the 50k
2/12-Striders Winter Training Series 5K
2/19-Moab Red Hot 50K-been wanting to run this one for a few years
2/26-Striders Winter Training Series 10K
3/12-Striders Winter Training Series 10 mile
3/25-3/26-Antelope Island Buffalo Run-my little gift to the ultrarunning world. I'm expecting around 600 runners in 2011
4/2-Striders Winter Training Series half marathon
4/16-Grand Canyon double crossing (47 miles) with friends. A definite good time.
4/23-Red Mountain 50K-never done this race, traded entries with the RD, down by St. George
5/14-Grandeur Peak "fun" run-A little 10 mile run with an ungodly climb (3000'+ in maybe 2 miles)
5/21-Timp Trail Marathon-ran it last year in the snow and rain. Beautiful tough course.
5/28-Pocatello 50 mile-cancelled midway thru this year due to extreme conditions (blizzard)
6/4-Squaw Peak 50 mile-I volunteer at this one every year. Way too much fun hiking in supplies five miles, uphill to 9000', then helping over 200 runners get to the finish
6/11-Boise Half Ironman-yeah, I know, my first tri. Doing it with a friend and it should be pretty interesting
6/25-Western States 100 or Logan Peak-I love Logan Peak, but if I get into WS, then that's where I'm going. Also looking at the Black Hills 100 in SD as a WS substitute
7/16-Vermont 100 if I get into WS. Possibly Devil's Backbone 50 mile in WY if I don't.
7/29-Swancrest 100-Failed at this one this year, too slow. Beautiful course, lots of grizzly bears. Need I say more.
8/20-Leadville 100 if I get into WS, Where's Waldo 100K if I don't. I've run WW five times and love that race.
8/27-UTMB if I get picked and I don't get into WS
9/9-Wasatch 100-Gotta do this one again.
9/?-Rock Cut Hobo Run 50K-I started this race when I lived in IL. I've never been back to run it but it's still going on. Gives us a chance to see our daughter and her family as well.
10/15-Mountain View Trail half Marathon-one of the other events I put on on Antelope Island
11/5-Antelope Island 100K-Another event I put on
I need to find a race or two to take me thru the fall. Suggestions? Maybe Le Grizz in Montana? I'd also love to squeeze in a Zion Traverse in maybe late summer. That's about 45 miles across Zion National Park.
Well, that's it. We'll see how the winter training plays out. So far it's ok, not great. I have started swimming in anticipation of the half ironman. Guess I need to start biking as well.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
5th Time's a Charm, Where's Waldo 100K
I went into this year’s Where’s Waldo 100K with what I hoped was some good training. This is the 5th year I’ve run this race and I’ve had some good runs there and some horrible runs there. Like any ultra event, so much depends on the day, weather, mood, etc. and less on training than shorter races (at least I think so). Don’t get me wrong, training is good and more training is more gooder.
So three weeks ago I DNF’d at the Swancrest 100. Nonetheless, 68 mountain miles has to be a good workout for a 100K. I didn’t do a whole lot of running in between Swancrest and Where’s Waldo. A little bit during the week, one 21+ mile run up past Ben Lomond a couple weeks ago and that was about it. So I came to Oregon pretty well rested.
I think this is the 9th year for Where’s Waldo and I’ve run five of them now. I don’t know if anyone else has run that many, but I’m definitely a veteran here.
Course description-99% single track, 1% dirt road, no pavement except to cross a couple roads, just awesome, sweet single track through the forest. Trail running nirvana. Two peak climbs, one to the top of Fuji Peak early in the race and the other to the top of Maiden Peak late in the race. Both provide spectacular views from the tops that make the entire run worth every minute. The elevation isn’t too bad. The peaks top out at 7500’+ with all of the race between 5000’-7000’. Easy enough for me since I train that high, but people coming from sea level do struggle a bit. Most of the trail is very runnable, just the three climbs that really force you into a walk.
So at 5am the race starts. The first mile is one of the walking climbs. Up a service road at the ski area for roughly a mile. Not a climb I really like, but oh well. I start out in my usual location, mid pack and go. I forgot my headlamp but I knew that I’d be able to leach off other runner’s lights, so no big deal. By the time we hit the trail it was light enough to see and start running. The next several miles to the Gold Lake aid are primarily downhill so the running is sweet. The crowd thins out a little and you can get a good run going.
So I hit Gold Lake at the same time I do every year, 1:22 into the race. After Gold Lake we cross a road and begin the climb up to the Fuji Peak aid. Much of this is runnable but there are some fairly steep parts as well. I get into Fuji the first time at the same time I do every year, about 2:30 in. I pretty much blew through this aid station knowing that I’d see them again in 2.5 miles after the climb up to the top of Fuji. Felt good going up Fuji and spent a minute or two enjoying the view from the top. I’d love to spend more time, but there’s a race to run, back down I go. Got back into the Fuji aid, once again, at the same time I do every year. I need to push harder early on in this race. Spent less than two minutes here and headed out for Mt. Ray. This section is primarily downhill, but there are some parts that are pretty rolling. Got into Mt. Ray, you guessed it, the same time I usually do every year. Still feeling very good.
