Vermont 100, leg two of the Grand Slam

Probably about time I wrote this since the sharp memories are fading a little.

The Vermont 100 is the second leg of the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning.  This race started back in 1988 and is one of the oldest 100’s in the country.  The unique thing about this race is that you get to share the course with horses competing in their own 100 mile event.

Post Western States

I spent the three weeks in between Western and Vermont resting up, doing a little running, but that’s about it.  Oh, I did go swim some laps a couple of times.  I didn’t run at all after Western until the Thursday after the race.  This was intentional.  So Thursday I went out for a short few miles and felt pretty good.  I took Friday off and then did one of my favorite summer runs on Saturday, up Ben Lomond Peak.  I went with a bunch of friends and we couldn’t believe the amount of snow still on the mountain.  We crossed several snowfields, saw a good-sized rattlesnake (had to take pictures), and the rest of them made their way to the top.  Since it was nothing but a big snow cone for the last 1500’, I elected to not go up.  I could see myself falling and sliding all the way down, getting injured and not being able to complete the slam.  Instead, while they went up, I did a short out and back at 8500’ just to add a few miles.  All in all, a good time.  The next week I did three runs of around 8.5 miles with a day off in between.  The week before Vermont I shortened the distances further and didn’t run at all from Wednesday on.  By the time I got to Vermont, I felt pretty well rested and ready to go.  Knowing that this race would be a little easier and faster (hopefully) than Western, I made it my goal to try and go sub 24.  If I did, this would be my first sub 24 100 in a several years.

Prerace

So three weeks after running Western States I found myself on a plane to Boston.  The plan was to fly there, rent a car and drive to White River, NH to my hotel.  The flight was uneventful, the drive was uneventful.  I checked into my hotel Thursday evening, checked into the race Friday morning, then went to play tourist for a bit.  I did a short little hike around the Quechee gorge and met another slammer (Tammie Massie) out doing the same thing.  I went back to the race for the dinner and met up with Larry Adams, the guy who would pace me for the last 30 miles.  Had a good dinner, went back to my hotel and went to bed.  As usual, not a good night’s sleep, but oh well.

Game on

So I get up at 2:30am on race day.  Vermont is one of those races that starts at a horrid time of day, 4am.  Why can’t they start at a decent time like 8am?  I managed to get out to the race HQ in plenty of time, mill around, then take off at 4am with almost 300 other runners.  Ugh!

The initial few miles were primarily downhill, so I was able to take it easy, warm us and get a rhythm going before anything hard came along.  These first few miles seemed to fly by.  I felt great, my pace was good, I had no issues at all.  By around the 10 mile point, we could hear the first of the horses coming down the road behind us.  As we were trotting along, theses three horses just seemed to float down the road.  I was amazed at these animals.  They were gorgeous and in superb shape.  You could tell that they wanted to be out there running.  They made my  horses look rather fat and out of shape.  All day long we had the opportunity to watch these awesome animals perform.

Most of the day was pretty uneventful.  The weather was pretty decent, it warmed up to around 80-83, with low humidity by northeast standards.  The aid stations were plentiful and well stocked.  The scenery was what you would expect running through rural Vermont, beautiful.  The views from the hills were gorgeous.

Short course description.  76 miles of gravel road, 22 miles of trail, 2 miles of pavement, none of it flat.  We were either going up or going down.  Very, very rolling.

