Okay, so I'm now two full cycles (8 weeks) into Leadville training and everything seems to be clicking along nicely (knock on wood). The big thing for me is routine. Every week of my training plan is virtually identical in structure. The mileages may vary slightly, but the type of workout doesn't really change much from week to week. Mondays and Fridays are recovery days (6-7 easy miles), Tuesday is a double (usually 8 easy in the AM and 5 trail miles in the PM), Wednesday is speed day (either 800s on the track or hill repeats), Thursday is medium-distance trail day (10-12 miles) and Sat/Sun are long run days.
It's actually fairly incredible how quickly your body can adjust to the abuse you throw at it. In fact, one thing I've noticed so far is that in some ways my body actually seems to thrive on the abuse. During my cutback weeks, which are in the 55-58 mile range (as opposed to 85-90 miles), I have actually felt more fatigued and rundown than when I'm in a high mileage week. Of course, that could be because I'm coming off of three straight weeks of high mileage by the time I reach a cutback week, but I have yet to really feel heavily impacted by the mileage in the midst of a high mileage week, whether is the 1st week of the cycle or the 3rd. I'm not a physiologist, nor did I sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I have no explanation for this, just an observation.
In any case, now that spring has returned, hopefully for good, I'm hoping to really be able to put this training I've done so far to the test, the first test being the Quad Rock 50 in just over a week. I ran the inaugural QR last year as a training run for Bighorn and had a blast. It was definitely the best paced (not fastest, by any means, just best paced) 50 miler I've done and I finished feeling relatively fine, which was the goal. Like I mentioned, my time wasn't blazing fast (11:11), but considering my goal going in was a sub-12 and to not feel like a steaming pile of shit afterwards, things went pretty okay. This year, with more time between my goal 100 and QR, I feel like maybe I can push for a faster time. I'm not going to redline it by any means, but I'd definitely like to go sub-11 and maybe sub-10:30. Of course, thanks to the April snowmageddon (or snowpocalypse, if you prefer), my trail mileage took a hit recently, so I don't feel as prepared as I could be. And I'm not really tapering for this thing, just training through it, but like I said above my legs don't generally seem happy with cutback weeks anyhow (although I still recognize and respect their necessity), so maybe that's for the best. Most of all, I'm just looking forward to some good beer with the Fort Collins crew after the race. After all, that's the reason the vast majority of us run ultras, isn't it??
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Leadville Training Part 2: Damn you, Mother Nature
Okay, so I've been doing a fairly shitty job of consistently updating the masses (all 2 or 3 of you) on my Leadville training. The first update was after two weeks, I'm now in the middle of the third week of my second 4 week cycle, so that comes out to....a long time ago. In any case, I'll just list some highlights (and lowlights):
--Overall, things are going well. Weekly mileage has been 80+ for the most part, other than cutback weeks, and I hit 90 last week.
--Had a good 25 mile run on the Centennial a couple of weeks ago where I forced myself to eat something (I've been using Honey Stinger waffles and chews lately) every half hour on the half hour. This equates to about 320 calories per hour. It seemed to work well. I found that before when I was guesstimating a good time to eat, I was grossly misjudging just how well I was doing about getting enough calories consistently and subsequently falling behind and feeling like shit late in the run.
--The day after that 25 miler, I ran 15 miles on a 1.25 mile out and back. That sounds like borderline torture , but it actually ended up being a lot of fun. A friend, Johnathan, put together a low-key event to showcase a new trail he and a group of volunteers have been constructing in the town of Whitewood. The plan was that he was going to run for 24 hours and see how many miles he could get in. He had sponsors lined up to donate a certain amount per mile or just a set amount, and they also gathered donations at the start/finish to help fund future trail building activities. Since only 1.25 miles of the trail is complete, that's what we ran on. Johnathan ended up with a 100K; I put in 15 in the evening after a day of watching/coaching my son's basketball team at a tourney in Rapid City.
--Ran on the Tinton trail just outside of Spearfish a couple of weeks ago for the first time since the first week in December. Tinton gets snowed in pretty bad during the winter because of the topography and lack of overall use in the winter, but it was finally clear and runnable.....or at least it was briefly, which brings me to my next point....
--Mother Nature is a dirty, dirty whore. Last week we got a two day long winter storm that dumped over a foot of snow, more snow than we've had all winter. It didn't warm up much over the weekend, and then we got another storm last night and today, although this most recent one ended up not being nearly as bad. Still, it's mid-April and suddenly all the trails are snowed in and I'm running in full-on winter gear. Bullshit, I tell ya.