I knew the stretch to Twins 1 was mostly uphill, but I figured I could run most of it. About a mile or so after I left Mt. Ray, I hooked up with four other runners, and with me leading the pack we pushed pretty hard into Twins. I offered to let someone else lead, but they were all good with me heading things up. I was too because it kept me pushing the pace. I got into Twins 1 a full 10 minutes faster than I ever have and I feel great. I was in and out and dropped the rest of the pack heading for the halfway point at Charlton Lake. I was kind of hoping for under 6.5 hours to the halfway and almost made it. I hit Charlton at 6:38 in the race. Once again, fastest pace ever for this section. Dang, I’m on a roll today. As long as I feel good, I’m keeping this up. So, in and out of Charlton heading for road 4290. Not my favorite section of the race, but it’s not too bad. The way I felt through this section made me think that maybe I was slowing down, but when I looked at my splits, this was also my fastest time through here. The section between 4290 and Twins 2 is my least favorite section. You’re 37 miles in, it’s 7.5 to Twins, most of it uphill, during the heat of the day. Ugh! I was still feeling really good so I set a goal of getting to Twins at a 16 minute pace. Usually I’m at about a 16:30 pace. I rocked this section. Averaged 15:20 and pulled into Twins 2 a full 10 minutes faster than I ever have. I knew the next section to Maiden Peak aid was primarily downhill and I resolved to run absolutely as much of it as I could. I was still feeling really good. A little tired, but not sore, no stomach or hydration issues. I rocked this section as well. Averaging a full minute and a half faster pace than I ever have, I pulled into Maiden Peak almost 390 minutes ahead of my fastest time.
I was kind of looking forward to the climb of Maiden Peak. 2.5 miles with 2000’ gain and it gets steeper the higher you go. Made it to the top without too much problem,then back down to the Maiden Lake aid station. Time here wasn’t my fastest, but not too far off. Left Maiden Lake after just a couple minutes feeling good and ready to rock the alst section. Short uphill section, then 7+ miles of sweet downhill, my favorite section of the course. Managed to do this section faster than any other time as well.
I crossed the finish line in 13:44, my fastest time ever on this course by 24 minutes. I felt like I could have kept going too.
So what went right? Virtually everything. I fueled the entire race with First Endurance EFS Liquidshot. This is the first time I’ve conciously gone with a liquid diet during a race. I kept the fueling steady all day by taking a shot every 30 minutes or so. The stuff works great.
Wore my La Sportiva Raptor’s again. I like these shoes. Plenty of traction, good cush, plenty of room for my toes. I ended up with one minor blister.
Just to show the Engineering geek in me, I’ve posted a spreadsheet analyzing my last four races. The 2006 course was a little different and can’t really be compared.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=thvT3d13z4Ak7IWKgOLNVdQ&hl=en##
Yeah, not real fast times,, but great for me.
So three weeks ago I DNF’d at the Swancrest 100. Nonetheless, 68 mountain miles has to be a good workout for a 100K. I didn’t do a whole lot of running in between Swancrest and Where’s Waldo. A little bit during the week, one 21+ mile run up past Ben Lomond a couple weeks ago and that was about it. So I came to Oregon pretty well rested.
I think this is the 9th year for Where’s Waldo and I’ve run five of them now. I don’t know if anyone else has run that many, but I’m definitely a veteran here.
Course description-99% single track, 1% dirt road, no pavement except to cross a couple roads, just awesome, sweet single track through the forest. Trail running nirvana. Two peak climbs, one to the top of Fuji Peak early in the race and the other to the top of Maiden Peak late in the race. Both provide spectacular views from the tops that make the entire run worth every minute. The elevation isn’t too bad. The peaks top out at 7500’+ with all of the race between 5000’-7000’. Easy enough for me since I train that high, but people coming from sea level do struggle a bit. Most of the trail is very runnable, just the three climbs that really force you into a walk.
So at 5am the race starts. The first mile is one of the walking climbs. Up a service road at the ski area for roughly a mile. Not a climb I really like, but oh well. I start out in my usual location, mid pack and go. I forgot my headlamp but I knew that I’d be able to leach off other runner’s lights, so no big deal. By the time we hit the trail it was light enough to see and start running. The next several miles to the Gold Lake aid are primarily downhill so the running is sweet. The crowd thins out a little and you can get a good run going.
So I hit Gold Lake at the same time I do every year, 1:22 into the race. After Gold Lake we cross a road and begin the climb up to the Fuji Peak aid. Much of this is runnable but there are some fairly steep parts as well. I get into Fuji the first time at the same time I do every year, about 2:30 in. I pretty much blew through this aid station knowing that I’d see them again in 2.5 miles after the climb up to the top of Fuji. Felt good going up Fuji and spent a minute or two enjoying the view from the top. I’d love to spend more time, but there’s a race to run, back down I go. Got back into the Fuji aid, once again, at the same time I do every year. I need to push harder early on in this race. Spent less than two minutes here and headed out for Mt. Ray. This section is primarily downhill, but there are some parts that are pretty rolling. Got into Mt. Ray, you guessed it, the same time I usually do every year. Still feeling very good.