My only issues during the day were a somewhat upset stomach between 50-60 miles.  For some reason I couldn’t get it to go away.  Still, I managed to hit the halfway point at 9:30, for one of my fastest 50 mile times, and hit the 100K point at about 12:15, one of my fastest times for that distance as well.  The legs felt good.  The first time I went through the Camp 10 Bear aid station (47.2 miles), my weight was down about 8-9 pounds (5%).  You get pulled from the race if your weight drops more than 7%.  This got me a warning to take a break and drink and eat.  I took off anyway, but it scared me enough to make sure that I drank plenty and ate plenty for the next 20 miles, knowing that they would weigh me again when I came back through at 70 miles.  When I got back to Camp 10 Bear at 70.1 miles, my weight had come back up and I was only down three pounds.  No problem now.  At Camp 10 Bear I picked up Larry Adams, my pacer for the rest of the night.  He lives out here in Utah but was back in NY on business and drove up just to pace me.  What a nice guy.  Anyway, by now I had started to chafe, and this always slows me down.  Still, Larry kept me on track and on a good pace through the night.  Night running is always kind of cool during a race, you’re in your own little world, occasionally see other runners or an aid station, but time seems to slow way down.  The night was just as uneventful as the day.  I was still on pace to break 24 hours as long as I stayed focused on the job at hand.  Larry kept me focused and before I knew it, we had passed the last aid station and only had 2.3 miles to go.  Home free.  For the last mile or so, we could hear the commotion at the finish line.  We weren’t getting closer just yet, but going kind of parallel to it.  Finally, over the last ridge, down through the woods, and there it was.  I finished.  My final time was 23:27:31.  I had gone under my goal of 24 hours.  It’s always a good thing if you can finish a 100 mile race before the sun comes up.

Aftermath

This race went pretty well.  I felt much stronger than I did going into Western States, even though I had run a 100 just three weeks prior.  I felt really good except for some very minor stomach issues and the chafing for the last 30 miles.  I’m convinced that had the chafing not been an issue, I could have finished under 23 hours, it slowed me down that much.  My race was uneventful, and that’s how I like it.  Afterwards, Larry and I went back to his hotel slept for a few hours, then went back out to the race HQ for the awards ceremony and BBQ.  I got my second belt buckle (you don’t get a buckle from Vermont unless you go under 24 hours) of the summer, and felt pretty good about the rest of the races coming up.

I was a little worried about the flight home.  Sitting in a cramped, pressurized aluminum pipe for four hours after running 100 miles I thought would be painful, but it wasn’t too bad.  I even managed to sleep for a couple hours.

By the numbers

Time – 23:27:31

Placing – 78^th out of 297 starters, 10^th in my age group (50-59).  Much better than my performance at Western.  There’s some fast old farts out there.

Shoes – I wore my Hoka Mafate’s the entire time.  With all of the packed gravel roads, these things saved my feet.  I didn’t need any technical trail shoes.

Calories burned – 12,500

Calories eaten – 6,000.  I got pretty tired of the 1^st Endurance Liquid Shot after about 60 miles.  I still ate the stuff, but started eating more aid station fare, ramen noodles, chicken noodle soup, etc.

Next up, Leadville 100 on August 20^th.  This one kind of worries me due to the altitude and the 30 hour time limit.

Western Freakin' States, Baby

It's about time I got around to posting a report from Western States, especially now that the Vermont 100 is history. Guess I'll have to get that post going as well. Enjoy the read - Jim