--Because of Mother Nature, my longest run of my Leadville training so far, a 30 miler this past Saturday, ended up being on roads. Not ideal, but at least I got some miles/hours in. I ended up running the backroads from Belle Fourche to Spearfish and back. I've run from Belle to Spearfish or vice versa several times before, but I'd never done the whole round trip in one go, so it was somewhat exciting in that sense. Adding to the excitement, my brand new Ultraspire hydration pack (I've probably run with it fewer than 10 times) sprung a leak 9 miles into the run. Luckily, I had my cell phone and was able to call my wife and have her deliver a couple of trusty handheld bottles to Spearfish. Other than that, not a bad 5 hour run....my legs were minimally sore later that day or the day after.
--I've began focusing on how many calories I actually consume every day versus how many I burn and have found that I was a horrible judge of how many calories I could justifiably eat, which is why my weight has consistently been in the 205-210 range for the last several years, despite reasonably high weekly mileage. In the last month of actually tracking this stuff, I've dropped a little over 14 pounds, down into the low 190s. I'd like to get in the 170-180 range before Leadville, which seems doable. After an initial quick drop (I lost like 9 pounds the first week), things have slowed a bit, which is to be expected, but the trend continues to be downward. One interesting phenomenon I've picked up on is that long runs actually result in a short-term weight gain. In the 2 or 3 days after my long run(s), I'll typically add 2-3 pounds, but then those pounds will go away again mid to late week and by Friday or Saturday I'll end up with an overall loss for the week. I've researched the subject a little (i.e., I googled it) and it seems fairly commonplace for distance runners; some sort of reaction by the body to retain water in response to trauma (like, for instance, 5 hours of running).
--This has nothing to do with my Leadville training, but a quick word on the Boston Marathon bombings. At one point in my running life, qualifying for and running Boston was the holy grail, as it is for many runners. After a few attempts, I did finally qualify after at Missoula in 2008 (that race remains my PR and my one and only BQ). I ran Boston in 2009 and it was one of the most memorable running experiences of my life. The atmosphere there is something you really can't describe...you just have to experience it. So, needless to say, the bombings were quite a shock. Besides the obvious tragedy of loss of life and the severe physical injuries that occurred, the bombings shattered that one of kind of aura that surrounds the Boston Marathon. It really just sucks that an occasion that should be so memorable to 25,000+ runners and their family and friends has been absolutely and forever tainted by such a vicious, pointless act. In a strange way, it almost makes me want to run Boston again even more now, and I suspect that that will be the case for a lot of runners.
--Overall, things are going well. Weekly mileage has been 80+ for the most part, other than cutback weeks, and I hit 90 last week.
--Had a good 25 mile run on the Centennial a couple of weeks ago where I forced myself to eat something (I've been using Honey Stinger waffles and chews lately) every half hour on the half hour. This equates to about 320 calories per hour. It seemed to work well. I found that before when I was guesstimating a good time to eat, I was grossly misjudging just how well I was doing about getting enough calories consistently and subsequently falling behind and feeling like shit late in the run.
--The day after that 25 miler, I ran 15 miles on a 1.25 mile out and back. That sounds like borderline torture , but it actually ended up being a lot of fun. A friend, Johnathan, put together a low-key event to showcase a new trail he and a group of volunteers have been constructing in the town of Whitewood. The plan was that he was going to run for 24 hours and see how many miles he could get in. He had sponsors lined up to donate a certain amount per mile or just a set amount, and they also gathered donations at the start/finish to help fund future trail building activities. Since only 1.25 miles of the trail is complete, that's what we ran on. Johnathan ended up with a 100K; I put in 15 in the evening after a day of watching/coaching my son's basketball team at a tourney in Rapid City.
--Ran on the Tinton trail just outside of Spearfish a couple of weeks ago for the first time since the first week in December. Tinton gets snowed in pretty bad during the winter because of the topography and lack of overall use in the winter, but it was finally clear and runnable.....or at least it was briefly, which brings me to my next point....
--Mother Nature is a dirty, dirty whore. Last week we got a two day long winter storm that dumped over a foot of snow, more snow than we've had all winter. It didn't warm up much over the weekend, and then we got another storm last night and today, although this most recent one ended up not being nearly as bad. Still, it's mid-April and suddenly all the trails are snowed in and I'm running in full-on winter gear. Bullshit, I tell ya.