I knew the stretch to Twins 1 was mostly uphill, but I figured I could run most of it. About a mile or so after I left Mt. Ray, I hooked up with four other runners, and with me leading the pack we pushed pretty hard into Twins. I offered to let someone else lead, but they were all good with me heading things up. I was too because it kept me pushing the pace. I got into Twins 1 a full 10 minutes faster than I ever have and I feel great. I was in and out and dropped the rest of the pack heading for the halfway point at Charlton Lake. I was kind of hoping for under 6.5 hours to the halfway and almost made it. I hit Charlton at 6:38 in the race. Once again, fastest pace ever for this section. Dang, I’m on a roll today. As long as I feel good, I’m keeping this up. So, in and out of Charlton heading for road 4290. Not my favorite section of the race, but it’s not too bad. The way I felt through this section made me think that maybe I was slowing down, but when I looked at my splits, this was also my fastest time through here. The section between 4290 and Twins 2 is my least favorite section. You’re 37 miles in, it’s 7.5 to Twins, most of it uphill, during the heat of the day. Ugh! I was still feeling really good so I set a goal of getting to Twins at a 16 minute pace. Usually I’m at about a 16:30 pace. I rocked this section. Averaged 15:20 and pulled into Twins 2 a full 10 minutes faster than I ever have. I knew the next section to Maiden Peak aid was primarily downhill and I resolved to run absolutely as much of it as I could. I was still feeling really good. A little tired, but not sore, no stomach or hydration issues. I rocked this section as well. Averaging a full minute and a half faster pace than I ever have, I pulled into Maiden Peak almost 390 minutes ahead of my fastest time.
I was kind of looking forward to the climb of Maiden Peak. 2.5 miles with 2000’ gain and it gets steeper the higher you go. Made it to the top without too much problem,then back down to the Maiden Lake aid station. Time here wasn’t my fastest, but not too far off. Left Maiden Lake after just a couple minutes feeling good and ready to rock the alst section. Short uphill section, then 7+ miles of sweet downhill, my favorite section of the course. Managed to do this section faster than any other time as well.
I crossed the finish line in 13:44, my fastest time ever on this course by 24 minutes. I felt like I could have kept going too.
So what went right? Virtually everything. I fueled the entire race with First Endurance EFS Liquidshot. This is the first time I’ve conciously gone with a liquid diet during a race. I kept the fueling steady all day by taking a shot every 30 minutes or so. The stuff works great.
Wore my La Sportiva Raptor’s again. I like these shoes. Plenty of traction, good cush, plenty of room for my toes. I ended up with one minor blister.
Just to show the Engineering geek in me, I’ve posted a spreadsheet analyzing my last four races. The 2006 course was a little different and can’t really be compared.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=thvT3d13z4Ak7IWKgOLNVdQ&hl=en##
Yeah, not real fast times,, but great for me.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Swancrest 100 Family Reunion
So my friend Aric tells me several months ago about this new 100 mile race in Montana called the Swancrest 100. I checked out their website and saw all the warnings about grizzly bears and decided that I had to be a part of this race, especially the first year. What's not to like about running through the woods wondering if you're going to meet up with a large carnivore.
The other thing about this race is the controversy surrounding whether it should go on or not. A little background. Several months ago the race director approached a conservation group called the Swan View Coalition about helping out at the race, maybe running an aid station in exchange for a donation to their cause. No response except that a few months later Keith Hammer, the head of this nefarious group gives a 60 day notice of intent to sue the forest service over issuance of a permit. Something about a commercial endeavor of this type needing an environmental impact assessment. This guy is a complete tool. Now I definitely want to run this race just because of idiots like him. His thing is that we should walk quietly and contemplatively rather than run with wild abandon scaring all sorts of furry mammals and small children. Ass thinks it’s his forest and others can only enjoy it as he sees fit.
So the training commences, blah, blah, blah, and before I know it Aric and I are driving up to northwest Montana. It's a lot further away than I thought.
The original thought was to just get a room Thursday night and Saturday night but the race director offered us the use of his floor, so we took him up on it. As usual I got about 2-3 hours of sleep before it was time to get up and get ready. Thank goodness this race didn't start until 7am instead of the usual 5am start for most 100's. We drove over to the finish area and caught the shuttle to the start, about 45 minutes away.
As we were waiting around for the race to start, a local couple came up to Aric and I and started talking to us, telling us how exciting this event was, could they bring us anything as they were going to be hiking up to one of the aid stations, could they take our picture. Just super nice people.
