Dirt, Wood, and Books

People of Earth

2010-01-30T14:08:00.005-07:00

Well maybe that is a little too broad of a title. How about I focus on the 17 people who read this blog! Ok, it has been awhile since my epic failure at Javelina. My lack of posting hasn't been due to anything other than me not knowing what my future in running is and not wanting to jump the gun till I figured that out. Obviously Javelina didn't go too well (DNF at 48 miles). Here is the short version of that race.

I ran what I thought was a very comfortable, sustainable pace for the first 2 loops and mixed in walking as I had planned (approx 1-2 minutes of walking every 20 - 30 minutes). I ran a good bit with Jorge Pacheco and eventual winner David James. David's overall great attitude and excitement about all things running provided a stark contrast to my own sort of blah attitude and in the end I was very happy to see him hold on for a nice win and CR. My left hamstring began hurting right at 3HR which has become customary. Looking back at my last 100 (2007 Heartland) it didn't hurt anymore than that day but I have just become unwilling to put up with it. Also, I was reluctant to take the amounts of Ibuprofen I've had to take in previous long races to keep it under control and just decided I was not having fun and ready for something new.

Now 3 months later, that feeling persists so I can say with confidence that I'm retired from ultraracing, if that is a word. I will still do the LT100 each year till I get my 11 year shiny Bowling jacket, but beyond that it is time to move on. I just signed up for the LT100 Bike ride and will find out in a week if I get in. Being able to "retire" yet still run a few ultras a year illustrates one of the great things about our sport, compared to say Football. I'm very lucky to have picked a sport that I can do forever even if I'm not up front battling it out for the win.

As for this blog, if nothing else I've proven I have no business writing a blog! My postings have become less and less frequent as most of my online energy is directed towards my furniture and coaching websites. So, I will transfer over to the coaching site any info from here that might be considered useful and any new articles I write about running-related topics will be posted there.

Similarly, any furniture-related info (the Wood in this blog's title) will be posted on my furniture site.

Thanks and feel free to friend me on Facebook which is where I try to post photos from our weekly CRUD runs.

See you out on the trails,
Paul

Javelina Prognosis

2009-10-25T14:15:00.005-06:00

The Javelina 100 is coming up in less than a week now and I believe I'm ready to go! I wish the race was tomorrow to be honest. But let's wait till Saturday as it looks like the weather is getting cooler towards race weekend. It is snowing here right now, but that is OK as all the training is done.

The race field has improved dramatically over the last few weeks. I'm probably missing a name I should know (I'll leave it to Karl M to go over the odds) but it looks like Jorge Pacheco, David James, and Josh Brimhall will be the main contenders. I believe a 100 miles is too far to get into a racing mindset so will be just worrying about getting myself to the finish line as quick as possible.

As anybody who follows my running knows, I tend to be a low-mileage/quality mileage runner and the build-up for this race has been no different. I've been averaging right around 55 miles a week for the last 6 weeks, except for a bad week while getting over the Giardia I picked up while on the Colorado Trail. What I look for instead of a certain amount of mileage is how I feel at my goal race running pace. In this case, I'd like to be running at 8:00 pace, and with the walking breaks that I'll have to throw in hopefully I can keep the overall average pace around 8:30 - 8:40. I can't believe how good I feel at 8:00 pace right now and my HR is about as low as its ever been at that pace. I think the main reason is I'm finally not anemic which makes a huge difference. Back to the race - I'll shoot to do the first 3 loops around 2:05 - 2:10 each. I've done a few loops there in 1:36 so I'm hoping the 2:10 will feel super easy at least through 50 miles. Then it just becomes a matter of running as hard as you can for the rest of the day. So my time prediction is 14:30. That's the plan anyway!

I also like to be as strong and fit overall as possible. All other things being equal, it is always nice to feel light and strong going into a long race. My weight is about the same as its been for the last 10 years (140) but I'm a bit stronger than I've ever been before a 100 so I'm hoping that is a good sign. I'm bench pressing almost 250 pounds and am doing a ton of pull-ups, ab work, and core stuff. This really does matter when you are carring water bottles for 15 or so hours.

For anyone who wants to keep track of the race, Dave Combs will be providing race updates every 5 minutes on the race website.

Frost

2009-10-09T20:51:00.004-06:00

We awoke this morning to the beautiful frost shown below on the road to our house. It is hard to imagine I'll be sweating in the desert in 3 weeks:

Tomorrow I'm going to try to get one last run in on my favorite route; the 21 mile Balanced Rock Road - Rampart Range Road - Winding Staircase Road loop. I also got a pair of much needed new shoes so will use them from now through the Javelina 100.

In an interesting confluence of running and furniture news, I just finished the Media Cabinet shown below. It's new home will be overlooking the Western States starting line from a condo in Squaw Valley. The new owner is an accomplished runner who broke 20 hours at this year's race.

For anyone interested who isn't on the CRUD email list, our year end Awards Party will be at the Palmer Lake Picnic shelter on Oct 24, starting at 11:00 AM.

Javelina Coming Up Quickly

2009-10-05T18:14:00.002-06:00

After not racing since the Way Too Cool 50K in March, I'm looking forward to suffering in the Desert in another 4 weeks. While my training hasn't been anywhere near ideal, I still feel pretty good about the whole thing and whatever happens my goal is to have fun doing it. I'm completely over the Giardia I got while running and hiking with Fast Eddy. Thanks again for that Scott! And I seem to be able to keep my chronic hamstring issue in check by doing the various leg and back exercises a few times a week.

I think I needed the break this past summer from racing but enjoyed being able to still be a part of the race scene while crewing and pacing Tara at the San Juan 50, running with my Dad at the Leadville Trail marathon, crewing and pacing Tara at the LT100, and finally crewing for Wynn at the AT100 this past weekend. It is nice to know I don't have to "race" every race I want to do, but can always pace or crew somebody instead. Speaking of crewing, I at first thought I'd have to go down there on my own (which made choosing a loop course logical) but with Judy's new work schedule she's going to be able to come down also which will be great.

So onto Javelina. I have done the 50K held on the same course twice so know the course very well. I'm sure it will seem quite a bit different when running the loop in the opposite direction but at least I know I don't have to worry about getting lost which is always my biggest fear at a race I'm unfamiliar with. As for time/place goals, I was very happy to see that Jorge is signed up as that takes a lot of pressure off me. He surely is the favorite but I hope to give him a challenge and who knows? The weather (heat) will probably be the biggest variable that will determine if either of us runs under 15hrs or is happy just to be under 20 hrs. Oh, this race has a halloween theme; I'll be the guy dressed as a CRUD runner.

3 Days on the Trail

2009-09-15T08:18:00.009-06:00

The Colorado Trail meanders from Denver to Durango, covering 480 miles and approx. 77,000 feet of climbing. Last week I had the pleasure of spending 3 days and 111 miles on the trail with my buddy Scott Jaime, who was doing the entire trail to celebrate his 40th birthday. He finished on Sunday in Durango with a time of 11 days 12 hours 46 mins. After doing my short portion of the trail with Scott, I can confidently state the following:

1. I'll never, ever do the entire CO trail at one time as Scott did! Or any other trail that takes more than 3 days. I have a huge amount of admiration for those who tackle these long trails, but I'm not cut out for it. I like to go hard, and then go to bed. And then not have to get up and do it all over again.

2. I will do all of the Colorado trail eventually however (in nice short sections). It is stunningly beautiful. It is also neat to think about crossing such a huge area with relatively few road crossings. The Colorado population is concentrated along the I25 corridor in the Front Range, along I70 through Ski country, and then on the Western Slope around Grand Junction and Durango. But the rest of the state is amazingly free of large cities.

3. After swearing I'd never do Hardrock, well, ok maybe! My section, while not on any of the Hardrock course, was in "Hardrock country" and it is amazing out there. We did spend several hours on the San Juan course (which I've done) and that made me want to run San Juan again.

The section I ran/walked with Scott was from Highway 114 to Highway 550 at Molas Pass. The section started at 9600 feet and finished at 10880 feet. The hight point was near the Carson Saddle at 13334 feet and the low point was crossing the Animas River at 8920 feet. This distance should be 107 miles, but we got a little turned around in the Saguache Park area, adding approx 5 miles and 500 feet of climbing to the total.

First Day in the Aspens

Where the Hell Are We? This Data Book Sucks.

Self Portrait

Day 2 - Colorado Trail High Point

Continental Divide in Weminuche Wilderness

Cuba Gulch

Day 3 - Looking down at Elk Creek Drainage

Scott Descending Elk Creek Drainage

Elk Creek with Bright Green Moss

Beaver Pond and Arrow Peak

Narrow Gauge Train going from Durango to Silverton

Animas River

LT wrap-up and other stuff

2009-09-07T14:29:00.005-06:00

Wow it has been several weeks now but wanted to get something up about the LT100, which has always been the goal race for CRUD each year. The weather at this year's Leadville events ran the gamut, but it was the driest, warmest it has ever been for the 100. It was a great weekend as usual and I was psyched to see so many CRUDers out either running, crewing, pacing or just hanging out cheering.

It was one of our best years ever as far as the number of Big Buckles. John G won our highly coveted Pink Dress, being the lone DNF. I think he'll look great in it. And Keith was the Sullivan award winner; given to the slowest CRUD finisher each year.

I had a blast crewing for Tara the first 50, and then pacing her the last 50 while Judy crewed the whole day. I think Tara must have passed 50 people while I was with her, and we were only passed by 2 runners ourselves. I was hoping for 26:00 but at Fish Hatchery we started to realize sub 25 was a possibility. And sure enough she hammered all the way to the finish and made it with 5 minutes to spare.

Judy and Me at Winfield - Photo from Chisholm D.

Order of finish:

Harry – Big Buckle

Brooks – Big Buckle

Scott K – Big Buckle

Larry D – Big Buckle/Leadman winner

PaulSM – Big Buckle

JT – Big Buckle

Tara – Big Buckle, new CRUD female record

Keith – Little Bitty buckle/Leadman finisher

Colorado Trail Adventure
My buddy Scott Jaime is out on the Colorado Trail right now, pounding out over 40 miles a day. I'll be joining him for a 3 day, 110 mile section in the beautiful San Juans starting tomorrow evening. The section I'm doing with him will be done as a fast-pack - something I've never done so I'm really excited to see how it goes. One thing for sure, it is going to be my highest mileage week ever. At the link above, you can follow along. Well, sort of. He is using something called Spot but it doesn't seem to be working all the time.

Arkansas Traveler 100M
On Oct 3 I'll be pacing Wynn Davis at the Arkansas Traveler 100 in, you guessed it, Arkansas. The fear of getting left in the dust is my current training motivation.

Javelina 100M
Finally, on Oct 31 I'll be lining up for my first 100 since Oct 2007. No predictions yet but I'm looking forward to heading back to the desert.

Mt. Massive

2009-08-15T10:51:00.006-06:00

Last weekend we camped near Leadville for the weekend and enjoyed a few great hikes. Mt. Massive is the 2nd highest of Colorado's 14ers, just a few feet shy of its neighbor Mt. Elbert. Having done them both I really like the trail up Mt. Massive a lot more. Not nearly as steep and washed out, the trail up Mt. Massive features a lot more flowers. In fact, the photo below is on the ridge at about 14,300 feet and you can see some foliage behind Judy and Darwin.