--Because of Mother Nature, my longest run of my Leadville training so far, a 30 miler this past Saturday, ended up being on roads. Not ideal, but at least I got some miles/hours in. I ended up running the backroads from Belle Fourche to Spearfish and back. I've run from Belle to Spearfish or vice versa several times before, but I'd never done the whole round trip in one go, so it was somewhat exciting in that sense. Adding to the excitement, my brand new Ultraspire hydration pack (I've probably run with it fewer than 10 times) sprung a leak 9 miles into the run. Luckily, I had my cell phone and was able to call my wife and have her deliver a couple of trusty handheld bottles to Spearfish. Other than that, not a bad 5 hour run....my legs were minimally sore later that day or the day after.
--I've began focusing on how many calories I actually consume every day versus how many I burn and have found that I was a horrible judge of how many calories I could justifiably eat, which is why my weight has consistently been in the 205-210 range for the last several years, despite reasonably high weekly mileage. In the last month of actually tracking this stuff, I've dropped a little over 14 pounds, down into the low 190s. I'd like to get in the 170-180 range before Leadville, which seems doable. After an initial quick drop (I lost like 9 pounds the first week), things have slowed a bit, which is to be expected, but the trend continues to be downward. One interesting phenomenon I've picked up on is that long runs actually result in a short-term weight gain. In the 2 or 3 days after my long run(s), I'll typically add 2-3 pounds, but then those pounds will go away again mid to late week and by Friday or Saturday I'll end up with an overall loss for the week. I've researched the subject a little (i.e., I googled it) and it seems fairly commonplace for distance runners; some sort of reaction by the body to retain water in response to trauma (like, for instance, 5 hours of running).
--This has nothing to do with my Leadville training, but a quick word on the Boston Marathon bombings. At one point in my running life, qualifying for and running Boston was the holy grail, as it is for many runners. After a few attempts, I did finally qualify after at Missoula in 2008 (that race remains my PR and my one and only BQ). I ran Boston in 2009 and it was one of the most memorable running experiences of my life. The atmosphere there is something you really can't describe...you just have to experience it. So, needless to say, the bombings were quite a shock. Besides the obvious tragedy of loss of life and the severe physical injuries that occurred, the bombings shattered that one of kind of aura that surrounds the Boston Marathon. It really just sucks that an occasion that should be so memorable to 25,000+ runners and their family and friends has been absolutely and forever tainted by such a vicious, pointless act. In a strange way, it almost makes me want to run Boston again even more now, and I suspect that that will be the case for a lot of runners.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Leadville Training Part 1: Winter, Spring and a 5K Win
Okay, so I may or may not consistently provide updates on my Leadville training....I guess you'll just have to sit there at your computer every day in giddy anticipation to find out. But I'll give it a shot, so here goes with part 1.
I "officially" started training for Leadville a couple of weeks ago. No gun went off, no gong was rung (do you ring a gong?), I just went for a run. And it was a cold run at that, a balmy 25 degrees with a brisk 25 mph breeze. Good times. Of course, three days later I was running Lookout Mtn. on a sunny, 70 degree afternoon. Such is the end of winter/beginning of spring in South Dakota.
My training plan is pretty much entirely homebrewed, based on random crap I found via Google and my own experience of what has worked for me before. It's 24 weeks long and split up into six, 4 week cycles. Within each of those cycles, the first 3 weeks are relatively high mileage (the mileage getting progressively higher with each cycle), and the 4th week is a cutback week. Every single Monday and Friday are recovery days, just an easy 6ish miles. Tuesdays and Thursdays are either doubles (with the 2nd run being a 5 mile grind up Lookout) or medium distance trail runs. Wednesday is speed day, either 800s on the track or 0.2 mile hill repeats on a road outside of Spearfish (those bastards suck). Saturday and Sunday are long run days. I started off with 30-35 miles total for those two days and will bump it up in subsequent cycles. Of course, these days get shuffled sometimes to make room for real life like, for example, when my son has a basketball tournament all day Saturday and I have Friday off, well then Friday becomes my longest run day. You gotta take the miles when you can get em.
In any case, it's working out well so far. The last two weeks I've logged 75 and 82 miles respectively. This past weekend I ran 15 on roads on Saturday morning and then a 20 miler on the Centennial on Sunday morning. My legs still felt good, so I jumped into a local St. Patty's Day 5K on Sunday afternoon and won the damn thing. It was a small field and it wasn't a blazing fast time (19:39 on a short course), but it still felt good to be able to stretch the legs a bit and still be able to push the pace only hours after a 20 miler. As a bonus, I took home a $25 cash prize, which I think technically makes me a professional runner. I expect the sponsorship deals to start coming in any second now.
