Thursday, May 1, 2008

Summer

It is starting to feel like summer here, and I like it. More daylight in the morning and evening makes it more likely that I actually get a run and/or a walk in each day. My summer race plans are now set. I'll be doing the Jemez Mountain 50 Miler on May 17. This one looks like a tough 50; it looks like each year they have made it a bit tougher and this year added a new 10,000+ mountain. Total elevation gain is now just over 12,000 feet making it similar to San Juan but with a lower average altitude. Rick and I ran up to about 10,300 feet last weekend (Old Stage Rd/Frosty Park) and regardless of how clear Barr trail is getting, there is still a lot of snow on North facing gullies higher up. We'll do one more higher altitude run this weekend to get ready for the Jemez race.

My June race will be the Big Horn Trail 100 on June 20. This one should be interesting; it starts at 11:00 AM meaning everyone has to run through the entire night.

And my goal race for the summer is the White River 50 Miler on July 26. I've heard really good things about this race from everyone who has run it, and I've always wanted to do it myself. The field is looking like one of the more competitive lineups of the year so I really hope I can arrive fit and healthy.

August will see me pacing my buddy Rick at Leadville. Since my first Leadville in 2001, Judy and I have been there every year in some capacity; it is my favorite race and we love the whole experience. Rick is shooting for a sub 20:00 this year and I plan on chasing him that last 50 miles to his goal. Judy's "race" goal for the summer is to be able to volunteer at one of the aid stations. She is doing great right now and is getting stronger every day. She is planning on going back to work in a few more weeks.

10 comments:

Manners said...

Hey Paul- Good Luck on the summer! Some great races. Team kits will be there soon!!!
Great to hear Judy is getting stronger.
Aric

Bedrock said...

Paul,

Good luck with your races - I am sure you will do great. Glad to hear your wife is doing well. I am doing Massanutten again on May 17 and hope to improve over last year. I am kicking around White River as a possible summer race as well. Talk to you soon.

crowther said...

I'll see you at White River then! Scott McCoubrey sets aside a certain number of slots for elite runners, with free entry/free lodging/etc., so you might want to check with him about that. I'm sure he'd give one to you if he hasn't already given them all away.

Anonymous said...

Go get em' man. Glad to hear your urnnings coming back around and that Judy is doing better.

Paul DeWitt said...

Thanks for the comments everyone...

Bedford - good luck at Massanutten! I hope you do decide to run White River, or one of the other western races like the Bear which I saw on your calendar.

Anton said...

Paul--

How was the trail from Frosty's Park going down to Jones Park this last weekend? I've been up to ~10k' on the 667 trail (i think--the one that keeps going west from Jones Park) and it's in great shape--basically no snow. However, coming back down 7 Bridges i could see that the north-facing Pipeline Trail was still socked in.

Made it to A-Frame this morning, though...man I'm psyched for summer! Have you ever run up the Cog to the top? (don't feel any need to illegally incriminate yourself...)

have fun running with Kyle at Jemez!

tony

Bedrock said...

Bear is looking more and more likely but want to wait and see how I feel after MMT. My training has gone very well and my fitness is near an all time high so all should go well. We shall see. I really wanted to run Cascade this year but it filled before I could commit - hence the thought behind White River. Will keep you posted.

Paul DeWitt said...

Yo Anton - yes last weekend we ran into quite a bit of snow coming down from Frosty Park, and it was that weird sloping snow where you had to jam the side of your foot in for traction. Rick actually got stuck in a tree well up to his waist! I'm sure a lot has melted since then. Speaking of the cog (yes have run all the way up and it is a bear) I ran up to Mountain View on the Cog this weekend then cut over to Barr Camp. We went early enough to miss the trains.

Joe Kulak said...

Paul,

What was your weekly mileage and training like leading up to your Kansas 100 mile run last year? Did you have a lot of 5 to 7 hr. runs or did you take the approach of Matt and run more back to back 3 hr. runs?

Hope all is well with Judy and good luck at Jemez!

Paul DeWitt said...

Joe - Prior to Heartland, my longest run was 3:15, with one other 3:00 run and one 2:51 (local marathon) run. Mostly I did back to back 2:00 type runs and also did one week of 1:45 a day on pavement which really got my legs ready for the hard dirt roads. You might think about something similar for Vermont 'cuz those roads were some of the hardest "dirt" roads I ever saw. Oh mileage; my normal 50-60 with one 80 thrown in.
- paul