Marmots, the other white meat:

Below shows the view looking down at Leadville from about 12,500 feet on Mt. Massive. The range behind Leadville is the Mosquito Range.

It was a super clear day but very cold and windy up high. We woke the morning of the hike to crisp 25 degree temps! We timed it just right so we had the summit to ourselves for a few minutes. Just before hitting the summit, a huge group of teenagers with mountaineer helmets was heading down. Turns out they were an Adventure Camp group of some kind visiting from Alabama and I think the temps and view from the top really astounded them.

My parents had done the climb a few days earlier and ran into Tony K. He did the ascent in 1:28. Judy and I also did it in 1:28, but we started our watch much closer to the summit!

New Designs

2009-08-12T15:44:00.003-06:00

I recently finished a Kitchen table and 2 chairs. The table is an original design, while the chairs are Nakashima-inspired. The chairs are very low-backed because the client wanted the backs to be below the top of the table. The chairs are Walnut, and the Table is Walnut and Cherry.

Ultra content? I'll be driving these to the client in Cleveland next week. I don't know much about geography but I think that is a long way away.

Queens Canyon Run and Swim

2009-08-04T08:31:00.009-06:00

Waterfall in Queens Canyon (Dorothy Falls)

This past Saturday we had another great CRUD long run/adventure. Probabably a bit more of the latter this week but that is why I run on trails. We started in Manitou Springs and ran north through the Garden of the Gods. On the north border of GoG, there is a trail that goes up towards Glenn Eyrie Castle (an easy way to find this trail is to look for the No Trespassing Sign on the Barbed Wire Fence!). After a mile or so, you pop out at the Glen Eyrie Castle. It smelled like breakfast was being served as we scooted quickly past the castle and into the bottom of Queens Canyon.

Note for my more responsible readers: You can actually get permission to do this outing by signing up online and getting a permit. I believe they allow users with permits to go up Queens Canyon Mondays - Thursdays. You can then drive into Glenn Eyrie and start from the Castle.

Camp Creek

The creek running through the canyon is known as Camp Creek. The bottom mile has a dam and a water pipe that diverts some of the water to COS utilities. Only this bottom section is private; the waterfall, upper canyon, and punch bowls are all in the Pike National Forest so you can also do this outing legally if you came from above (Rampart Range Rd).

Me and the Waterfall

The waterfall above marks the beginning of the real fun. After scrambling up a steep scree hill on the right side of the waterfall, you come out in a much narrower canyon with steep walls on either side.

Narrow spot in the Canyon

Not exactly the Virgin River Narrows but pretty cool for Colorado Springs. As you continue higher, you encounter a series of Punch Bowls, which depending on the season and amount of rain, can be quite deep.

Looking down at the Punch Bowls

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

At this point, we realized that there was a good chance of ending up in the drink. It was about 55 degrees (air!) and the water was probably 35 degrees.

Tara right before here unplanned swim

Tara decided to take off her shoes to get a better monkey grip on the slick rocks. This ended up being a bad idea as she not only slid into the deepest punch bowl, but cut her heel bad enough to need a few stitches after the run. In true CRUD fashion, however, she finished the run back to Manitou and then did the stitches herself.

I join the Polar Bear Club

I took a dive into the deepest bowl also and found it to be quite refreshing! At this point, we split up with Rick and the Karate Dork (below) heading further up the canyon till they popped out on Rampart Range Rd. near the newly closed (about time!) shooting range.

The Karate Dork on Rampart Range Rd

However you get in there, Queens Canyon and the Punch Bowls are a must-see for any fun-loving trail runner.

Silver Rush 50M Race Report

2009-07-29T13:30:00.011-06:00

I, along with several other CRUDers, ran the Silver Rush 50* Miler on Sunday in Leadville. This event is just 3 years old, I believe, so is a fairly new addition to the calendar in Colorado. There is an accompanying bike race on the same course on Saturday. What I knew of this race was from a few folks who had biked it, and they said it was a hard course and fairly technical. This is probably true if you are on a mountain bike with 400 other riders, but for runners it turned out to be a fairly tame course. Like the Leadville Trail Marathon, this race is held on the east side of town (Mosquito Pass side) rather than the west side where the 100 miler takes place. The race starts at the little ski hill in town, and you run straight up it. This is actually the hardest hill on the whole course! Seriously, going from a resting HR to about 190 in 10 seconds really bites. The course then gradually climbs to about 12,200 at the base of Mt. Sherman and Mt. Sheridan. You then descend on a dirt road, and then a paved road, to the Printer Boy aid station before heading north to the main mining district. This part of the course shares a few sections (Ball Mountain) with the marathon and is stunningly beautiful. After going up and over Ball Mt. Pass (also about 12,000 feet), you descend into Stumptown for the turn-around. Coming back repeats those two main climbs and then the last 10 miles are all downhill back to town.

CRUD Crew

Ok, now for my day. This was to be my first test since my "pain in the butt" of a few months ago. My training has mainly consisted of the two weekly CRUD runs, so just slow hilly running. I'd finally been feeling back to my normal self for about a month but still wasn't expecting much at this race. My post-surgery training mileage is as follows:

Week ending:
4/12: 10 miles (surgery on 4/10)
4/19: 0
4/26: 0
5/3: 6 miles
5/10: 18 miles
5/17: 27 miles
5/24: 36 miles
5/31: 28 miles
6/7: 11 miles
6/14: 28 miles
6/21: 12 miles
6/28: 36 miles
7/5: 44 miles
7/12: 39 miles
7/19: 54 miles

After looking at the times from last year, and the website, I first realized the race isn't actually 50 miles; more like 46 which was fine with me! I was hoping for something in the low 8 hr range, and decided to try to stick with my training partner Rick H for as long as possible. He generally runs a smart conservative race and he'd been kicking my ass in training lately. We ran together up the initial 10 mile climb, with me having to take the first of 2 dumps for the day (two burritos and one enchilado the day before the race; will avoid that next time). While catching up I realized I felt really good and at the top of the climb I decided to just let myself go on the downhill to Printer Boy. I put a few minutes on Rick and at the aid station was told I was in 2nd place. I decided to push a bit to see if I could catch the leader (Ryan Burch - eventual winner). No such luck as he maintained the same gap all the way to the turn-around which I reached in about 3:35.

Stumptown

The 2nd half of the race is easier than the first, so I figured I might actually be in the low 7 hr range rather than low 8s if I held it together. The return was as expected; my lack of training proved to be a factor, I slowed to a walk on the hills, and I wasn't able to put up any fight when passed a few miles from the finish. I finished, shirtless, after running the last 45 or so minutes in a cold rain mixed with sleet. Results say 7:17 for 3rd which certainly exceeded my expectations. Rick finished about 8 minutes later, having closed on me the last 10 miles. It was sort of weird being awarded the Masters win; I don't really think of myself as a Masters but I guess the birthdate says otherwise. I would like to think I have a few more open wins in me, but who knows. I like to race but the hard training is loosing its appeal. For now I'll stick with the CRUD runs and just enjoy being injury-free.

I'd really recommend this race for anybody looking for a moderate high altitude 50. Several hours easier than San Juan, but still a good feeling of accomplishment at the end and some great scenery.

Leadville Trail Marathon

2009-07-12T13:28:00.009-06:00

This weekend was my 5th trip up for the Leadville Trail Marathon; I raced it two times, then ran unofficially with Judy one year, then with my Dad in 2007. Today I'd be again accompanying my dad, trying to help him get under 5:00. His time in 2007 was 5:25 but he had a lot of cramping that day. In addition to my dad, it was to be a DeWitt family affair with my Mom and sister (Laura) running the Heavy Half, and my sister's fiance Matt running the marathon. They are all from North Carolina, but my parents had been camping in Leadville for the last 3 weeks and were more acclimated than Laura and Matt.

And then there was CRUD; we had 8 other CRUD runners up there doing either the marathon or Half and I did my best to get photos of most of them (I missed Keith, Dave, and John because I was running down when they were going up and couldn't get the camera out quick enough).

The Leadville Trail marathon is often compared to the Pikes Peak marathon, but they are actually quite different, with the main commonality being the altitude. Pikes Peak is basically all up, then all down. The LT marathon has less total elevation gain (approx 6000 feet), but quite a bit of that is later in the race on the way "down." Pikes Peak is certainly harder, if harder means it takes longer, but LT will get you if you don't stay fueled and hydrated since you can't just let gravity do the work in the 2nd half.

My dad ended up running 4:57, and Matt was right ahead of us at 4:56 so they were both very pleased. My mom was 2nd in her age group in the Heavy Half, and Laura also finished it. My CR finally fell (about time!) but to a runner I'm not familiar with; will be interesting to see how Dennis does at the 50 and 100, which I heard he was also running this year. Nice to see a number of runners under 4hrs this year; the weather was quite good and no snow on the course for the first time I can remember. All in all a great day in the mountains.

These photos are in no particular order, but hopefully do a good job of showing the terrain and amazing views of the course.

Dad at top of Pass

Dad on Ball Mountain Singletrack

Larry

Jill

Laura K

Laura (sister)

Matt (fiance)

Mom

Rebekha

Rich

Rich's Ass

Rich in Mining District

Steve

Dad and Rich

Dad in Mining District

Dad climbing

Dad going around Ball Mountain

Dad around 9 miles

Drunk Badgers and Coked up Kitties

2009-07-08T11:00:00.005-06:00

I saw this, taken from Reuters, and just had to pass it along...

BERLIN - A badger in Germany got so drunk on over-ripe cherries it staggered into the middle of a road and refused to budge, police said Wednesday.

A motorist called police near the central town of Goslar to report a dead badger on a road — only for officers to turn up and discover the animal alive and well, but drunk.

Police discovered the nocturnal beast had eaten cherries from a nearby tree which had turned to alcohol and given the badger diarrhea.

Having failed to scare the animal away, officers eventually chased it from the road with a broom.

******

Hurricane Canyon and Lake Manitou

2009-07-03T15:02:00.012-06:00

We had a great CRUD long run today, exploring some fairly off-beat trails on the flank of Pikes Peak. As nice as Barr trail is, there are literally hundreds of miles of better trails on the mountain where you don't have to pick your way around oxygen-deprived tourists with ski poles. Anyway, today's route started in downtown Manitou and headed up Williams Canyon, my favorite canyon in the area. The wet spring and recent (yesterday) rains made for nice lush surroundings and we were all soaked well before the creek crossing later in the morning.

Williams Canyon (next 2 photos):

We took a connector trail up to Waldo Canyon and then ran Waldo to the trailhead on Highway 24, getting in a bit of speed work crossing the road with its 55 MPH traffic (think Frogger).

Waldo:

Longs Ranch Road has a similar grade and surface to the Powerlines climb during the LT100, though it is hard to simulate the 75 miles on your legs at that point during the 100 miler. As steep as it is, if you've ever "run" this dirt road in hip deep snow, the dirt is a welcome relief.