So, the race starts and I’m in the lead. Definitely a weird feeling but no one else wanted to jump out in front. I lead for about ¾ mile before the eventual winner took over the front runner duties. After a mile on paved road, we turned on to a forest service road and not too much longer I was in about 8th place, where I really belonged. After about 10 miles we came to the first aid station. Not too bad, don’t remember my time but I felt really good. Then we hit the trail. Talk about overgrown. Shoulder high brush blocked our view of the trail itself, so there was lots of tripping over rocks and roots and not a whole lot of running. A couple hundred yards in we saw our first pile of bear scat. Yep, there really are bears in these here woods. Good thing I had bear spray for seasoning handy. So pushing thru all this brush slowed me down to a walk for the most part. After a couple miles of this, we came to an avalanche debris field. We were warned about this in the prerace briefing but holy cow! The course was marked with ribbons since you couldn’t see the trail at all. Buried under several feet of broken trees, limbs, brush etc. This section ended up being a climb over all this debris from ribbon to ribbon. Really slowed me down. Finally got past all that and began going up the hillside on a decent trail. Switch backed up a couple thousand feet until I crossed a ridge and began actually running along the mountainside. This began the story of the rest of the run, lots of ups and downs where you really couldn’t get a good running rhythm going. Just as you’d get running you’d hit a steep enough uphill to force you into a walk. Then there were all the rocks, just like around here. As we got closer to the Napa Point aid station (19 miles) we encountered a couple groups of people. First was a group out on what looked like an educational outing. They cheered us on. Next was a forest service ranger and a couple others with him. I imagine he was keeping an eye on things given the noise that Keith and his group were making. Then there was the ass Keith Hammer with some of his cronies. Just watching. They did step off the trail so we could pass and I did say hi to him. As I was fueling up at the aid station he came walking out of the woods. I later found out he had been writing down license numbers of cars and videoing the aid station. What an ass.
Ok, now we had a 24 mile section to the next aid station. This was something new for me. I’m used to generally less than 10 miles between aid stations so this required a different strategy. I took four gel flasks, a couple of bars and a full hydration pack (70 oz). We knew that there was water along the trail but I didn’t know where. This section of the race was absolutely stunning. For the most part we were on the ridges above the treeline, so lots of incredible views. I could see several thousand feet into the valleys below, I could see all the way into Glacier National Park, over to the Flathead valley. This was way cool. We were crossing small snow fields and I filled my pack with snow from one of them. About 5-6 miles into this section was an area of cascading water down the rocks. I took a minute to drink, wash my face off and just enjoy the moment. That was some good tasting water. My mistake here was not refilling my pack. I still had lots of snow in it but eventually I drank all the water and was left with just the snow. The next 10 miles or so were kind of dry for me. With no water in my pack, I couldn’t eat gels or anything else since I had no water to wash it down with. Needless to say the energy level went down and I slowed down. Eventually I came across a very small creek and was able to fill up, then eat some gels and get my energy back up. About 3 miles alter I came into the Six Mile aid station. At this aid station you had to make an out and back trek to the top of Six Mile peak. I wasn’t looking forward to this as I was really tired, but out I went. 1 ½ miles later and 1000’ higher I was on top of the peak picking up a playing card to verify that I made it. The view was definitely worth the trek. This kind of rejuvenated me and I was able to hoof it down in pretty good time. I got back into Six Mile, sat for a few, fueled up and bolted out for Quintonkin, six miles away. By now it was starting to get dark and abouf half way I had to turn on the headlamp. Parts of this were very runnable and I took advantage of this to try and make up a little time. I came out on a forest service road that just went up and up for what seemed like forever, ugh! At the end of this road was the Quintonkin aid station (52 miles). By now it’s about 11:30pm, dark and getting a little cool, but not bad. I stood next to the fire and tried to warm up, eat, and drink. Just as I was getting set to leave, in comes Aric, so I waited for him and we took off together. We had debated dropping here as we knew that finishing under the time limit would be next to impossible, but we decided to go forward and see what happened. This was another long section without aid (16+ miles) and the first three miles were all uphill. So up we went. Eventually we were above tree line again, but now at night. It was clear out so the stars were nice and bright and we had about a half moon to see by. Going along the ridges here was fun. Very rocky with some steep drop-offs. I pushed a large rock off one drop-off just hear it go crashing down below. It seemed like it crashed forever, must have been a really long ways down. Along this section there were a couple of places where we stopped for a couple minutes to rest. We were both getting tired and sleepy. At one point I just laid down in the middle of the trail and took a five minute catnap. This section also had eight miles of constant downhill and this started to wear on us. Lots of trees across the trail that we had to duck under or climb over as well. Eventually we arrived at the Broken Leg aid station (68 miles) and called it good. With only 11 ½ hours left to go 32 miles, we knew that we’d time out. Still, I felt pretty good just really tired.
This was definitely a different kind of race. With all the ups and downs, brush, and long distances between aid, I think this race is more difficult than Wasatch.
Post race festivities were great, grilled flank steak, potato salad, Caesar salad, local made huckleberry ice cream and a keg of beer.
Only 20 runners of the 44 who started managed to finish. I will definitely be back next year with a better plan for finishing.
Here's the technical details (at least what I can remember)
Shoes - La Sportiva Raptors I like them. Comfy, no blisters at all, good grip on most everything.
Pack - Nathan HPL #020 70 oz. bladder for those long distances between aid. Plenty of room to carry all the fuel I needed as well. Snug, no bounce at all.