Prerace - So way back in December I got lucky (or unlucky) enough to draw out in the Western States Lottery. 1600 people vying for about 275 slots….in June. I decided then that since I got into WS, that this would be perhaps my only opportunity to attempt the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning, four 100-mile races in 11 weeks. Western States, Vermont, Leadville, and Wasatch.
For those not in the ultrarunning know, the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run is the oldest 100 mile race in the country (38 years). It’s kind of the unofficial 100 mile championship since all of the really fast burners show up to race each other. Figure it’s the Boston of 100 mile events.
So, Aric Manning, Alicia Kirkman and myself ventured out to Squaw Valley, CA the Thursday before the race. We had the opportunity of staying in a house with the Pearl Izumi Ultrarunning Team. These guys are fast, I’m not. It was fun to get to know them, hear how they prep for a race, their strategy (mine was to finish in under 30 hours, theirs was to win). When we got to the house, Nick Clark, one of the PI team, told me that I was picked for 4th or 5th place on the Irunfar website in a reader poll.
Needless to say, I was greatly amused. Obviously whoever did those picks clearly does not know how fast I run, or don’t run.
Friday was pretty uneventful other than a short four mile run in the morning and the race check in hoopla. I gave in to the WS hype and spent way too much money on shirts and other paraphernalia that I really don’t need. I bought a couple of shirts for my crew and pacer as well.
I actually got a decent night’s sleep Friday night, roughly five hours worth. Unusual for me prior to a big race like this. I usually toss and turn all night. Must have been the cool mountain air and the sound of the river rushing just outside our window.
Race day - Saturday 5am. Race start at the Squaw Valley Ski Area base. The first 3.5 miles were all uphill, mostly on a service road. We hit snow at about three miles and had pretty much continuous snow for the next 10-12 miles. A lot of the snowpack was anywhere from 5-10 feet deep. It was interesting to follow the course markings. Since there wasn't a "trail" we went from ribbon to ribbon, sometimes able to make a straighter line than the ribbons did. It was kind of easy to miss ribbons too if you weren't paying attention. We finally left the snow for the most part at the next aid station (15 miles).
The next several miles found us cruising a trail along French Meadows Reservoir, a completely new portion of the course since access to the higher country was blocked by snowpack. I wasn’t a big fan of this section, too many rollers, couldn’t get a good rhythm going and I didn't feel quite right. I couldn't put a finger on it, but just not my A game. I finally got into Duncan Canyon and back on the original WS course. Hopefully all would be right with the world now. I was still running on a sub 24 hour pace, but I figured that wouldn’t hold unless I got really lucky.
So Duncan Canyon goes by, Mosquito Ridge, Robinson Flat, Miller’s Defeat, actually most of the day was pretty uneventful, I just cruised along, kept drinking, eating etc. Just enjoying the run. When I got to Last Chance I knew that the infamous canyons section was next. We had a really steep decent to a river, cross the bridge and then went up over 1600’ in the next 1.25 miles. Holy crap that was steep! I arrived at the Devil’s Thumb aid station pretty well worn out. That climb took a lot out of me. But time to continue on. Michigan Bluff at 55 miles was the first place that crew were allowed. Alicia met me there and I changed packs, shoes, socks, sat for a couple minutes, said goodby and took off. The next aid would be Forest Hill at 62 miles. Forest Hill is the biggest, most major aid station on the course. You run through the middle of town, everyone is out watching and cheering, plenty of parking for crew, generally a good vibe going on. Alicia met me here again. I managed to get to Forest Hill in 14:09. A little slower than I wanted but oh well. Still on pace for a sub-24 hour finish. At Forest Hill I picked up my headlamp, a long sleeve t and left. I wasn’t sure how cold it would get at night, but I figured a long sleeve t would be good enough. Dardenelles, Peach Stone, Ford’s Bar. Don’t remember too much about any of those except I was slow. Down to a walk. In every 100 mile race you have a slow patch, for whatever reason your energy is low no matter how much food or drink you’ve had. You just have to push your way through it. The next aid station I remember was the Rucky Chucky river crossing. In normal years you wade across the river. When the water level is high, they put you in an inflatable and row you across. I got there at around 10pm, and the area was lit up and reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. You could hear the rapids upstream but couldn’t see them. I half way expected to hear some people singing “It’s a Pirates Life for Me”. They had plenty of people helping you down the steep path to the water’s edge, put a life jacket on you and loaded you on the boat. When I went across there was some young kid rowing and he had us across is about six strokes. He pulled hard. We made it to the other side, unloaded and started up the dirt road to the Green Gate aid station (80 miles). This is where I met both Alicia and Aric. Aric was going to pace me the rest of the way in. At this point I was still in shuffle mode and had about six miles to go to the Auburn Lake Trails aid station. We had heard that this was the party station, and it was somewhat noisy. I sat down here and immediately got a little chilled. The aid station was in a low spot and so was I. I sat down and one of the medical staff treated me to a wonderful shoulder massage. I downed some chicken noodle soup, some of the most horrid tasting coffee I have ever had (I mean it was really, really BAAAADDDD), and told Aric to wake me in 15 minutes and was promptly out. 14 minutes later I woke up and got up. It must have been what I needed because I basically ran nonstop for the next four hours. I felt pretty good. That coffee must have been rocket fuel. After that the next aid station I remember was the Highway 49 crossing. Lot’s of good vibes there, especially since there was less than ten miles left. No Hands bridge was beautiful. An old railroad bridge over the American River. Very cool. One last climb up to the bluff where Auburn was and I hit the road for the last mile. Now I was getting excited. No sub 24 hour finish, but a finish nonetheless. We turned the corner and could hear the announcer at the high school stadium that was the finish line. Down one last path, and into the stadium and on to the track. Then you hear your name being announced, people cheering and clapping. It was pretty cool. Alicia met me part way around the track and videoed me as I crossed the finish line. It sure felt good to be done.
Aftermath – Immediately after you finish you can have your blood drawn and a urine specimen taken for research. I opted for that and had the blood test results in a few hours. What the result showed is that I was a little dehydrated (to be expected), but not bad, it showed that I fueled and hydrated just fine during the race. My CPK, a measure of muscle cell death, was somewhat high (also to be expected).
Shoes – I wore my La Sportiva Crosslite 2.0’s for the first half. They were very grippy and perfect for the snow. I almost felt like I was cheating. People were slipping and sliding all around me and I just motored on by. I did go down on the snow three times, but nothing serious. I wore a pair of Hoka Mafate’s for the second half of the race. Great on the downhills and rocky sections. Saved my feet.
Fueling – Once again I did a primarily liquid diet. Lots and lots of 1st Endurance EFS Liquid Shot, probably 5000 calories worth, plenty of chicken noodle soup, probably 400 oz. of water with Hammer Fizz tablets thrown in. A little bit of fruit such as melon and cantaloupe. For electrolytes, I relied on the sodium and potassium in the Liquid Shot and the Fizz tablets. Must have been ok, because I took very few Succeed! Tablets and never had any issues. My weight stayed consistently two pounds below my check in weight. This is a good thing. The only downside to this kind of diet was that by the time I was at about mile 70, I was getting pretty sick of vanilla flavored gel. It took some effort to keep downing the stuff every 30 minutes. But it works.
Observations – Overall the race organization is outstanding. They treat you like rock stars at every aid station. You have your own handler every time you come in. Their goal is to get you across the finish line. The scenery was beautiful, but I’ve run other courses that were just as scenic, if not more so. I did have a lot of fun. I got to hang with some elite runners for a couple days. I got to see other runners that I don’t see very often. I met new friends, including some that are doing the Grand Slam as well. I had a couple of friends that made the trip with me and helped me out, then drove home while I slept in the back seat. All in all, very worthwhile. Not sure I’ll get the chance to do it again, but who knows? I would given the chance.
Here’s the stats –
Time – 27:59:27