Longs Ranch Rd (next 2 photos):

Longs Ranch Road tops out around 9000 feet where several trails branch off. You can go down through the Manitou Experimental Forest to No Name Creek, take a trail over through Eagles Nest to the top of the Incline, take Bob's Road over to Barr Trail, or take a nice overgrown single track trail through Hurricane Canyon to the French Creek drainage at the base of the Manitou Lake dam, which was our route today.

Hurricane Canyon (next 3 photos):

Lots of Elk scat and wildflowers along with plenty of fallen trees since this is not a highly used trail. From the dam, we scooted down trail 638 to the 7.8 mile sign on Barr trail, and then back down Barr Trail which was teeming with people on this holiday day.

Trail 638:

Route Specifics: 4:38 total time. 21.27 miles and 9000 feet of altitude gain. That amount of gain seems too much to me, but that is what Steve's GPS said. I'm guessing more like 6000 ft gain.

As for me - I'm finally feeling like a real runner again and not holding up the group on these long days. Next weekend is the Leadville Trail marathon where I'll be running with my Dad; we did this in 2007 and this year he hopes to break 5Hrs.

Ultra Gear Checklist

2009-06-28T12:48:00.009-06:00

I have a few runners doing their first 100s this summer, and was remembering back to my first 100 (2001 LT100) when we had the back of a pickup truck literally stuffed with food and supplies, most of which was not needed and just made it harder for Judy to find what I did want at each crew stop. While we went overboard that first year, there certainly are some critical items to have when doing a 100 mile race. The nature of the race makes a big difference; you probably don't need as many different types of clothing for the Umstead 100 as for the LT100 for example, so keep that in mind when planning out your supplies. Also keep in mind that at some races, your crew will need to hike in a ways to see you; this requires more planning so your crew can simply carry a small backpack with everything you might need. Finally, remember that you can never guarantee that your crew will get to the crew stop as planned. Things do happen (we met someone at LT100 a few years ago whose car died sometime during race morning). You should make use of the drop bags too as a back-up. It will be a long day for your crew as well as for you so they should remember to bring plenty of food and drinks for themselves too.

1. Cooler with ice and plenty of water. You don't want your crew to have to count on getting water at the aid stations so have plenty of your own.
2. Bug spray
3. Sunscreen
4. Toilet paper
5. Lights (for runner and for crew)
6. Extra batteries
7. Ibuprofen/salt pills/antacid pills
8. Sunglasses/hat
9. Maps and Racer/Crew instructions from website
10. Extra running shoes/socks/running shirts/shorts
11. Warm clothes for night
12. Drugstore poncho and/or rain clothes
13. Runner food - gels, bars, lunch meat, PBJs, etc.
14. Runner drinks - powder for mixing, Ensure, Boost, flat Coke, etc.
15. Basic first aid kit for blisters
16. Split sheet* for runner (so you know when to expect your runner at each crew stop)
17. Extra plastic ziploc bags
18. Handwipes
19. Chairs (for crew and runner)
20. Bodyglide or similar

*As a runner you should try to let your crew know ahead of time where you may want different things. This will be a seperate post but as a runner I always liked to give my crew a sheet with my expected splits and what I wanted to get at each crew stop.

Did I forget anything important that you always are sure to bring to a big race? Let me know and I'll add it to the list.

So Long Dewey

2009-06-08T06:58:00.005-06:00

I can't believe this is happening in Colorado! Seems more like a Kansas story.

Adams County Libraries Shelving Dewey Decimal System.

Catching Up

2009-05-30T15:04:00.005-06:00

Yes I'm still alive, if only barely. My surgery recovery has been very slow with me still being super fatigued. I had follow-up blood work done yesterday and will hear the results next week in case I need to do anything different than my current plan, which mainly consists of suffering twice a week on the CRUD runs. My only event on the slate at this point is running the Leadville Trail Marathon in 6 weeks with my Dad. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up! All the normal CRUD guys, along with 2009 newcomers Eric Grossman and Scott Jaime, have been kicking my butt on the Thur CRUD hill workouts. Look out for Eric at the WS100, and Scott at the HR100 this season as both are in good shape and getting faster each week.

We had a nice run today with the CRUD group through the Air Force Academy (Falcon Trail) and partway up Stanley Canyon. A few of the guys went up the whole way to Rampart Reservoir but I turned back right after this photo for a 3 hr run.

Just for Brownie, I wanted to show a few of my latest furniture pieces. This first one is a desk/secretary made out of Cherry. This piece includes more than 200 dovetails as well as a lot of inlay using other woods (maple, walnut, and mahogany).

Finally, this is a King size bed made out of Walnut and Curly Maple. The clients are quite short as you can see.

Methinks thou shall liketh

2009-04-23T12:41:00.004-06:00

mine latest creation. Ok, that title was in honor of Talk Like Shakespeare Day. I shall granteth extra credit to anyone who can guesseth how old he'd be today.

Ok, enough of that. I finally finished another project and got it delivered. This dresser was for a client that already has a matching bed and nightstands I built last year. Like the other pieces, this one is cherry and birsdeye maple. The chest was built using through dovetails, half-blind dovetails, and sliding dovetails.

The drawers are graduated in size, going from tallest at the bottom to smallest at the top.

Pain in the Butt

2009-04-15T15:43:00.005-06:00

I've been out of commission for almost a week now, and it looks like several more days minimum before I will be able to run. I had what was supposed to be minor surgery last Friday...here is a brief report. I had only told a few of my friends and family what was being done just out of embarrassment, but I guess I shouldn't be embarrassed; it is just one of those things and I'm just glad it is almost over. I had hemorrhoids and over the last several years had been putting up with some pretty bad discomfort and blood loss. Running obviously isn't the best thing in the world for it, and I can tell you that wiping with a pine branch in the middle of a long run is no fun. I finally went to my family doctor and he referred me to a specialist and said they had a lot of easy, out-patient non-invasive procedures that are able to be done these days. The specialist took one look and said I was way past those quick/easy procedures and due to my age and activity level, he wanted me to have surgery asap. I put it off till after WTC, and then it was rescheduled once due to the surgeon's schedule but I finally had it done last Friday. It was a general anesthesia procedure which sounded good to me. I woke up in the recovery room and they said I could go home as soon as I could take a leak on my own, but before that ever happened I started bleeding all over the place and was rushed back into the operating room. They stopped the bleeding and still think the procedure will have the expected (good) outcome. I did have to spend the night in the hospital though and am still in a lot of discomfort. So here are my Percocet-induced ramblings about the whole ordeal:
1. How the hell do people function while on/addicted to Percocet? I can't focus on anything for longer than 30 seconds.

2. Any jokes about pulling your pants down and bending over cause it is tax day are crazy. Paying taxes is way better than literally having to bend over like I did.

3. If you lose a ton of blood and live at 7200 feet, I don't care how good of shape you are in you can suddenly barely walk up the stairs.

4. I hope the surgeon had really small hands and really tiny instruments, but based on how I feel, I think he could probably palm a basketball with ease.

5. Post surgery pain of this kind is way different than any self-induced running pain that we are used to dealing with. Apparently running 100 milers doesn't make you tough when it comes to other pain.

6. My surgeon called me dude.

Thanks to all my friends who called or stopped by the hospital, and all you running clients who have been very patient with me as the emails and running log entries piled up.

No more air-cooled fun for now

2009-04-06T16:18:00.005-06:00

No room in garage
Snowfall and rain - dreaded rust
Bug gone to new home

New DeWitt Ultrarunners!

2009-03-30T11:03:00.003-06:00

Congratulations to my sister, Laura, and her boyfriend Matt who entered and won their first ultramarathon this past weekend. It was the Gator 50K in eastern North Carolina.

Race Results

Most importantly, they both want to run more ultras after this first one so that is always a good thing. Looking back, I'm not sure if I felt the same way after my first one!

Crystal Park/Section 16 Run

2009-03-28T16:25:00.009-06:00

After a spring "blizzard" on Thursday, we got the chance to run in some snow for today's long run. Luckily there wasn't as much snow on the southwest side of town as up here in Palmer Lake, but still enough to have some fun. The contrast of the blue sky, green trees, and white snow is always a sight to see.

So today's run was an 18.3 mile loop starting and finishing in Manitou Springs. We ran up Crystal Park rd, which is a paved road that winds up a private neighborhood for about 8 miles. This is a nice grade and they plow it so we got all our uphill running out the way without having to worry about the snow.

We had a nice group again, including Scott Jaime who came down from Denver and the return of Tony K after his winter in Oregon. Photos courtesy of Larry D and Steve B.

Turntable for cars partway up the hill:

This is the actual turntable mentioned in the sign above:

CRUD regrouping at the day's high point of about 9200 feet:

From the high point, we got on the Palmer Trail for a nice fluffy downhill run towards Section 16.

Stylish Rick:

Deep snow on the Palmer Trail:

Here we are re-grouping at the intersection of the Palmer Trail and the Section 16 trail.

We took the counterclockwise direction on Section 16 down to Hi Drive, and then took Hi Drive down to the Section 16 trailhead and then on around to the Intemman trail junction.

Intemman Trail:

The Intemman trail goes over some nice red rock single track back to the bottom part of Crystal Park Rd.

Beautiful Colorado Day:

Name that Dork:

Balanced Rock/Winding Staircase Loop

2009-03-21T19:07:00.006-06:00

Today was just a beautiful day for a long CRUD run. We ran one of my favorite all-time loops. Starting from our house in Palmer Lake, this loop runs through Glen Park to the Palmer Lake Reservoir trailhead. From there, we went up the Reservoir trail towards Balanced Rock Rd (FS 322). All photos by Steve Bremner.

After passing the two Palmer Lake reservoirs and turning onto FS 322, it is time to climb. This steep and rutted road gains about 2000 feet and travels 9 miles until you end up at Rampart Range Rd (FS 300).

Still a bit of snow in shady spots.

After running about 2.5 miles on Rampart Range Road, the loop turns right on Winding Stairs road (FS 323) to return to the Reservoirs. This road starts out pretty mellow but then drops a thousand feet in less than 2 miles near the end while affording great views of the reservoirs below.

Scott Jaime bringing up his typical position in the rear.

Group shot with Pikes Peak in the background.

For most of the run, we were treated to spectacular views of the North Face of Pikes Peak, which got a dusting of new snow yesterday.

Back at our home in Palmer Lake rehydrating.

The entire run is about 21.4 miles and gains just over 5,000 feet. The high point is 9300 feet. With summer coming, I'll be running this one a lot in the next several months.

Way Too Cool - Quick Report

2009-03-14T16:21:00.005-06:00

Well a rough day out here in California for me, or more accurately, a rough 4 miles at the end. Usually I'm done in by my own stupidity, but today I was done in by cramps (of course, stupidity played a part!).