Oh, and I've started doing some core work again for the first time in a long time (we're not talking weeks or months, but years here). I was pathetically sore after the first ab workout and even more sore after running 800s that afternoon (with a side stitch the whole time), but it's getting easier. Amazing how hard it is to make myself commit to 15-20 minutes of core work three times a week, but I have no problem getting up at 5 AM on a weekend morning so I can spend 4 hours running in the mountains. Like a wise man once said, 50% of it is 90% mental.
So, I think I've got the workout routine down pretty well. Now if only I could add about 5,000 feet of elevation to the Black Hills...
I "officially" started training for Leadville a couple of weeks ago. No gun went off, no gong was rung (do you ring a gong?), I just went for a run. And it was a cold run at that, a balmy 25 degrees with a brisk 25 mph breeze. Good times. Of course, three days later I was running Lookout Mtn. on a sunny, 70 degree afternoon. Such is the end of winter/beginning of spring in South Dakota.
My training plan is pretty much entirely homebrewed, based on random crap I found via Google and my own experience of what has worked for me before. It's 24 weeks long and split up into six, 4 week cycles. Within each of those cycles, the first 3 weeks are relatively high mileage (the mileage getting progressively higher with each cycle), and the 4th week is a cutback week. Every single Monday and Friday are recovery days, just an easy 6ish miles. Tuesdays and Thursdays are either doubles (with the 2nd run being a 5 mile grind up Lookout) or medium distance trail runs. Wednesday is speed day, either 800s on the track or 0.2 mile hill repeats on a road outside of Spearfish (those bastards suck). Saturday and Sunday are long run days. I started off with 30-35 miles total for those two days and will bump it up in subsequent cycles. Of course, these days get shuffled sometimes to make room for real life like, for example, when my son has a basketball tournament all day Saturday and I have Friday off, well then Friday becomes my longest run day. You gotta take the miles when you can get em.
In any case, it's working out well so far. The last two weeks I've logged 75 and 82 miles respectively. This past weekend I ran 15 on roads on Saturday morning and then a 20 miler on the Centennial on Sunday morning. My legs still felt good, so I jumped into a local St. Patty's Day 5K on Sunday afternoon and won the damn thing. It was a small field and it wasn't a blazing fast time (19:39 on a short course), but it still felt good to be able to stretch the legs a bit and still be able to push the pace only hours after a 20 miler. As a bonus, I took home a $25 cash prize, which I think technically makes me a professional runner. I expect the sponsorship deals to start coming in any second now.
Oh, and I've started doing some core work again for the first time in a long time (we're not talking weeks or months, but years here). I was pathetically sore after the first ab workout and even more sore after running 800s that afternoon (with a side stitch the whole time), but it's getting easier. Amazing how hard it is to make myself commit to 15-20 minutes of core work three times a week, but I have no problem getting up at 5 AM on a weekend morning so I can spend 4 hours running in the mountains. Like a wise man once said, 50% of it is 90% mental.
So, I think I've got the workout routine down pretty well. Now if only I could add about 5,000 feet of elevation to the Black Hills...
Friday, February 22, 2013
Red Hot 55K Report
When Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer made an appearance, I knew things weren't going well. Now, to be clear, I didn't actually see Rudolph....I wasn't quite that delusional. But at some point in the final miles of the Red Hot 55K this past Saturday, I realized that the song, along with that other Christmas classic "Rockin Round the Christmas Tree" had been playing on a constant loop in my head for quite some time. Why those songs? Who knows? On the bright side, at least I wasn't singing them out loud (as far as I know).
So, yeah, as far as the race goes, it was basically an exercise in doing everything wrong that you can possibly do wrong. Underestimate the course? Check. Go out too fast? Check. Don't eat enough? Check. Don't drink enough? Check. Excusable for a rookie, I guess, but not for someone who's done this before. All of that combined to turn a hoped-for 5:30 finish into a painfully slow 6:51. But yet I had fun, in a sick and twisted kind of way, which just helps to prove that ultra runners really are batshit crazy....and that we're totally cool with that.