Place – 222nd out of 310 finishers, roughly 350 starters, 34th age group (50-59) out of 59 finishers. Not a particularly good finish, but a finish nonetheless.

Calories expended were roughly 12,500 and calories taken in were roughly 6,000.

A Grand (Canyon) Weekend

Sometimes running isn’t about the races or the training but about where you are and who you’re with when you go for a run.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to go to the Grand Canyon and do a rim-to-rim-to-rim run again. This would be my fourth time doing a double crossing. I also had the opportunity to go with a group of running friends from the Ogden area. I can’t think of too many other things I would have rather done than do a run in this spectacular place with a bunch of friends. We had a great time. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Prologue

We began planning this adventure last year and all sorts of people said they were going. What I’ve found out is that when the date gets closer, most people end up dropping out and the group ends up being two or three people. This time we had ten total runners that did all or part of the journey. For several, this was their first visit to the Grand Canyon as well as their longest run ever, by a long ways. Since I had done this run a few times, I became the defacto tour guide.
On Friday afternoon, most of us were able to get in a view of the canyon with me pointing out where we were going. There were several “wows”, “what did I get myself into”, “this is kind of scary” comments, but everyone was still up for the run. We agreed to start at 4am so that we would hopefully avoid most of the heat of the day in the inner canyon.