The race started super quick; I wanted to start smart and conservative, knowing 31 hilly miles is a long way, but I didn't want to give up too much time right off the bat. Julie had marked the first 2 miles since we were on the road for that part, and I went through 1 mile in 5:55 and 2 miles in 12:05. I was in 13th place at 2 miles and the leaders were way up the road. I was already sweating a lot and felt like I didn't want to work any harder than that. After turning onto the dirt, I felt better and began what would be a very gradual progression up in place. I have to admit there were a ton of unfamiliar faces out there today; lots of good young runners coming to the sport, but I'll mention the ones I do know. The first person I passed once on the dirt was Mark Godale from Ohio. 12th place. I passed somebody else at around 6 miles and came through the first aid station (Highway 49) in 11th place. Over the next few miles I passed another runner, and then passed Phil Kochik, CO around mile 10. A few more runners were passed just before the ALT aid station, which I reached in 1:45 (15.4 miles). Roughly half way, but that was the easy half.

The loop that goes from ALT back to ALT is one of my favorite parts of the course, and I felt the best I ever felt going up the big hill before the aid station around mile 20 (Ball Bearing hill I think). I passed Eric Grossman on this one and actually was able to run a good part of it. I was now in 4th place, which was great but not where I wanted to end up. At the aid station, the said 3rd was 1 minute up. I started seeing 3rd on some of the winding section heading towards Goat hill and was right on his tail by the top of that hill (about 26 miles). My calves, quads, and forearms were cramping quite bad by now and I was out of electrolyte tabs. I had packed 12 thinking surely that was plenty by was out. At the aid station, I looked everywhere for some and luckily a spectator had a few which I took. The damage was done however and I was just hoping I could hold together. I decided to do a surge and try to get solidly into 3rd place and hope that would finish off the the unknown runner. I pushed hard for about a half mile and didn't want to look back, but on a switchback I caught a glance and he was hanging tough about 50 yards back and I knew it was over. On the next steep uphill he passed me and I said goodbye to the WS100! I hate giving up but have to admit that I did today. I sort of walked/jogged it in, trying to give some congratulations to the runners passing me. Grossman was very cool when he passed me and stopped to try to get me to take some of his salt pills but I just told him to keep trucking. I was wallowing in my own misery at that point! I was really psyched to see Scott Jaime pass me with about a half mile to go. He picked of another runner and got 6th. I did manage to sneak under 4:00 (had to hurry) for 11th and 2nd masters. The winner was Leor Pantilat and Olmstead was 2nd I believe. I didn't catch the 3rd place runner's name but whoever he was, he ran a tough race because I know he was hurting too when I caught him.

Lessons learned:

1. Salt pills are very light; take way more than you think you will need!

2. I spent a lot of time preparing for the uphills and felt really strong on them, but neglected the rocky downhills which I think really contributed to the leg cramping.

3. Running a bit slower at the start is a good idea! I felt way better than I ever have at 20 miles and it is always nice to be the hunter instead of the hunted.

3/15 EDIT - Saw the results posted so here you go for all the names I didn't know:

WTC Results

You Did What?

2009-03-11T13:21:00.007-06:00

With my first real race in over a year coming up in a few days, I thought it might be fun to recount some of the more stupid things done right before or during a race. All of these were either done by me or a friend. I'll leave names out however!

1. After training using orthotics for the previous several years, decided to not use them at the big race to save a few ounces. Result - wicked calf cramps because of the lower heel height. DNF.

2. Needed to lose weight before the season's big 100 miler, so started drinking out of streams in hopes of catching Giardia. Plan went perfectly, except didn't get the inevitable Giardia till the week of the race. Result - DNF.

3. Booked Airline flight for the wrong day. Result - Still got there, but way more money.

4. After being out of town for a week, forgot watch was still on Pacific Time. Missed the start by an hour. Result - Ran very hard trying to make up for it and ended up DNF.

5. A fever of over 100 at the start. Started anyway. Result - DNF.

6. Wore camelbak on outside of jacket during a long winter snow shoe race. Hose froze within 1 mile. Result - no liquid for 4 hours. Most unpleasant race ever.

7. At race start, removed sweat pants to find...no running shorts. Result - embarassment.

8. At first 50 miler, wore old racing flats to save weight. Result - see #1.

9. At race start, too cold to worry about sunscreen. Result - looked like a lobster at awards ceremony the next morning.

10. The night before the race, stayed at friends' house and ate pig that was cooked in a backyard pit and drank homemade beer. Result - Three "number 2" bathroom stops in the marathon. Lost by 1:20. Do the math!

11. ???? What's your best screw-up?

Good luck to everyone running WTC, Salida, Coyote 2 Moon, etc. this weekend.

- pauld

Feb Training Summary

2009-03-03T16:33:00.004-07:00

3/14 Edit: Out here in California the night before WTC and I just talked to Julie. I learned the complete story to the changing of the WTC course and now admit that it was the right thing to do! Apparently the race originally was the "new" course and the full 50K but at some point, a person marking the course mistakenly turned the course off the road earlier than he was supposed to, and that become the official course. So not only was Julie making the course the right length, but she was also staying with tradition by restoring the original.
The shortest month is over, and here are the final stats:

28 Runs = 37:15:00/273 miles
15 Walks = 8:07:00/31 miles
Total: 45:22:00/304 miles
Other Workouts = 7:15:00 (lifting and yoga)

Overall, a very good month with the exception of a strained Glute muscle the last week which curtailed my running and caused me to start my WTC taper earlier than planned. The mileage was about as much as I ever do (70mpw avg for month) and I also got several race-specific quality workouts in. As for WTC, I'm not ready to set any records, but should be able to at least qualify for WS by getting top 3. Speaking of records, whoever wins WTC will set a new "record" just because they decided to alter the course. I feel bad for both this year's winner and Uli, because Uli's record would have stood for a long, long time otherwise.

Blodgett Peak Run

2009-02-28T15:44:00.008-07:00

Blodgett Peak at 9423 feet is one of the taller peaks within the Rampart Range, which runs from just north of Pikes Peak up towards Denver. Blodgett is just northwest of Colorado Springs and we decided to climb it today as part of our weekly CRUD long run. This would normally be a slippier proposition this time of year, but we have had a very dry winter so far.

We started at the Woodmen trailhead in Colorado Springs and headed 2 miles north on the Santa Fe trail. At Ice Lake, we headed west and followed some Air Force Academy dirt roads towards the base of Blodgett.

It is hard to tell with no leaves, but this scrub is actually a version of Oak tree called Gambling Oak. It grows on open slopes that have lots of sun exposure.

The trail gains about 2500 feet in 2 miles, so it is quite steep in places.

At about 8800 feet, we finally get off the arid eastern slope into a more alpine environment.

Rick getting close to the top.

Tara on the top.

Rick pointing out where he took a dump on the way up.

CRUD Group Shot

We came across this very cool ice in a creek on the Stables trail. It reminds me of wood grain going all different directions.

After the top, we split up into two groups for the return trip. There is an old airplane crash nearby that some went to check out, while the others cruised down to the Falcon trail and then back to Woodmen. All in all a nice run interrupted with a beautiful hike up Blodgett.

Pacific Buffet

2009-02-25T13:26:00.003-07:00

My favorite kind of buffet is the all-you-can-eat variety, but this one is nice too. My first new piece in a good while so wanted to post a picture. This one just shipped out to its new home in Milwaukee.

Pacific Buffet - African Mahogany and Black Walnut

Hamstring Exercises

2009-02-22T15:53:00.007-07:00

I've had a long battle with hamstring tightness and pain (in my case, it is very high right at the attachment to my butt) and over the past few months have seen a lot of improvement using the following routine. It seems that half the runners I know these days are having hamstring problems, and a few of them have also had luck with these exercises; no guarantees that this will work for you but they certainly won't hurt and getting your legs stronger and working on balance is always a good thing.

It may hurt to do these at first, which is why I resisted for a long time, but in the end it is more important to strengthen your hamstrings even if the exercises do aggravate them a bit more in the short term. The key for me was doing exercises that load the muscle eccentrically (when the muscle is also being stretched) as this is the way the ham is used when running.

I don't do all these exercises every day, but try to do at least a few of them each day and more of them on the days I weightlift. The following photos and descriptions will hopefully be enough to get you started. Feel free to comment or email me with any questions about any of the exercises.

1. Walking Lunge. Walk slowly forward while lunging down on each leg. The further you put the forward leg in front you, the more you isolate the hamstring (rather than using your quads). The walking part is key - pick an area where you can take about 10 steps in one direction and then turn around and come back. The whole time you are walking, you should be low to the ground (don't stand up but rather drag yourself forward while maintaining the low position).

2. Romanian One Legged Deadlift. This one is also a great core balance exercise. Balance on one leg and hold a dumbbell in the same hand. Keeping just a slight bend in the knee, bend over letting the dumbbell get close to the ground before raising yourself back up. This works on balance and you'll feel the hamstring working.

3. Leg Curls. Use a machine that allows you to do one leg at a time. Use a light enough weight that enables you to slowly flex your hamstring, bringing the weight to your butt. Slowly lower it down and repeat 8 - 10 times for each leg.

4. Good Mornings (aka Straight Legged Deadlifts). Put a barbell on your back as if you were going to do squats. Keeping your legs straight and your lower back arched, slowly stretch down till your upper body is parallel to the ground. Slowly raise your upper body back up till you are standing straight again. This also hits your lower back so be careful if you have back issues.

5. Eccentric Hamstring exercise. Using a partner or by wedging your feet under something (note; dogs can be effective ballast), and while keeping your body in a straight plane from your knees on up, slowly lower yourself towards the floor. Use your hands to stop your descent. From the down position, you may have to push off to get started, but then use your hamstrings to pull your upper body back to the starting position.

6. Ball Pull. Lie on your back with one leg stretched out on top of the ball. Your butt should be off the ground and your other leg should be up as shown. Slowly pull the ball back and forth (towards your butt). At first, you might struggle with keeping your foot on top of the ball as your core tries to stabalize itself.

That's Just Cruel

2009-02-19T10:13:00.003-07:00

I got a friend request on Facebook yesterday from "Injinji Footwear." Does anyone else see a problem with this?

Scary Times

2009-02-12T16:28:00.004-07:00

On the 200th birthday of our dog's namesake (Darwin the Cattle Dog), I saw this poll - Yikes.

Gallup Poll - Do you believe in Evolution?

How can only 39% of Americans (in 2009!) believe in evolution? Like the title of the post; scary. If this poll was just Colorado Springs, I wouldn't be too surprised, but the whole US? Scary.

Mt. Herman Rd/Limbaugh Canyon Loop

2009-02-06T12:18:00.011-07:00

Mt. Herman

The weather here has been greatly lately, allowing for nice runs up higher that are usually much more snowpacked this time of year. This run started at our house in Palmer Lake and headed over to the base of Mt. Herman (about 2 miles away). It then essentially makes a big clockwise circle around the mountain.

Monument Rock

On the way, you get a nice view of Monument Rock.

Mt. Herman Rd starts as pavement in Monument, CO and soon turns to dirt. It then goes about 12 miles up till it intersects with Rampart Range Rd. There are just tons of smaller forest service roads and trails that branch off from it, making it a great place for running.

How Many Rules Did I see Broken Today?

That would be 2: lots of trash and an idiot shooting his gun right off the road into the woods (and towards Trail 715).

As you get off the dry, east face of Mt. Herman you start to get some great lush views.