Gel - 1st Endurance EFS Liquidshot. I like this stuff. I think I downed about a quart of the stuff during the race and I should have been downing more. No stomoach upset, nice even fueling as long as I take a shot every half hour or so. Downside, like any gel, you get a little sick of it after awhile, but with other gels I couldn't choke them down. This stuff I still can late in a race.
My best guess is that I downed somewhere in the neighborhood of 3000+ calories during the time I was out there. I needed more.
Thanks to Hammer Nutrition for their great support. Every aid station had a plethora of Hammer products.
Next up is my 5th year at Where's Walso 100K in Oregon. I love this race. After that I don't have anything on the schedule but I'm looking at a couple of races in California in October, a 24 hour and a 100 mile. Hmmm, which one should I do.
The other thing about this race is the controversy surrounding whether it should go on or not. A little background. Several months ago the race director approached a conservation group called the Swan View Coalition about helping out at the race, maybe running an aid station in exchange for a donation to their cause. No response except that a few months later Keith Hammer, the head of this nefarious group gives a 60 day notice of intent to sue the forest service over issuance of a permit. Something about a commercial endeavor of this type needing an environmental impact assessment. This guy is a complete tool. Now I definitely want to run this race just because of idiots like him. His thing is that we should walk quietly and contemplatively rather than run with wild abandon scaring all sorts of furry mammals and small children. Ass thinks it’s his forest and others can only enjoy it as he sees fit.
So the training commences, blah, blah, blah, and before I know it Aric and I are driving up to northwest Montana. It's a lot further away than I thought.
The original thought was to just get a room Thursday night and Saturday night but the race director offered us the use of his floor, so we took him up on it. As usual I got about 2-3 hours of sleep before it was time to get up and get ready. Thank goodness this race didn't start until 7am instead of the usual 5am start for most 100's. We drove over to the finish area and caught the shuttle to the start, about 45 minutes away.
As we were waiting around for the race to start, a local couple came up to Aric and I and started talking to us, telling us how exciting this event was, could they bring us anything as they were going to be hiking up to one of the aid stations, could they take our picture. Just super nice people.
So, the race starts and I’m in the lead. Definitely a weird feeling but no one else wanted to jump out in front. I lead for about ¾ mile before the eventual winner took over the front runner duties. After a mile on paved road, we turned on to a forest service road and not too much longer I was in about 8th place, where I really belonged. After about 10 miles we came to the first aid station. Not too bad, don’t remember my time but I felt really good. Then we hit the trail. Talk about overgrown. Shoulder high brush blocked our view of the trail itself, so there was lots of tripping over rocks and roots and not a whole lot of running. A couple hundred yards in we saw our first pile of bear scat. Yep, there really are bears in these here woods. Good thing I had bear spray for seasoning handy. So pushing thru all this brush slowed me down to a walk for the most part. After a couple miles of this, we came to an avalanche debris field. We were warned about this in the prerace briefing but holy cow! The course was marked with ribbons since you couldn’t see the trail at all. Buried under several feet of broken trees, limbs, brush etc. This section ended up being a climb over all this debris from ribbon to ribbon. Really slowed me down. Finally got past all that and began going up the hillside on a decent trail. Switch backed up a couple thousand feet until I crossed a ridge and began actually running along the mountainside. This began the story of the rest of the run, lots of ups and downs where you really couldn’t get a good running rhythm going. Just as you’d get running you’d hit a steep enough uphill to force you into a walk. Then there were all the rocks, just like around here. As we got closer to the Napa Point aid station (19 miles) we encountered a couple groups of people. First was a group out on what looked like an educational outing. They cheered us on. Next was a forest service ranger and a couple others with him. I imagine he was keeping an eye on things given the noise that Keith and his group were making. Then there was the ass Keith Hammer with some of his cronies. Just watching. They did step off the trail so we could pass and I did say hi to him. As I was fueling up at the aid station he came walking out of the woods. I later found out he had been writing down license numbers of cars and videoing the aid station. What an ass.