If nothing else, the trip to Moab made it all worthwhile. Moab is just a cool place. I love the mountains and I will always want to live in (or very near) them, but that doesn't mean the desert canyonlands aren't cool as hell. And, really, February might be the time to go, before it's gets blazing hot. We made the trip down in a couple of days, staying in Grand Junction, CO on the way, which put us in Moab fairly early on Friday morning and gave us a chance to scout out the course a little and just check out the sights in general.
The race day weather was about as perfect as it can get, with highs in the mid-40s. Thanks to similar weather in the couple of weeks leading up to the race, the course itself was also in fine form and the RD, Chris Martinez, made the prophetic claim just before the race started that it would be a good day for course records to fall. I lined up somewhere in the middle of the pack and before I knew it (literally, I didn't hear a countdown or "ready, set" or anything) we were off.
I actually felt really good at first, which may actually have worked against me in the end. Rather than try to reign it in and plan ahead for the long haul, I decided to just go with it. Up the first climb and onto the lollipop loop that encompasses the first half or so of the race, my legs felt strong and there never really seemed to be any reason to slow down or walk, other than on a few very short but also very steep pitches of slickrock. The course basically has two high points; the first in the middle of the initial lollipop loop and the second afterwards along the Gold Bar Rim, after the 55K merges back into the 33K route.
During that first loop, I felt like I was drinking plenty and ate 4 or 5 gels, so I got off to a good start there. But at some point just after we started climbing up to Gold Bar Rim, I started to fade. My legs were suddenly more tired than they should be given the pace I was going and my stomach was starting to abandon me, which threw me into the negative loop of not wanting to eat or drink, even though doing so would've helped in the long run (no pun intended). After passing multitudes of people on the lollipop, they started going right past me in a seemingly neverending Conga line as I trudged up the slickrock. At this point, it seemed fairly apparent that 5:30 was out of the question, but I held onto the uber-optimistic thought that once the course turned back downhill I would be able to salvage a sub-6. Wrong.
By the time I reached the aid station just below Gold Bar Rim, and the start of the infamous Golden Spike trail, I was toast. It just felt like I had absolutely nothing left in the tank. Still hopeful that I could catch a second (or third) wind heading down Golden Spike, I trudged on. And then I found out just what makes the infamous Golden Spike so damn infamous. I knew ahead of time that we'd spend a lot of time running on the slickrock, but what I didn't realize was just how technical the slickrock would be. Cracks, holes, and 2 or 3 foot drop-offs keep you on your toes and prevented me from being able to fall into any kind of rhythm whatsoever. Also, I didn't expect as many ups during the downhill as there were. We did ultimately lose a lot of elevation along Golden Spike, but not before running down and then back up steep sections of slickrock along the way. By the time I finally got off Golden Spike, I was in all-out death march mode, Christmas songs blaring in my head as I dreamed of the relatively plush single-track forest trails back home.
I did manage some running once we hit the Poison Spider road closer to the finish, which probably salvaged a sub-7 out of the mess.
So, chalk that one up to experience. All in all, it's a great event....the fact that I sucked it up big time there doesn't change that. It's definitely worth checking out sometime. On the bright side, putting forth such a crappy performance is a good motivator to not do it again....one of the first things I did when I got back home was to sit down and start formulating my training plan for Quad Rock and Leadville. Hopefully, I've learned from my mistakes.
*All photos are courtesy Katie Anderson, who should receive special recognition for putting up with three stinky runner dudes for the entire weekend (albeit one of them was her husband).
So, yeah, as far as the race goes, it was basically an exercise in doing everything wrong that you can possibly do wrong. Underestimate the course? Check. Go out too fast? Check. Don't eat enough? Check. Don't drink enough? Check. Excusable for a rookie, I guess, but not for someone who's done this before. All of that combined to turn a hoped-for 5:30 finish into a painfully slow 6:51. But yet I had fun, in a sick and twisted kind of way, which just helps to prove that ultra runners really are batshit crazy....and that we're totally cool with that.
If nothing else, the trip to Moab made it all worthwhile. Moab is just a cool place. I love the mountains and I will always want to live in (or very near) them, but that doesn't mean the desert canyonlands aren't cool as hell. And, really, February might be the time to go, before it's gets blazing hot. We made the trip down in a couple of days, staying in Grand Junction, CO on the way, which put us in Moab fairly early on Friday morning and gave us a chance to scout out the course a little and just check out the sights in general.