View Up the Road

Trail signs don't seem to last long out here, but I did see two on this run (that is out of about 12 trail intersections I passed!). This point is at a little over 8500 feet, and then it is a nice gradual descent down Limbaugh Canyon through some very pretty meadows. A creek runs down the middle but right now all the crossings are nice and frozen.

Trail Interesection

The difference from the shady parts of the canyon to the arid east facing overlook was amazing. The temperature was also about 20 degrees cooler in the canyon than down in town.

Overlook of Palmer Lake

This is at the opening of the canyon towards the bottom. You are looking down into town. Our house is about 1/2 way from where I took the shot to the lake. The lake has a nice flat dirt path around it that is exactly 6 laps for 5 miles so I do some of my workouts down there.

From this point on the trail, you can either trespass and go straight back to town, or veer off to the right on a new trail that runs down the east face of Mt. Herman back to the base of the mountain near Monument Rock. Depending on the exact route you take, the loop is 12 - 16 miles.

Return to Racing

2009-02-01T10:30:00.004-07:00

January is in the books, and the training went much better than expected. For the month, I managed 37 hours of running (ran on all 31 days) and about 10 hours of walking for a total of 258 and 38 miles respectively. I also did about 15 hours of other activity (lifting and yoga). I have finally stumbled upon a leg routine that is keeping my hamstring issues in check, though I decided to not push things too much with any faster flat running last month.

February will hopefully see me start to do more structured training as I get ready for my first real race in over a year - the Way Too Cool 50K for which I'm incredbily psyched. Obviously it goes without saying that the only reason for me to run WTC is to get an entry into WS. So there you have it; I've decided to run WS again to get that monkey off my back (2 injury DNFs)!

I don't like anything about WS (the weather, the dust, the crazy entry fee, the hype) but the fact remains that it is the "big one" and I'd hate to miss out on what looks like the most competitive field ever. The previous 2 times I raced WTC I went out at an insane pace and led for much of both races before falling apart on the big hill at 26 miles and ending up way behind the winners (Dave one year and Phil the other) in 2nd and 3rd. This year it will be all about running smart; 3rd place is a win - but 4th would suck!

Summer in January

2009-01-31T16:53:00.009-07:00

The CRUD long run today was supposedly the last day of January but could just as easily have been an early summer day. We enjoyed low 40s at the start and upper 50s by the end of the run. Of course there was still snow in places, but that tends to happen at 9400 feet (the high point of today's run) even in summer.

Today's route started in Manitou Springs at approx 6300. From there we headed up Williams Canyon which is probably my favorite canyon around here (unfortunately it is "off limits" currently due to an ill advised shooting range that sometimes makes you feel like you are running through Detroit at night). Cave of the Winds is on one side of the canyon, and you can easily spot many smaller caves pretty much anywhere you look on the limestone cliffs.

The top of the canyon pops out on Rampart Range Road, and we then headed uphill for another 6 miles. From RRR, there are great views of Pikes Peak to the southwest and the Garden of the Gods to the east.

Even CRUD dogs are sporting their team colors.

After 6 miles of gradual uphill, we reached the Overlook (sorry, no photos; my hands were frozen up there). An initially crazy steep descent finally leads to a beautiful single track through meadows with more views of the Peak.

We then dropped down into Waldo Canyon, crossed Highway 24 and then headed back to Manitou via the Ute Pass Trail.

Still a bit of snow in the shady parts of Ute Pass.

Total distance on the run was about 19.5 miles, with 6800 feet of gain/loss. 3:20 total time running.

Thursday Hill Tempo Run

2009-01-29T13:34:00.012-07:00

For the last 8 years, on Thursday mornings from the end of October through March, you can find Team CRUD runners meeting at 0'dark:30 for our trek up North Cheyenne Canon. We do this run as a handicap run (which is fitting given the stupidity of most of us) which makes it a fun competition to see who gets to the top first. We then all run down together. For the first several years, the "winner" would then be handicaped more the following week by having to carry a football size purple wooden pineapple up the hill.

The run itself is 4.25 miles and averaqes 7.5 percent grade. It ends at the high point of High Drive, which is just under 8000 feet elevation. The conditions vary quite a bit of course, but most mornings finds at least some snow and ice. Incidentally, the first 3.1 miles of this run (the part on pavement) is also a classic road bike climb, and many of the best road bikers in the world have tackled it. Lance Armstrong has the 3rd best time I think (his coach lives near the top of the road).

Nitty Gritty Details:

The best part is seeing the sun rise over Colorado Springs:

The following photo shows the finish line at the top of High Drive. Behind me is Buckhorn Mt (just another few hundred feet to the top via a trail). There used to be a huge tree that marked our finish line but it blew down in a storm 2 years ago so we have a finish stump now:

It was 13 degrees this morning, which means shorts weather for some of us. The all-time CRUD record for this run is 31:22 by Dan Vega. His time has an asterisk, however, because he stopped to drop a deuce and stopped his watch while doing so. That is a rest break in my book. Next best (at least till Justin beats it) is my time of 32:31. After so many years of doing this run, I have a hard time getting motivated to go hard so my PR will probably stay the same. Today was a typical 38:something day.

I just bought a very small "running" camera which I carried today so expect more of these route write-ups over the next few weeks. Next up: Mt. Herman/Limbaugh Canyon.

25 Days

2009-01-22T13:58:00.011-07:00

Today marked my 25th day in a row of running. My all-time record, which occurred years ago, was 73 days; that one seemed to happen without much thinking till it was over. My previous next-best was 13 days which happened numerous times when I was training seriously in the late 90s, as I was taking every other Monday off. In recent years, I typically have been running between 4 and 6 days a week, with usually some other kind of workout on the "off" days. My Leadville and Vermont 100 wins came on 5 days/45 miles a week, and the Heartland win in 2007 was on 6 days/65 miles a week.

I didn't begin this streak on my own; Rick made a bet with me, but it has gotten me thinking about the pros and cons of streaks. I have never believed streaks were a good idea, and feel you need look no further than the fact that no high-level elite athletes maintain streaks of any length. Most in fact take several weeks completely off each year (what a concept; taking time off when you are not injured!). I always shudder when I read about somebody's crazy streak that necessitated running laps around an airport waiting area, or a 10 minute shuffle after some kind of minor surgery. Clearly in these cases the person is running for the streak's sake, rather than for any fitness or competitive goals.

I was debating this with Matt C on a recent run and he did have an interesting reason for his own streaks (he has gone several years at a time on different occasions). He said that he is afraid that if he misses a day, it will get easier and easier to miss more (and more) days. This may work for somebody who is so light and injury-free but for me, I always felt that I'd prefer to give my legs a break and get some other kind of cardiovascular workout a few times a week. I personally like to walk so that was often my "off day" workout. To balance my injury concerns during this streak, I have been taking at least one day each week to run very, very easy up a slight hill on the treadmill for 10 - 20 minutes. It turns out that this is basically the same as a nice walk so maybe I could keep up a streak and still remain healthy?

As for my own growing streak I so far see at least three advantages; first by running every day I always have at least one easy run in-between each quality workout. For example, because I have always run hard on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I often did those two days with no run in-between. And, secondly, similar to Matt's logic, I no longer have to think about which 2 days to take off each week! Finally, I am obviously getting in more miles a week than normal which I guess is good; we'll see....

The biggest issue I've had so far is spacing the runs out so they are as far apart as possible (ie, not putting off my Wed run till the evening when I have to start running at 5:45AM the following morning for the CRUD hill workout).

If things go as planned, this streak will end at 76 days; I have decided to race the Way Too Cool 50K on March 14, and I will definetly be taking off the day after the race, so if Rick makes it till March 15, I'll happily buy him dinner.

Any other streakers out there who care to comment on their thought process?

What's the deal with....

2009-01-14T13:38:00.005-07:00

big old American cars on snowy Forest Service Roads early in the morning? I was running (17 days in a row now; my 2nd longest streak ever) up a local forest road (Mt. Herman Rd) this morning and passed a mid 80's Oldsmobile with at least one missing hubcap idling at a pull-off. The guys in the car just watched me as I ran by. I am half expecting to hear about a body dump on the news later this week. On my way back down the road, it was gone.

Then later in my run, closer to home, I was passed by a Hummer with 45 day tags. Who is still buying vehicles like that? A truck is one thing (I have one and it is great for hauling lumber and furniture) but what good is a Hummer for most people? Are they afraid that Kansas is going to invade Colorado or something?

2 Minute Miles and Army Fat Camp

2009-01-12T07:27:00.002-07:00

Some real comedy gold here! I can't help but think of John Candy's character in Stripes who, when asked why he joined the Army, responded that a gym membership was too expensive and he wanted to be a lean, mean, fighting machine.

Check out the photo caption; they are hoping to be able to run a 2 minute mile soon. Me Too!

Caption Contest

2009-01-08T10:27:00.007-07:00

I'm a little late on this (happened last weekend at Vail) but I just had to post it anyway.

And yes, that is a half naked guy hanging out of a chair lift.

What's the funniest caption you can come up with? For example, "Ski Bum"

Streaking

2009-01-02T15:43:00.003-07:00

I'm not much for new year's resolutions or running streaks (I often joke that I start a new streak twice a week), but while running yesterday, Rick bet me a pizza and beer dinner that he would run more days in a row than me to start the new year. For the purposes of our bet, a run has to be at least 1 mile. I'm guessing, based on both our histories, that the dinner will happen sometime around the 3rd week of January.

2008 Sports Highlights

2008-12-29T09:50:00.013-07:00

Looking back on 2008, it seems to me to be one of the better years ever for a sports fan. While I obviously am more attuned to endurance sports like running, biking, and competitive eating, I can be found on my couch most weekends watching more mainstream sports as well. Below is my top 10 (with obvious US Bias) list...

1. Without a doubt, the Wimbledon Men's Singles final between Federer and Nadal was the greatest sports performance of the year. Even if you aren't a tennis player how could you not get sucked into that marathon match (4:48 match time). John McEnroe was actually at a loss for words near the end, which doesn't happen too often. He ended up hugging both players after the match. Tennis might be the perfect combination of endurance, strength, skill, and mental toughness.

2. Usain Bolt's demolition of the best sprinters in the world at the Olympics (100 and 200). Say what you will about his prancing and preening, but he made the best sprinters in the world look like they didn't belong on the same track. The 100 and 200 are probably the most competitive distances in all of track, and he's got 2 Golds and 2 WRs now. I've never seen anyone look so relaxed and smooth while running that fast.

3. Samuel Wanjiru's Olympic Gold and Oly record marathon of 2:06:32! While not the fastest marathon of the year, it certainly was the greatest marathon ever run considering the course, the weather, and it being a championship race with no rabbits. This was televised during the combined Incline Club/CRUD post Pikes Peak/Leadville party and the TV room was packed!

4. Phelps' 8 Golds. I know many people would rate this as the best story of the year, but 4th is as high as I can put it in 2008 due to the previous performances.

5. Tiger Wood's US Open play-off win. I'm sure many people, like me, were rooting for Rocco Mediate to pull off the upset win, but regardless it was about as exciting as golf gets. Then finding out that Tiger had the knee injury made it even more remarkable.