Ok, now we had a 24 mile section to the next aid station. This was something new for me. I’m used to generally less than 10 miles between aid stations so this required a different strategy. I took four gel flasks, a couple of bars and a full hydration pack (70 oz). We knew that there was water along the trail but I didn’t know where. This section of the race was absolutely stunning. For the most part we were on the ridges above the treeline, so lots of incredible views. I could see several thousand feet into the valleys below, I could see all the way into Glacier National Park, over to the Flathead valley. This was way cool. We were crossing small snow fields and I filled my pack with snow from one of them. About 5-6 miles into this section was an area of cascading water down the rocks. I took a minute to drink, wash my face off and just enjoy the moment. That was some good tasting water. My mistake here was not refilling my pack. I still had lots of snow in it but eventually I drank all the water and was left with just the snow. The next 10 miles or so were kind of dry for me. With no water in my pack, I couldn’t eat gels or anything else since I had no water to wash it down with. Needless to say the energy level went down and I slowed down. Eventually I came across a very small creek and was able to fill up, then eat some gels and get my energy back up. About 3 miles alter I came into the Six Mile aid station. At this aid station you had to make an out and back trek to the top of Six Mile peak. I wasn’t looking forward to this as I was really tired, but out I went. 1 ½ miles later and 1000’ higher I was on top of the peak picking up a playing card to verify that I made it. The view was definitely worth the trek. This kind of rejuvenated me and I was able to hoof it down in pretty good time. I got back into Six Mile, sat for a few, fueled up and bolted out for Quintonkin, six miles away. By now it was starting to get dark and abouf half way I had to turn on the headlamp. Parts of this were very runnable and I took advantage of this to try and make up a little time. I came out on a forest service road that just went up and up for what seemed like forever, ugh! At the end of this road was the Quintonkin aid station (52 miles). By now it’s about 11:30pm, dark and getting a little cool, but not bad. I stood next to the fire and tried to warm up, eat, and drink. Just as I was getting set to leave, in comes Aric, so I waited for him and we took off together. We had debated dropping here as we knew that finishing under the time limit would be next to impossible, but we decided to go forward and see what happened. This was another long section without aid (16+ miles) and the first three miles were all uphill. So up we went. Eventually we were above tree line again, but now at night. It was clear out so the stars were nice and bright and we had about a half moon to see by. Going along the ridges here was fun. Very rocky with some steep drop-offs. I pushed a large rock off one drop-off just hear it go crashing down below. It seemed like it crashed forever, must have been a really long ways down. Along this section there were a couple of places where we stopped for a couple minutes to rest. We were both getting tired and sleepy. At one point I just laid down in the middle of the trail and took a five minute catnap. This section also had eight miles of constant downhill and this started to wear on us. Lots of trees across the trail that we had to duck under or climb over as well. Eventually we arrived at the Broken Leg aid station (68 miles) and called it good. With only 11 ½ hours left to go 32 miles, we knew that we’d time out. Still, I felt pretty good just really tired.
This was definitely a different kind of race. With all the ups and downs, brush, and long distances between aid, I think this race is more difficult than Wasatch.
Post race festivities were great, grilled flank steak, potato salad, Caesar salad, local made huckleberry ice cream and a keg of beer.
Only 20 runners of the 44 who started managed to finish. I will definitely be back next year with a better plan for finishing.
Here's the technical details (at least what I can remember)
Shoes - La Sportiva Raptors I like them. Comfy, no blisters at all, good grip on most everything.
Pack - Nathan HPL #020 70 oz. bladder for those long distances between aid. Plenty of room to carry all the fuel I needed as well. Snug, no bounce at all.
Gel - 1st Endurance EFS Liquidshot. I like this stuff. I think I downed about a quart of the stuff during the race and I should have been downing more. No stomoach upset, nice even fueling as long as I take a shot every half hour or so. Downside, like any gel, you get a little sick of it after awhile, but with other gels I couldn't choke them down. This stuff I still can late in a race.
My best guess is that I downed somewhere in the neighborhood of 3000+ calories during the time I was out there. I needed more.
Thanks to Hammer Nutrition for their great support. Every aid station had a plethora of Hammer products.
Next up is my 5th year at Where's Walso 100K in Oregon. I love this race. After that I don't have anything on the schedule but I'm looking at a couple of races in California in October, a 24 hour and a 100 mile. Hmmm, which one should I do.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
2010 Grand Canyon R2R2R
Ok, this was a granddaddy run. The third time I've done a rim to rim to rim in the Grand Canyon. Took 18 hours. Slower than I had hoped and certainly not my fastest time, but you know, it was still a good time. Went with a couple of fellow ultrarunners, Brian Beckstead and Tara Tulley. Neither had done this run before although Brian has done a couple of single crossings. Started about 4am. Three hours to the river. We just took our time, took pictures etc. Took a break at the Phantom Ranch, then headed out for the north rim. The run up Kaibab canyon is an awesome one. Right next to the creek for about 8 miles. Took a short break at Cottonwood campground, then started out again. The trail turns up into a side canyon at the caretaker house and a couple miles after that is Roaring Springs. This is indeed an awesome sight. Water gushing out of the side of the cliff, and not just a little bit. The trail here really starts to climb up towards the north rim. Steeper and not as runnable. When we were about 3 miles from the top, we encoutered snow, and lots of it. There was 4'-5' of it at the north rim trailhead. Pretty much the last mile was done on snow.
Got to the north rim at about 1:15, so about 8:45 for a time. I left the north rim at 1:30 with the goal of running as much of the downhill to the Phantom Ranch (13.6 miles away) as I could. Took me 4 hours to go those miles. Once you get to the caretaker house the trail becomes a cruiser. Just the right angle for good effortless downhill running. Passed lots of backpackers on the way down, and even a couple of other runners.
Got to the rach about 5:30 and left with Brian at 6pm. The goal was back up to the south rim in 4 hours or less. This is a little more than 9 miles with 4800'+ of gain. We were tired so making it in that time was going to be tough. We got to Indian Garden in 2 hours pretty easily. That's about half way up. Once you leave Indian Garden, the trail gets steeper and we get more tired. Still, we managed to do the last 4.5 miles in 2 hours, arriving at the south rim right at 10pm. Tara got up to the top a couple hours later.