The race day weather was about as perfect as it can get, with highs in the mid-40s. Thanks to similar weather in the couple of weeks leading up to the race, the course itself was also in fine form and the RD, Chris Martinez, made the prophetic claim just before the race started that it would be a good day for course records to fall. I lined up somewhere in the middle of the pack and before I knew it (literally, I didn't hear a countdown or "ready, set" or anything) we were off.
I actually felt really good at first, which may actually have worked against me in the end. Rather than try to reign it in and plan ahead for the long haul, I decided to just go with it. Up the first climb and onto the lollipop loop that encompasses the first half or so of the race, my legs felt strong and there never really seemed to be any reason to slow down or walk, other than on a few very short but also very steep pitches of slickrock. The course basically has two high points; the first in the middle of the initial lollipop loop and the second afterwards along the Gold Bar Rim, after the 55K merges back into the 33K route.
During that first loop, I felt like I was drinking plenty and ate 4 or 5 gels, so I got off to a good start there. But at some point just after we started climbing up to Gold Bar Rim, I started to fade. My legs were suddenly more tired than they should be given the pace I was going and my stomach was starting to abandon me, which threw me into the negative loop of not wanting to eat or drink, even though doing so would've helped in the long run (no pun intended). After passing multitudes of people on the lollipop, they started going right past me in a seemingly neverending Conga line as I trudged up the slickrock. At this point, it seemed fairly apparent that 5:30 was out of the question, but I held onto the uber-optimistic thought that once the course turned back downhill I would be able to salvage a sub-6. Wrong.
By the time I reached the aid station just below Gold Bar Rim, and the start of the infamous Golden Spike trail, I was toast. It just felt like I had absolutely nothing left in the tank. Still hopeful that I could catch a second (or third) wind heading down Golden Spike, I trudged on. And then I found out just what makes the infamous Golden Spike so damn infamous. I knew ahead of time that we'd spend a lot of time running on the slickrock, but what I didn't realize was just how technical the slickrock would be. Cracks, holes, and 2 or 3 foot drop-offs keep you on your toes and prevented me from being able to fall into any kind of rhythm whatsoever. Also, I didn't expect as many ups during the downhill as there were. We did ultimately lose a lot of elevation along Golden Spike, but not before running down and then back up steep sections of slickrock along the way. By the time I finally got off Golden Spike, I was in all-out death march mode, Christmas songs blaring in my head as I dreamed of the relatively plush single-track forest trails back home.
I did manage some running once we hit the Poison Spider road closer to the finish, which probably salvaged a sub-7 out of the mess.
So, chalk that one up to experience. All in all, it's a great event....the fact that I sucked it up big time there doesn't change that. It's definitely worth checking out sometime. On the bright side, putting forth such a crappy performance is a good motivator to not do it again....one of the first things I did when I got back home was to sit down and start formulating my training plan for Quad Rock and Leadville. Hopefully, I've learned from my mistakes.
Before
Me, Ryan and Paul
Almost Done
Done
*All photos are courtesy Katie Anderson, who should receive special recognition for putting up with three stinky runner dudes for the entire weekend (albeit one of them was her husband).
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The 2013 Race Schedule
It occurs to me now that I never wrote a "2012 in review" kind of post, but now that we're into February of 2013, it seems a little late for that. Here it is in a nutshell: ran a few thousand miles, finished the Bighorn 100, no injuries to speak of, generally had fun.
On to 2013. I hinted at the race schedule in an earlier post, but here is the confirmed list of "big" races I'll be doing this year (i.e., I've shelled out the registration money, so I'm running them come hell or high water (or injury)).
Moab's Red Hot 55K, February 16th - The idea of running this race was first put in my head by Sundance Trail Run RD Paul Anderson. A couple of years ago, Paul, Ryan, Nathan and myself took a road trip down to Buena Vista, CO for the Collegiate Peaks 50. Sometime this past summer, Paul suggested we do it again with Moab as the destination. I promptly forgot until a couple of days after registration had opened. Lucky for me, they added entries this year and I was able to get in (I think it sold out pretty fast last year). The idea was to enjoy a warmish (but not too warm) desert run early in the season, but from the way it's looking Moab is just as cold as South Dakota right now and might actually have more snow. Oh well, a road trip is a road trip.
Quad Rock 50, May 11th - Last year, Ryan, Andy and myself took a road trip down to Ft. Collins for the inaugural QR50. We had a blast hanging out with the FoCo trail runners and checking out their stomping grounds. So, Ryan and I are going back for sure. Not sure if anyone else is going with us, but we've got car space if anyone's interested.