6. The Giants win at the Super Bowl over heavily favored New England. Eli might be only the 3rd best quarterback in his family, but that is still better than just about everyone else out there.

7. Stephanie Brown Trafton wins Gold in the Discus; first US women's gold in that event since 1932.

8. David Wiens wins his 6th straight LT100 Bike race, lowering his own CR in the process. It was an epic duel between Wiens and Lance Armstrong, with Wiens pedaling across the finish line with a flat tire. This one year after Wiens held off Floyd Landis at the same event. Thanks to Garry Wang for the photo below. For those of you who have run the LT 100, the photo shows both Lance and Dave riding up the powerlines on the way back to town!

9. Ok, I had to have at least one ultrarunning performance! Dave Mackey smashes the Course Record at the MiWok 100K for the UR performance of the year. I've run this course, along with about every other major trail runner of the last 10 years, which makes his CR all the more impressive in that his time is heads and shoulders faster than anyone elses.

10. In the 93rd annual 4th of July Hotdog eating contest, Joey Chestnut upsets six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi in a five-dog eat off after each finished regulation tied with 59 dogs.

New Training Log

2008-12-27T14:33:00.002-07:00

A few of the runners I coach are using the AttackPoint online training log system. Though it appears to be targeted at Orienteering, it works fine for running too and I decided to switch over to it this week rather than continue to post it here. I'll still post info on my races and any specific training sessions of interest here, but in general just use the link on the right to view my log at any time; I'll do my best to keep it up to date.

Christmas Morning Hike

2008-12-25T19:01:00.002-07:00

Judy, Darwin, and I joined some of the Team CRUDers for a great morning hike up Pikes Peak to Barr Camp to celebrate Christmas. It is about 6.5 miles up to Barr Camp, which is at 10,200 feet. The caretakers of Barr Camp, the Taylors, are both ultrarunners themselves and had some hot chocolate and fudge ready for us when we arrived. The lower few miles of the trail are very icy, but from No Name Creek on up to Barr Camp the trail was nice packed powder. It ended up being a nice sunny day, with highs in the 50s in Manitou Springs when we finished.

Healthy Hammy?

2008-12-21T12:35:00.004-07:00

Too soon to call it healed, but I'm feeling very optimistic (finally) about my 18 month long hamstring problem. After the JFK 50 last month, I was done with any running committments so I decided to take a different approach in dealing with the leg. I had been avoiding doing any leg lifting because it hurt but I figured that maybe the weakness of the leg was part of the problem. Starting on our trip to Florida for Thanksgiving, I began doing lower body lifting in addition to upper body lifting. To be sure the bad leg (left) is actually doing the work, everything I do is one-legged. I couldn't believe how weak the hamstring had gotten. I pretty much had to take all the weight off the leg curl machine to be able to curl it. So right now I can bench press over 200 pounds but can't leg curl 20! I decided to only do the same amount with the right leg so I don't get even more out of wack. Though it was hurting to do the lifting, it wasn't making it any worse afterwards, and within 2 weeks it was actually feeling better when I was running. I've increased the weight 300% in just 4 weeks, though it is still embarassingly weak but maybe I'm on the right track now. From the Jemez 50 (DNF) through JFK, I was only running one day a week but have now been able to up it to 4 days and it feels very good. The other CRUD runners are happy that I'm not grabbing my ass every couple strides as well.

As far as fitness, the Rock Canyon Half was a gauge of my starting point. With no training other than the 9:00 pace CRUD long runs, I can basically run 6:30 pace. But hopefully within a few more weeks I can get back to some level of fitness and think? about a spring race.

Mon 12/01 – Travel from Florida back to Colorado
Tue 12/02 – 32:00 easy on treadmill (TM).
Wed 12/03 – abs/dips/pushups
Thu 12/04 – Cheyenne Canon Hill Climb (4.2 miles @ 7.5% grade) – 38:15, 1:15:00 TTR
Fri 12/05 – Lift upper/lower/abs. Bike 20:00
Sat 12/06 – Rock Canyon Half Mar – 1:25:38 / 6:32 AVG pace.
Sun 12/07 –
Week – 3:15:00 / 26 miles

Mon 12/08 – Lift upper body/lower body/abs. Bike 10:00
Tue 12/09 –
Wed 12/10 – Run 20:00 easy TM. Lift upper body/abs
Thu 12/11 – Cheyenne Canon Hill Climb – 40:09, 1:15:00 TTR, Slick and Snowy
Fri 12/12 – Run 20:00 easy TM. Lift upper/lower body
Sat 12/13 – Run 2:00:00 Bear Creek area trails
Sun 12/14 – Stomp around in the snow for an hour looking for Yule Log.
Week – 4:05:00 / 30 miles

Mon 12/15 – Run 25:00 easy on TM. Lift upper/lower body/abs
Tue 12/16 – Run 25:00 easy on TM. Lift arms/abs
Wed 12/17 – Lift chest/shoulders/back/legs
Thu 12/18 – Cheyenne Canon Hill Climb – 39:05, 1:15:00 TTR, snowy and slick.
Fri 12/19 – Lift chest/back/legs/abs
Sat 12/20 – Run 1:55:00 SF trail/Stables/Falcon trail
Sun 12/21 –
Week – 4:10:00 / 31 miles

"Some will rob you with a six gun

2008-12-19T07:09:00.004-07:00

and some with a fountain pen." I was listening to the song featuring these lyrics the other day while running on the treadmill (yes it has been very cold here) and couldn't help but laugh; it was as if the song writer was looking into the future and reading some of today's newspaper headlines.

Today's quiz: Name the song writer and subject of the song.

Happy Birthday Jackson!

2008-12-17T12:12:00.005-07:00

Our chocolate lab Jackson turns 10 today. He was my main training partner for my first LT100, but these days he is content to hang around napping most of the time. I'll probably nap a lot more when I'm 70 too.

Palmer Lake's Annual Yule Log Hunt

2008-12-15T09:59:00.014-07:00

Yesterday our town of Palmer Lake held the 75th annual Yule Log hunt and ceremony. This celebration combines ancient traditions of the changing seasons and winter solstice with the more modern christian aspects of Christmas. Basically, the way it works is a freshly cut 12 foot pine log is taken out in the woods and hidden in the snow earlier in the week. All the participants meet at town hall and don red or green capes. Then, the Trail Leader and Log Cutter lead the participants across the stage in front of the fire place and outside while a bagpiper plays.

Everyone then tromps off through the snow till the leaders of the hunt stop and point out a more specific area to search. This year it was in the creek bottom area of Glen Park, very close to our house.
It was 2 degrees (yes, 2) and gently snowing but it actually made for a really nice afternoon and there was no wind so it wasn't bad at all.

Our friends Harsha and Scheri, and their children Miles and Ella joined us for the hunt.

After about 45 minutes of no luck, the Hunt Leaders narrowed down the search area further and a father and his 2 young daughters finally found the log. How hard can it be to find a 12 foot log with a red ribbon? Well a lot harder than I thought, especially when it turned out the log was in the creek. After pulling the log up out of the creek, we tied two long ropes to the log and then everyone got ready to pull the log back to town hall. All the kids got to take a turn riding the log as it was pulled in the snow back home.

Back at town hall, a small group of children led the audience in carols and then the the kindling log (the last part of last year's yule log) was brought in to start the fire.

Then, the first part of this year's log was brought in and put on the fire, which was supposed to burn till sundown.

Finally, the finders of the log were served the first cups of Wassail. The rest of us hunters then got to go up on stage to get our Wassail, which was nice and hot. Overall, a really neat event and a great reason to get out and play in the snow.

8 years and 13 minutes

2008-12-09T15:59:00.006-07:00

A bunch of us CRUDers headed down to Pueblo (aka Hell's Furnace) this past weekend for the Rock Canyon Half Marathon. It is over 1000 feet lower elevation down there and the course is almost flat so it is one of the faster half marathons around. My buddy Rick does it about every year but it had been 8 years since I last did it. And what a difference 8 years makes!

Rick said he was going to try to get under 1:30 so I took off with him hoping to keep up. We hit the first mile at 6:42 and then the 2nd mile in 13:12. At that point, Rick took off and I settled in at about 6:30 pace and just tried to hang on. The race starts in City Park and after 2 loops goes along a nice dirt bike path out to the Reservoir and back. Ended up with 13th place in 1:25:38. Back in 2000 I was a bit faster!

2000 Rock Canyon Half Results

2008 Rock Canyon Results

I came across this really cool article last week about the differences in running efficiency when stalking prey between cats and dogs.

Cats vs. Dogs running efficiency

A good line from the article:
"That's why we're the only animals that voluntarily run marathons." Doesn’t say anything about ultramarathons!

Big Race Weekend

2008-12-05T12:25:00.002-07:00

The North Face Challenge is getting a lot of press (as it should) with an amazing field assembled. However it isn't the only hotly contested race coming up this weekend; the Sunmart 50K in Texas should be a fast one. Good luck to by buddies Kelly Mortenson and Wynn Davis who will be battling it out. Look for a winning time around 3:10.

Fill'er up

2008-12-03T14:44:00.004-07:00

It seems ultras are filling up faster and faster these days, and now is the season for getting signed up for many of the popular 2009 races. Here are few dates I know, and feel free to chime in with others.....

Squaw Peak - filled
Moab 50K - open now
Jemez 50K/50M - open now
Collegiate Peaks - open now
Miwok 100K - Dec 1
Way Too Cool 50K - Dec 14
San Juan Solstice - Jan 15

JFK 50 Race Report

2008-11-28T09:27:00.005-07:00

3 years ago, I ran the JFK 50 on a team (Montrail Monsters) with Ian Torrence, Eric Clifton, and Mark Godale. We won with a team time of 19:51 that year. The first 3 score and that year it was Ian, myself, and Eric. This year we had a team with similar members (Ian, Eric, me, and Serge Arbana) but a better name (Boo Jum Snarks). I was in nowhere near the same shape as 2005 however (6:31 / 8th place) so was just hoping to not lose the race for us this time. I ran the Palo Duro 50 last month in 7:42 and figured I could probably run about the same time here so that was the goal. It was cold (19 degrees) at the start, and quickly got down even colder once we were up on the ridges of the Appalachian Trail. At the 16 mile mark, you come off the AT and then run on the C&O canal for the next 26 miles, which this year was into a nice cold wind. I started with Ian and we talked for the first half mile till the road starts going up, at which point I said bye and hoped I wouldn't see him again till the finish. Meanwhile, Eric was out front. He was shooting for the Age 50 record, which is a stiff 6:28.

I just focused on running a comfortable pace and came off the AT in 2:15 (compared to 2:01 the previous time). I just barely crossed the train tracks before a train came and then headed on down the canal. The miles are marked along the canal, which is great if you are running well but can be depressing if not. For the first 8 miles I ran right at 8:00 pace but the cold really got to me and by mile 34, I had to stop and get some warm soup to stop shivering. I think I just wasn't able to run fast enough to stay warm. At 38 I saw my crew and got more clothes on and immediately started feeling better. My sister's boyfriend Matt ran with me for the rest of the way which was nice; he is also hoping to run his first ultra next year so he got to see some of the carnage of the last 10 miles of a 50 miler. I ran the whole way from there on in and to finish feeling OK in 7:46 for 38th place. Eric was waiting for me at the line, having finished about 10 minutes earlier and told me Ian ran about 6:30. Serge had a cold and was suffering when I passed him on the AT (that is him behind me in the photo above) but did finish just in time for the awards.