We had a great time. I definitely recommend this run for any ultrarunner. We saw a bunch of R2R2R runners on our trek, including quite a few from the SLC area that I know. Everyone was having a good time.
The weather was perfect for it for me. About 30 at the start and in the low 80's down at the Phantom Ranch. Felt like the low 60's at the north rim. It was defintely cool by the time we got back to the top, probably in the low 40's.
Fun, fun, fun and ready to do it again.
I posted pictures at my Facebook account for those of you who are Facebook friends.
Got to the north rim at about 1:15, so about 8:45 for a time. I left the north rim at 1:30 with the goal of running as much of the downhill to the Phantom Ranch (13.6 miles away) as I could. Took me 4 hours to go those miles. Once you get to the caretaker house the trail becomes a cruiser. Just the right angle for good effortless downhill running. Passed lots of backpackers on the way down, and even a couple of other runners.
Got to the rach about 5:30 and left with Brian at 6pm. The goal was back up to the south rim in 4 hours or less. This is a little more than 9 miles with 4800'+ of gain. We were tired so making it in that time was going to be tough. We got to Indian Garden in 2 hours pretty easily. That's about half way up. Once you leave Indian Garden, the trail gets steeper and we get more tired. Still, we managed to do the last 4.5 miles in 2 hours, arriving at the south rim right at 10pm. Tara got up to the top a couple hours later.
We had a great time. I definitely recommend this run for any ultrarunner. We saw a bunch of R2R2R runners on our trek, including quite a few from the SLC area that I know. Everyone was having a good time.
The weather was perfect for it for me. About 30 at the start and in the low 80's down at the Phantom Ranch. Felt like the low 60's at the north rim. It was defintely cool by the time we got back to the top, probably in the low 40's.
Fun, fun, fun and ready to do it again.
I posted pictures at my Facebook account for those of you who are Facebook friends.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
2010 Antelope Island Buffalo Run
Well, another Buffalo Run is in the books and a good time was had by all, I think. 583 people signed up this year. The second year that my little race is the largest trail running event in the state of Utah. I might crack the top ten nationwide with the size of the 50K entry list. A little over 100 signed up for the 50 mile, about 210 for the 50K and 270+ signed up for the 25K. many of these people were running their first trail run, their first ultra, there first time on the island even though they've lived in Utah all their lives. Many firsts today.
On a disappointing note, I got my first message about cheating. Seems someone observed another person turning around at Elephant head rather than doing the back Split Rock loop, saved themselves about 5.5 miles. Another four people were observed not going down to White Rock and instead just heading back out for their second loop of the 50K, thus cutting about two miles off their run. Not sure how I'm going to handle this but I'm not happy. If I find out who it is, I'm tempted to tell them to just not bother signing up for my race again. If you don't feel like running the entire route, then drop down in distance or man-up and DNF. Don't cheat, that just pisses me off, demoralizes those that see you do it, and cheats yourself.
Had many people tell me this was the best year yet, but there were some minor glitches. There is always room for improvement and I'm always aiming for the perfect race. Maybe some day that'll happen.
25K Runners Starting Out
As usual, my volunteers were fantastic. Britta is my new volunteer coordinator and she did a fantastic job of organizing about 50-60 volunteers. Everyone was where they were supposed to be and did their jobs to perfection. I had many, many runners tell me of how helpful and friendly the volunteers were. Just what I like to hear. Many of my volunteers have been coming back every year for all five years now and it's nice to have experienced people manning the aid stations. Julie, Larry Sr., Larry Jr., Meghan, Jeremy, all back for their fourth or fifth year. Awesome!
This year there were about 24 people that were out for their fifth Buffalo Run. Not bad considering that five years ago less than 150 showed up for the first Buffalo Run.
Every year I have the runners bring a can of veggies and I supply the bison stew meat. My lovely wife then makes buffalo stew out of it. Every year it turns out great and with the exception of last year, all of it disappears. 40 gallons worth. We had enough left over cans that we were able to take about 100 cans to the Ogden Rescue Mission. They were very happy to get the cans along with much of the leftover aid station fare.
This year's weather once again cooperated. I must be living right in spite of my best efforts. After a small storm Friday on the island (it was really nasty up against the mountains) that dropped a little rain, snow and some wind, the day dawned partly cloudy and temps around 30. With the temps warming up to around 50 by midday, and the trails in fantastic shape, course records were set to fall. And fall they did. Five of the six course records went down on race day. The 50 mile saw last year's men's record drop by another 12 minutes to 6:31. The women's 50 mile course record dropped by 24 minutes. The men's and women's 50K records dropped by around a minute and the men's 25K record also dropped by around a minute. Fast day indeed.
This year there were about 24 people that were out for their fifth Buffalo Run. Not bad considering that five years ago less than 150 showed up for the first Buffalo Run.