Bighorn 30K, June 15th - After finishing the Bighorn 100 last year, running "just" the 30K might seem like I'm sandbagging it a bit. But, out of the four race distances offered at Bighorn (30K, 50K, 50M and 100M), the 30K is the only one I haven't done, so I figured it's time to complete the Bighorn Slam. Ryan is going too....he won back to back Bighorn 30Ks a few years a go and is going back for one more shot at the course record. I have less lofty goals, but a top 5 finish isn't entirely outside the realm of possibility.
Leadville 100, August 17th - I've had the idea of Leadville bouncing around my skull for a couple of years now. I'm intrigued by it's legendary status among 100s, but I also have concerns about the spectacle that it has become under the management of Lifetime. But not concerned enough to not give it a shot. Besides that, I've heard from several Black Hills 100 participants that our course is harder than Leadville. On paper, just comparing the courses side by side, you could probably make that argument. Black Hills does have about 4000 feet more elevation gain. But then you have to factor in that little thing called "altitude". Leadville's high point is over twice as high as Black Hills'. Ouch. As with anything, the only way to find out for sure is to experience it yourself, so that's what I'm going to do. And I want a big buckle.
There she is. Toss in the 5th Annual Black Hills Trail Running Series, co-directing the Black Hills 100, and maybe running a road race here and there, and it's looking to be a busy year.
On to 2013. I hinted at the race schedule in an earlier post, but here is the confirmed list of "big" races I'll be doing this year (i.e., I've shelled out the registration money, so I'm running them come hell or high water (or injury)).
Moab's Red Hot 55K, February 16th - The idea of running this race was first put in my head by Sundance Trail Run RD Paul Anderson. A couple of years ago, Paul, Ryan, Nathan and myself took a road trip down to Buena Vista, CO for the Collegiate Peaks 50. Sometime this past summer, Paul suggested we do it again with Moab as the destination. I promptly forgot until a couple of days after registration had opened. Lucky for me, they added entries this year and I was able to get in (I think it sold out pretty fast last year). The idea was to enjoy a warmish (but not too warm) desert run early in the season, but from the way it's looking Moab is just as cold as South Dakota right now and might actually have more snow. Oh well, a road trip is a road trip.
Quad Rock 50, May 11th - Last year, Ryan, Andy and myself took a road trip down to Ft. Collins for the inaugural QR50. We had a blast hanging out with the FoCo trail runners and checking out their stomping grounds. So, Ryan and I are going back for sure. Not sure if anyone else is going with us, but we've got car space if anyone's interested.
Bighorn 30K, June 15th - After finishing the Bighorn 100 last year, running "just" the 30K might seem like I'm sandbagging it a bit. But, out of the four race distances offered at Bighorn (30K, 50K, 50M and 100M), the 30K is the only one I haven't done, so I figured it's time to complete the Bighorn Slam. Ryan is going too....he won back to back Bighorn 30Ks a few years a go and is going back for one more shot at the course record. I have less lofty goals, but a top 5 finish isn't entirely outside the realm of possibility.
Leadville 100, August 17th - I've had the idea of Leadville bouncing around my skull for a couple of years now. I'm intrigued by it's legendary status among 100s, but I also have concerns about the spectacle that it has become under the management of Lifetime. But not concerned enough to not give it a shot. Besides that, I've heard from several Black Hills 100 participants that our course is harder than Leadville. On paper, just comparing the courses side by side, you could probably make that argument. Black Hills does have about 4000 feet more elevation gain. But then you have to factor in that little thing called "altitude". Leadville's high point is over twice as high as Black Hills'. Ouch. As with anything, the only way to find out for sure is to experience it yourself, so that's what I'm going to do. And I want a big buckle.
There she is. Toss in the 5th Annual Black Hills Trail Running Series, co-directing the Black Hills 100, and maybe running a road race here and there, and it's looking to be a busy year.
Monday, January 28, 2013
A different kind of double
I've run a lot of doubles. In fact, I typically run at least two, sometimes three, doubles per week when I'm in the thick of training for a race. These typically consists of an easy 6-8 miles on roads in the morning before work and then 4-5 miles on hilly trails, usually Lookout Mtn, at lunchtime. Nothing spectacular, just an easy way to get in double-digit miles for the day while sneaking in some trail runs.