JFK has a nice HS gym at the finish and I got a shower and then some pizza and enjoyed the chance to catch up with quite a few runners who I hadn't seen in awhile, such as Ian, Eric, and Dink Taylor.

Oh, the team race; we did win it again, though with a slower combined time than before of 21:59 but hey, today that was enough. Congratulations to all the many (1000!) runners who braved the cold this year at one of the country's classic races.

Quiz for beer: Without using Google, tell me where our team name comes from. Hint; it is from Literature.

Isn't it Ironic

2008-11-18T06:14:00.006-07:00

Really no commentary needed here - the articles will suffice. Maybe Focus shouldn't have spent that half million dollars in California supporting Prop 8.

Focus on the Family Puts Retailers on a Naughty and Nice List for Christmas

Focus on the Family Eliminates 202 Jobs right before the holiday season. I mean Christmas season.

Shop Tour

2008-11-11T08:03:00.022-07:00

I just moved from a 1000 SF commercial warehouse to a shop in my garage and basement. I now have a bit more space (1060 SF) but it is divided up into 2 areas. This has turned out to be beneficial as I can more easily move a project from the machine area in the garage, to the handtool area, to the finish area. The doors make sure the piece will fit in the cutomer's house when it is done! Lumber storage is the biggest issue and I will be building a lumber shed behind my house to address that concern.

Here's a list of my machines:

Robland NLX-31 Combination Machine (sliding table saw, shaper, 12" jointer, 12" planer, Horizontal slot cutter)
Steel City 26" Double Drum Sander
Rikon 18" Bandsaw
Powermatic Mortiser
Ridgid 12" Lunchbox Planer
Ryobi drill press
Ridgid Spindle Sander
Rykon Disk Sander
FESTOOL Domino
FESTOOL Random Orbital Sander
FESTOOL Circular Saw
FESTOOL Jigsaw
FESTOOL Router
FESTOOL Vacuum
Dewalt Compound Mitre Saw
Delta Dust Collector
Jet Dust Collector
Jet Air Filter
And now on to the tour....

This is the main machine area (formerly the garage).

This is my Robland Combination machine, which is where a lot of the rough work is done getting the wood flat and square.

Here's my handtool area.

Here's my workbench and a hanging cabinet with many of my handplanes.

This is my assembly table and my 2 helpers. In that back corner is where I keep all my FESTOOL machines. They are used here at the assembly table.

You can never have enough clamps.

Here's the finishing area. I use hand-rubbed oil and wax finishes so it doesn't have to be a "clean room" but keeping it away from the dust is still nice.

Templates are used whenever a part has a curve. This way I can be sure that all the parts that need to be are the same.

Our Friendly Neighborhood Bear

2008-11-09T15:59:00.002-07:00

This guy was filling up on berries and leaves in our yard the other night....

Tansu Media Cabinet

2008-11-07T15:17:00.003-07:00

I finished up a new (actually just a more elaborate version of one of my standard designs) piece today and got a quick photo before getting it shipped off to its new home. This one is Cherry and Bubinga, with a Maple border inlay on the top and carved Walnut pulls.

Red Becomes Blue

2008-11-01T13:57:00.006-06:00

3 days to go, and it looks like my adopted state, Colorado, will finally be carried by a Democratic Presidential candidate this year. To top it off, we may have 2 Dem Senators to go with our Democratic Governor. In my informal highway poll, I never recall seeing as many Gore or Kerry stickers during the last 2 cycles as Obama stickers this year. And we're not just talking about old hippy mobiles like my 72 Bug - I mean real patriotic American made cars have even been spotted in El Paso County with Obama stickers!

Personally, Judy and I have always been extremely interested and informed politically, but this is the first time we've actually donated money and volunteered, and many others we know say the same thing. I guess the last 8 years has really shown us it is time to step up and do something. Despite the right wing's ridiculous attempts to paint Obama as something other than a true American, he in fact is the epitomy of the American dream; somebody who started with nothing and through education and effort rose to success. Unlike the son of an Admiral who finished 894 out of 899 at the Naval Academy!

I've been particularly dismayed by the right wing attempts to smear Obama in the eyes of the many Low Information Voters who the Right counts on to vote Republican. As for calling him a Muslim, I was so happy to finally see somebody, and Colin Powell no less, go on the record with "and so what if he were?". That is the whole idea of separation of Church and State afterall.

The latest label of Socialist is also worth mentioning, if for no other reason than the irony of it coming from Sarah Palin and John McCain. Palin is the governor of a welfare state which has long received far more federal spending than federal taxes paid (in fact 8 out of the top 10 such states are reliable Republican states; only DC and New Mexico on that list being Democratic leaning). If Palin's husband had his way, and Alaska left the US, exactly how would they pay for their own needs? Meanwhile, McCain just voted for one of the largest ever transfers of wealth, which also happened to be laden with the Pork both McCain and Palin claim to disdain so much.

You know things are getting dire for the Right when our own local hate group, Focus on the Family, releases a "letter from 2012" that paints a post-apocalyptic picture in which, among other things, three justices resign from the Supreme Court, leading to far-left ACLU-oriented judges taking their place on the bench and mandating nationwide gay marriage. The Boy Scouts and Christian schools disperse rather than be forced to admit homosexual scout leaders and refrain from speaking against homosexuality, respectively. The Fairness Doctrine returns, signaling the end of conservative talk radio. Obama nationalizes healthcare, allows rampant pornography, restricts homeschooling, and systematically prosecutes Bush administration officials. The letter goes on to say, “President Obama has been reluctant to send our armed forces into any overseas commitment.”

I for one do want a President who is reluctant to use force. We've had 8 years of the trigger happy "cowboy in chief" so maybe it's time to let an adult have a turn at the wheel.

Regardless of how any of you plan to vote, please do vote if you haven't already.

Adventures in Technical Documentation

2008-10-30T17:53:00.004-06:00

Having been a technical writer for many years, I am always on the lookout for anything that is worse than the stuff I used to churn out. Well, I really hit the jackpot this week. I am in the process of moving my shop and needed to get some additional dust collection equipment. I bought a floor attachment that allows you to collect dust from a machine that lacks a dust port. Anyway, it was a some assembly required thing. Luckily, the photo on the cover of the Instructions was all I needed, because here are some of the steps I was supposed to follow (verbatim):

1. With the rest foot upside down and install the four pad foot pedal 1/4" x 1/2" L screws tighten all fasteners securely.

2. The lever dead cross and lever governor and rest foot to the assembly using one 3/8" screw, washer 3/8" tighten all.

3. The lever dead cross and lever governor to assembly using fixing boly 5/16" fasteners make use lever governor context adjust as shown in figure 3.

4.The fixed support all fasteners using to the two 1/4" L concave head screw fixed in figure 4.

5. The tube vacuum attachment and fixed support assembly the one fixing bolt 3/8" fixed.

6. Tube vacuum attachment and collector nozzle to the assembly using one 1/4" L triangle screw all fasteners.

Well, at least the spelling was impeccable.

Palo Duro 50 Mile Race Report

2008-10-29T06:31:00.001-06:00

Palo Duro Canyon, TX
Oct 18, 2008

My local running group, called CRUD (Coloradans Running Ultra Distances) tries to pick one event per year that is out of town for a road trip. This year we decided to go down to Palo Duro Canyon, which is about 30 miles south of Amarillo, for the Palo Duro 50KM/50M event. While I had never run it, several CRUDers had run it over the years, including 2 of our members who are former 50M winners. Both those guys, Ted Bidwell and Rick Hessek, along with about 6 other runners, a volunteer, and numerous family and friends headed down for the weekend. As an added bonus, one of our runners now living in Texas was meeting us for the race and was celebrating his 40th birthday.

The canyon is quite impressive, particularly considering the drab flatlands you drive through in the panhandle of west Texas to get there. The canyon is a state park and most of us camped and enjoyed a very nice weekend of eating and drinking, interrupted by a 50 mile jaunt through the canyon. The longtime RD of the race, Red Spicer, died earlier this year but many of the same volunteers who had been involved over the past 20 years kept the race going and dedicated the event to Red. For the 50 Miler, the course consists of 4 x 12.5 mile loops which are gently rolling and all on single track.

We started in the dark, which lasted for about the first 30 minutes, but enjoyed a great sunrise shining on the red cliffs of the canyon. I had only run about 10 times since the Leadville 100 where I paced Rick Hessek to a sub 20 hour finish, so was just going to try to keep up with him as long as possible. He won the race 3 years ago so knew the course well. In the dark, I lost him and got just a bit ahead of him where I settled in with the leaders of the race. There were several guys and it seemed like they all were fairly young and new to ultras, which is always nice to see. There is a short out and back at 6 miles and Rick was just 30 seconds back so I knew he’d catch up before too long. At the end of the first lap, I was with the 2 leaders and we came through in 1:46. I was shooting for sub 8:00 so that was a bit faster than I should have run, but I still felt very comfortable. On the 2nd lap, things started heating up a bit and I let the 2 guys go ahead. I finished the 2nd lap in the exact same 1:46 so now had a big cushion on 8 hours. Which was good because the grim reality of running 50 miles when not in shape was catching up with me! I took a few walking breaks on this lap, and Rick caught up and passed me at 32 miles. I also passed one of the early leaders so was still in 3rd place, and then right before the end of the lap was passed by Scott Eppelman to put me in 4th. I did the 3rd lap in 2:01 so I knew I’d break 8:00 but it was not a fun 4th lap. I was expecting to be caught by more people but stayed in 4th the whole way to finish in 7:42. Scott was about 5 minutes ahead of me for 3rd, Rick was 2nd in 7:32, and the winner ran about 7:25 but I didn’t catch his name. I believe it was his first ultra so he did a great job obviously.

All the CRUD runners finished, including 3 first time ultra runners so it was a great weekend all-around. The low-key, friendly atmosphere of the Texas ultrarunners who hosted the race makes it one I’ll be back for again.

Good Ole English Spelling

2008-09-03T19:35:00.004-06:00

I guess when you consider how popular spelling bees are in this country, it isn't too surprising that English is an extremely difficult language to spell and has tons of contradictory spelling and pronunciation rules. If it was easy, there would be no need for spelling bees. While it makes sense that languages such as Chinese and Japanese, with their huge character sets, take longer to learn, I recently read that English takes the average native speaker twice as long to learn as other European languages with the same alphabet. Part of the reason is the mishmash of origins of English, from Latin to Germanic languages. Of course spelling everything phonetically would make words easer to spell, but harder to discern meaning since the various etymological clues we're used to looking for would be gone.

Now time for a quiz: What common 3 syllable food could, using spelling from other English words, be written as "ghoughpteighbteau." Bonus points for also showing which words each part could come from.