Every year I have the runners bring a can of veggies and I supply the bison stew meat. My lovely wife then makes buffalo stew out of it. Every year it turns out great and with the exception of last year, all of it disappears. 40 gallons worth. We had enough left over cans that we were able to take about 100 cans to the Ogden Rescue Mission. They were very happy to get the cans along with much of the leftover aid station fare.
This year's weather once again cooperated. I must be living right in spite of my best efforts. After a small storm Friday on the island (it was really nasty up against the mountains) that dropped a little rain, snow and some wind, the day dawned partly cloudy and temps around 30. With the temps warming up to around 50 by midday, and the trails in fantastic shape, course records were set to fall. And fall they did. Five of the six course records went down on race day. The 50 mile saw last year's men's record drop by another 12 minutes to 6:31. The women's 50 mile course record dropped by 24 minutes. The men's and women's 50K records dropped by around a minute and the men's 25K record also dropped by around a minute. Fast day indeed.
First Time Trail Runners and Local Veterinarians Matt and Sharon Klar Ready for the 25K
On a disappointing note, I got my first message about cheating. Seems someone observed another person turning around at Elephant head rather than doing the back Split Rock loop, saved themselves about 5.5 miles. Another four people were observed not going down to White Rock and instead just heading back out for their second loop of the 50K, thus cutting about two miles off their run. Not sure how I'm going to handle this but I'm not happy. If I find out who it is, I'm tempted to tell them to just not bother signing up for my race again. If you don't feel like running the entire route, then drop down in distance or man-up and DNF. Don't cheat, that just pisses me off, demoralizes those that see you do it, and cheats yourself.
Had many people tell me this was the best year yet, but there were some minor glitches. There is always room for improvement and I'm always aiming for the perfect race. Maybe some day that'll happen.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
2010 Goals
Ok, now that one month of the new year is history, time to set some goals for the rest of the year. I don't like resolutions, kind of dumb to set those since the vast majority of us just blow them off after a couple weeks. Most of the goals I have are running related (duh!), but I have a few others that aren't. So, here goes.
1. Be a better husband, more patient, kind, etc.
2. Be a better parent. Oh wait, the kids are grown and gone. Ok, then I'll....
3. Be a better grandparent. My plan is that every time I see my grandson he will be absolutely spoiled rotten. What ever he wants when he's at our house he can have unless it'll hurt him.
4. Probably should be a better Engineer at work. We'll give that a shot too.
5. Get more stuff done around the house. Sometimes hard to do when the funds are limited.
6. Run 2500+ miles this year. Shouldn't be too hard, I've run close to that the past several years. I'd love to stretch that to 3000. 250 miles a month, hmmm.
7. If I get into Wasatch, go under 30 hours. I know I can do it.
8. PR at the marathon distance. I'm 51 now, lets see if I have another PR in me.
9. Stay injury free. Tough to do sometimes. I've been fortunate over the past several years with only very minor stuff that didn't really slow me down or stop me.
10. Finish painting the inside of my shop. I have that last little bit of ceiling, so hard to get up the ambition.
11. Put in a back yard, including the fence, lawn, sprinklers, maybe a few flowers and shrubberies, etc. You know the usual suburban stuff. Gotta look good for the neighborhood.
12. Pay off some bills. That one will be tough with a kid still in college.
13. Just generally enjoy life. Just be happy. Enjoy my family, friends, work, etc. Now that one's not hard to do at all.
So what are your goals for this year? Running or other stuff. Let me know. I'm curious.
Oh, one other goal is to eat more healthy. Good luck with that one!
Forgot one other one. Run faster this year. Last year kind of sucked in the speed department.
1. Be a better husband, more patient, kind, etc.
2. Be a better parent. Oh wait, the kids are grown and gone. Ok, then I'll....
3. Be a better grandparent. My plan is that every time I see my grandson he will be absolutely spoiled rotten. What ever he wants when he's at our house he can have unless it'll hurt him.
4. Probably should be a better Engineer at work. We'll give that a shot too.
5. Get more stuff done around the house. Sometimes hard to do when the funds are limited.
6. Run 2500+ miles this year. Shouldn't be too hard, I've run close to that the past several years. I'd love to stretch that to 3000. 250 miles a month, hmmm.
7. If I get into Wasatch, go under 30 hours. I know I can do it.
8. PR at the marathon distance. I'm 51 now, lets see if I have another PR in me.
9. Stay injury free. Tough to do sometimes. I've been fortunate over the past several years with only very minor stuff that didn't really slow me down or stop me.
10. Finish painting the inside of my shop. I have that last little bit of ceiling, so hard to get up the ambition.
11. Put in a back yard, including the fence, lawn, sprinklers, maybe a few flowers and shrubberies, etc. You know the usual suburban stuff. Gotta look good for the neighborhood.
12. Pay off some bills. That one will be tough with a kid still in college.
13. Just generally enjoy life. Just be happy. Enjoy my family, friends, work, etc. Now that one's not hard to do at all.
So what are your goals for this year? Running or other stuff. Let me know. I'm curious.
Oh, one other goal is to eat more healthy. Good luck with that one!
Forgot one other one. Run faster this year. Last year kind of sucked in the speed department.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)