The last supper

Journey

We ended up starting at 4:20am on Saturday morning. The air temperature was about 32 degrees but there wasn’t any breeze. Generally a pleasant morning and we were excited. Since it was dark, no one could see the trail from the rim, let alone the canyon. One of our party went down the trail a ways so she could get pictures of the headlamp train coming down.
After about an hour we came to Indian Gardens. This is about half way to the river and is a campground, water stop, etc. We took a short break to refill on water, eat a little something, take some pictures, marvel at the scenery.

According to this sign, we’re all going to die if we attempt to hike to the river and back in one day

After that we kept going down and down and down. Finally we saw the river and began the short run to the silver bridge. Along the way us guys had to stop and throw rocks into the river trying to hit a large boulder. It’s a guy thing. We trotted across the silver bridge and a few minutes later came to the Phantom Ranch. Here we stopped, filled up on water, ate some, took a break and let everyone catch up. Everyone agreed that this was an awesome place to go for a run.

The motley crew at the Phantom Ranch

We began the run up Bright Angel Canyon as the sun was just hitting the upper walls of the canyon. The run up was pretty uneventful, just going along, marveling at the scenery, enjoying every minute of it. Eventually we got to Cottonwood Campground. Last year I did this run the same weekend and the water was on. This year it wasn’t. A few people were concerned, but I mentioned that the caretaker house was just a mile or two up the trail and the water was always on there. Sure enough, when we got there, the water was on and we were all able to tank up. By now our group was starting to spread out and I went most of the way to the north rim with a fellow R2R2R runner from San Francisco. I got to the north rim by 12:30pm.

At the north rim and feeling good

Felt great and took about a 30 minute break waiting for the others to show. A couple of the faster guys in our group had already headed back down. Eventually I decided to head back down because I wanted to get back to the Phantom Ranch before they closed at 4pm and buy some lemonade. So Jerome (the runner from SF) and I headed down. We had to push fairly hard to make it before closing and we managed to do just that. When I walked into the Ranch, I was the last customer. I put down a $20 and told them I wanted to buy as many lemonades as I could. I ended up with eight and as each runner in our group came in, I handed them one. That was some good stuff. I ended up spending two hours at the Ranch waiting for people to come through. Jerome and I finally took off for the south rim at 6pm with a few of the others following a few minutes later.
As we went up the Bright Angel trail and the skies got darker, the frogs really started to croak. Huge sounds echoing off the canyon walls, but coming from these tiny little frogs about two inches big. The bats started to come out as well and would fly extremely close to us snagging bugs. We made it to Indian Gardens a little after 7pm, took a short break and pressed on. I was still feeling very good other than getting hungry. I was out of food and worried about bonking. I’ve bonked before going up this trail and it’s not fun. Next was making it to the 3-mile resthouse. That took us 45 minutes and based on that I told Jerome that it would take us another 1.5 hours to get to the top. We must have picked up the pace because we made it to the 1.5-mile resthouse just 35 minutes later and 35 minutes after that we were coming out of the canyon. So, after some 17 hours in the depths of the Grand Canyon, I was finally out. I ended up waiting at the trailhead in my car until 12:45am when the last person finally made it up.

Aftermath

As people finished, several swore they would never do that again, it was the hardest or worst thing they had ever done. However, by the next day, most were ready to go again. Some of us spent Sunday just hanging out enjoying the scenery, watching the California Condors and eating, rather than driving home. It was a nice way to relax and relive the experience.
For me, doing this run was a reward for the training that I do as well as a break after directing the Buffalo Run. Doing it with a bunch of friends just made it that much more special.
I was a little worried about how I would do given my seeming lack of running, but I think the biking and swimming I’ve been doing more than made up for it as I felt great the entire day. I wish I had taken one more 1st Endurance flask for the calories. Next time.
I wore my La Sportiva Crosslites and they worked perfectly, but I think they’re ready for retirement as the coolest lawn mowing shoes on the block. I know I’m ready to go again. Maybe try some different trails next time.

Next up on the agenda is the Red Mountain 50K down near St. George. I've never run this one before so it'll be interesting. Looking forward to a nice warm weekend in the desert and away from the cold and rain.

Updated 2011 Race Schedule

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

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.

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.

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.