This past Saturday, I ran a very different double. With the Red Hot 55K only four weeks away, I wanted to for sure get in a long run. Shannon and the kids were planning on running the Snowman Shuffle 5K/1K in Spearfish on Saturday morning, followed by a basketball game for Caiden (whose team I coach) in the afternoon. I knew that if I was going to get a long run in on Saturday, it would be best to get it over with before all of that stuff started, so I woke up well before the crack of dawn on Saturday and set out for my run. The plan was to run from Belle Fourche to Spearfish along the backroads, which would end up being about 18 miles and allow me to meet the family at the city park for their race.
Initially, my run didn't feel all that great. My legs felt fine, but I was moving much slower than it felt like I should be moving. For a long run, that's not really that big of a deal and it's a typical occurrence when I run really early in the morning, but it was still annoying me. Besides that, it felt much colder than the temperature WeatherBug had led me to believe it would be...cold enough that the tube on my hydration pack kept freezing up, which was further annoying me. Finally, though, I moved into a pocket of warmer air (another typical occurrence on early morning winter runs) and fell into a solid groove (yet another typical long run occurrence) and started feeling pretty good as the sun came up. I cruised into the park 18 miles later with about 15 minutes left before the race was to start. My legs still felt pretty fresh so I decided that since I was there and there was a race, I might as well run the damn thing.
After watching the kids 1K, where Caiden and Chloe placed 1st and 3rd, respectively, we lined up for the 5K. Full-on honesty, there were only 25 or so people there, so this wasn't a stacked field by any means. But there was one guy I knew, Carlos, who I struggle to keep up with on fresh legs, much less on 18 mile legs. The gun sounded and Carlos was nice enough to let me hang with him and chat a bit until we hit the water station at about halfway and then he was gone. I kept cruising and my legs actually felt pretty good, I just didn't have a ton of speed. Ended up with a 20:50 (my Garmin measured the course a bit short) and 2nd place. And the best part? Since the race was a fundraiser for the local Girl Scout troop, they had free samples of Girl Scout cookies at the finish. Not a bad end to a 21 mile day!
This past Saturday, I ran a very different double. With the Red Hot 55K only four weeks away, I wanted to for sure get in a long run. Shannon and the kids were planning on running the Snowman Shuffle 5K/1K in Spearfish on Saturday morning, followed by a basketball game for Caiden (whose team I coach) in the afternoon. I knew that if I was going to get a long run in on Saturday, it would be best to get it over with before all of that stuff started, so I woke up well before the crack of dawn on Saturday and set out for my run. The plan was to run from Belle Fourche to Spearfish along the backroads, which would end up being about 18 miles and allow me to meet the family at the city park for their race.
Initially, my run didn't feel all that great. My legs felt fine, but I was moving much slower than it felt like I should be moving. For a long run, that's not really that big of a deal and it's a typical occurrence when I run really early in the morning, but it was still annoying me. Besides that, it felt much colder than the temperature WeatherBug had led me to believe it would be...cold enough that the tube on my hydration pack kept freezing up, which was further annoying me. Finally, though, I moved into a pocket of warmer air (another typical occurrence on early morning winter runs) and fell into a solid groove (yet another typical long run occurrence) and started feeling pretty good as the sun came up. I cruised into the park 18 miles later with about 15 minutes left before the race was to start. My legs still felt pretty fresh so I decided that since I was there and there was a race, I might as well run the damn thing.
After watching the kids 1K, where Caiden and Chloe placed 1st and 3rd, respectively, we lined up for the 5K. Full-on honesty, there were only 25 or so people there, so this wasn't a stacked field by any means. But there was one guy I knew, Carlos, who I struggle to keep up with on fresh legs, much less on 18 mile legs. The gun sounded and Carlos was nice enough to let me hang with him and chat a bit until we hit the water station at about halfway and then he was gone. I kept cruising and my legs actually felt pretty good, I just didn't have a ton of speed. Ended up with a 20:50 (my Garmin measured the course a bit short) and 2nd place. And the best part? Since the race was a fundraiser for the local Girl Scout troop, they had free samples of Girl Scout cookies at the finish. Not a bad end to a 21 mile day!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Leadville
I am in.
I hate committing to a race so far in advance (Leadville is Aug. 17th), but registration opened on New Year's Day and I suspected it would fill up fairly fast, so I took the plunge and registered before I could talk myself out of it.
Should be a hoot. Or something.
I hate committing to a race so far in advance (Leadville is Aug. 17th), but registration opened on New Year's Day and I suspected it would fill up fairly fast, so I took the plunge and registered before I could talk myself out of it.
Should be a hoot. Or something.
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