What a Week

2008-09-01T10:00:00.003-06:00

I had been wondering what Shelly from Northern Exposure had been up to the last decade, so what a surprise to see she is now a Vice Presidential candidate. I knew winning Miss Northwest Passage was the beginning of great things for her. Let me be the first to predict that the Mayor of Palmer Lake (population 2000) will soon be appointed Secretary of State.

I got back into the swing of things this week with my running and tested the hamstring out with a mild tempo run. One of my main training beliefs is that you should do some form of speedwork and hill work at all times in your training cycle, rather than waiting till you are in shape. The main difference being that it isn't at the same intensity when you are out of shape or just coming back from an injury.

We had a nice weekend which included going up to Breckenridge where Judy and Jill (Rick's wife) ran the Breck Crest Half marathon. Breck is at 9600 feet, and the race went up to 12,500 feet so it isn't exactly a PR course! There was great weather this year, unlike 2004 when Rick, Judy, and I ran in a full-blown blizzard and all dropped out. Jill ran about 3:00 and Judy was close behind in 3:04, while Rick and I did some hiking/running on the trails. We also saw several other ultrarunners who were doing one of the races. Bob Sweeney just moved to Colorado and was trying out his first high altitude race. Bob Africa won the marathon and Darcy Africa, who is expecting a child, ran the 5 mile event.

Week Log:
8/25 mon. 30:00 on TreadMill, 7:00 pace.
8/26 tue. 1:08:00 Greenland Loop from work. 7:20 pace.
8/27 wed. 45:00 Reservoir trail with Darwin. Hilly/slow.
8/28 thu. 35:00, incl. 2.5 mile tempo run @ 6:20 pace, Palmer Lake
8/29 fri. Hike 1:15:00 with Judy
8/30 sat. 2:25:00 long run with CRUD. Rampart Range Rd to Williams Canyon to Waldo Canyon to Ute Indian Trail.
8/31 sun. Hike 1:00:00. Run 35:00 slow/hilly in Breckenridge.
Week – 6:00:00 / 42 miles

New Season

2008-08-25T13:47:00.003-06:00

For us CRUDers, the LT100/Pikes Peak weekend is sort of the end of the season. We officially start the next season when the time changes in the fall, but in the meantime many of us are still running and getting ready for the Palo Duro races (by the way, I was very sad to learn this past weekend that the RD of Palo Duro, Red Spicer, had died). I seemed to bounce back pretty quick from the beating Rick gave me last weekend at Leadville, so I am looking forward to finishing a race or two this fall.

While I still hope to have a few more good races in me, my focus is shifting some these days. More of my running time is now directed towards the runners I'm coaching. In a similar way to the satisfaction and joy of seeing Rick do so well at Leadville last week, getting other runners ready for a goal race, or maybe even their first ultra, is a really good feeling. Plus, while watching the Olympics I noticed that a lot of coaches are fat (not Notre Dame Football coach fat of course, but just normal fat), so I figure I have that to look forward to!

Log 8/18 - 8/24:
Mon - Wed: Rest and some dog walks
Thu - Ran 30:00 around town, easy
Fri - Ran 46:00 through Forest View and Red Rock Ranch, moderate
Sat - Ran 1:30:00 on Santa Fe Trail and Air Force Academy roads/Stable trail, easy
Sun - Ran 45:00 around town, easy
Week Total: 3:30:00 / 25 miles

I'm dizzy and my Head Hurts

2008-08-21T16:27:00.003-06:00

Our dog Jackson right after having surgery to remove a small tumor on his noggin.

Leadville 100

2008-08-19T10:39:00.005-06:00

It was a wild weather weekend in Leadville for the LT100. No sunburn this year, that's for sure. Judy and I have been up there for the race every year since 2001 now, with at least one of us running. This year was different as we both crewed Rick Hessek, and Judy also volunteered the night shift at Mayqueen (86 miles). I paced Rick for 41 miles of the final 50 (resting for the Tree Line to Fish Hatchery and Mayqueen to Tabor legs). Rick ran an unbelievable time of 19:18, which is over an hour PR for him. He finished 4th overall, and really for most of the race the top 5 guys were within 20 minutes of each other, making for an exciting day. The top 3 ahead of Rick really ran smart, well-paced races, as did Rick. Duncan Callahan (sp?) won in about 18:02 which is a solid time.

For the 20 hour finishers, the weather wasn't too bad, but we really felt for those who were out there all night as it was a cold rain nonstop most of the night. Rick and I got hailed on and rained on some, but overall it wasn't too bad the last 50 miles. The worst section for him was the Fish Hatchery to Colorado Trail section outbound where it was very rainy and windy. I think a lot of people got cold on that one.

CRUD had a rough year at LT, with more DNFs than usual but congratulations to all who ran, crewed, paced, and volunteered this weekend. Scott Jaime, a CRUD North runner as well as fellow Pearl Izumi/Smith Optics team member, hung on for 5th place after previously finishing 2nd at HardRock earlier in the summer.

Back in Colorado Springs, a few other CRUDers also battled the elements at the Pikes Peak Ascent. I think all of our runners were able to finish, but many people were turned back at the A-Frame (approx 10 miles into the race) due to deteriorating conditions above tree-line.

07/21 - 07/27 Log

2008-07-28T11:12:00.002-06:00

This week I finally started running again (had sort of started about 3 weeks ago but fizzled out after the hamstring got bad right away again). I'm now going to Brian Surage at InMotion and getting some treatment. He seems to think, and I now agree, that my problem is really a lower back issue and so he is really whaling on my back. I'm quite sore but I now think the feeling in my hamstring is more of a weakness than a pull/strain. I also have several core and hamstring exercises I'm doing at home.

Tue 07/22 - 24:00 around neighborhood/town
Thu 07/24 - 41:00 Manitou Springs/Garden of Gods
Sat 07/26 - 55:00 home to Greenland Open Space and back
Week - 2:00:00 / 15 miles

Guest Blogger - Judy

2008-07-23T09:19:00.002-06:00

I asked Paul if I could be a guest blogger on his site so I could update and thank the many of you who have provided such support to me and Paul this year. As you may know, the first few months of 2008 presented some challenges that neither Paul nor I have had to face before. I was diagnosed with cervical cancer in Feb. after having some mild symptoms that my doctors to that point thought were pre-menopausal symptoms and nothing to worry about.

I ended up having an abdominal hysterectomy on Feb. 18. A biopsy they did then showed cervical cancer. I was referred to Dr. Kevin Davis, a gynecologic oncologist, in Denver. The somewhat good news was that it was in an early stage. The bad news was that I should have had a radical hysterectomy, and the treatment was to go back for a second surgery 6 weeks later and do what should have been done in that first surgery. As Dr. Davis described what the surgery entailed (and I tried to keep from hyperventilating) he said, it's a hard surgery for patient and doctor. For the patient, he said, it's kind of like asking someone who just finished a marathon to run another marathon. Paul and I looked at each other across the table and I thought, “That, I can do!”

On April 1st I had the second surgery. All went well and all the tissues and nodes they took out came back with no sign of cancer. The doctor was right, it was tougher on me than the first surgery, but my recovery was steady.

I missed two weeks of work following the first surgery. I took 6 weeks to recover following the second. I've been back at work since mid-May. Walking/hiking has been a tremendously restorative and healing activity for me. Following both surgeries I started walking very soon. By week 4 after the second surgery I was walking at least 2 hours a day. I've run some, and even did the Leadville Heavy Half Marathon on July 5. Being out on the trails with others who enjoy high mountains and fresh air was wonderful and emotional.

I'll tell you something you probably all already know. The Ultra Running community is an incredible, supportive, caring group of people. I’ve been humbled by the contact you’ve made with us and all the offers to help however you can. We've received emails, cards, and gifts from so many of you across the country. Many of you we've met, others know of Paul from his blog. Your energy and words of support, prayers, thoughts, witch doctor incantations :) etc. were with me every day. Truly. You've all been a tremendous source of strength for me. I hope I can return the favor someday.

Since getting involved with ultras in the early 2000s, I've thought that each ultra is somewhat of a metaphor for life. Experiencing highs and lows, hoping for a lot of solid, steady moments, gaining strength, and learning something about yourself in each race. That’s also what the first 5 months of this year were like for us. Through it all, Paul’s been my steady companion and immutable optimist.

As Ken Chlouber says before every Leadville 100, "You're tougher than you think you are, you can do more than you think you can." I repeated that to myself many many times during this ordeal. I know the mental and physical strength I've gained from participating in ultras have been important elements in my healing.

You've probably all heard someone say that getting cancer was the best thing that ever happened to them. I'm not certain I'm ready to say that, however, I will say that more good than bad has come from it. My perspective on everything has changed. I know that seems like such a cliche, but it's simply so true.

I wish for all of you good health, daily joy, and strength in adversity.
Judy

40!

2008-07-20T21:03:00.001-06:00

I’ve been really tardy in keeping this blog up-to-date lately, but am going to strive to do better. You haven’t missed much running-wise as I’ve been really out of commission with a minor foot surgery (all better now) and the lingering hamstring injury (finally getting physical therapy which seems to be helping). In the past month, I’ve mostly been walking, lifting, and going for a few bike rides. So, here, in no particular order, is a brief run-down on what’s been going on around here the last month or so:

Turned 40 yesterday and we had a nice little party at our house with the CRUD folks and other friends. So my next race will be officially as a masters runner, though I hope to still have a few open wins in me.

Did another ultra-marathon truck drive to California to deliver a bedroom suite. While out there, I was able to tour the Gamble House in Pasadena and also do a walking tour of numerous other Greene-and-Greene houses and a Pre-Columbian Frank Lloyd Wright house (currently on the market for 7.5 million; who knew a house built out of cinderblocks would be so expensive!).

Judy is officially cancer-free and back to work and running. She did the Leadville Heavy Half a few weeks ago as sort of her come-back event and we both really enjoyed seeing many of our running friends up there in one of our favorite places in the world.

Rick discovered a dead guy hanging from a tree on an early morning walk with his dog. Yikes.

I’ll be running JFK on a team with Eric Clifton and Ian Torrence this Nov. BTW, if you want to run this year, better sign up soon. I hear it is almost full.

Fellow Team Smith/Pearl Izumi athlete Scott Jaime nipped at Kyle Skaggs’ heals all the way to the finish line at Hardrock. Congrats also to CRUD dude JT for his first Hardrock finish, and Neal Taylor for his 3rd finish.

I’m getting ready for a Fine Furnishings Show in Milwaukee this Sep. I’m also going to be showing some furniture in a Parade of Homes house at Copper Mountain in Sep.

I’m trying to learn Spanish. I don’t seem to have much of a knack for foreign languages but I’m trying. For my college degree (Literature and Languages) I had to demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language (German was my choice) but that was really stretching the definition of “proficiency.”

Jemez Wrap-up

2008-05-19T10:22:00.006-06:00

Ouch. Things didn't go as planned for me but had a nice weekend in northern New Mexico nonetheless. Las Alamos is a great high desert town and is surrounded by mountains, though most of them were burned several years ago. My parents and I found a great place right near the start/finish to camp for the weekend and enjoyed great weather. And most importantly, I got my Santa Clara pot! See below for more on that.

First and most importantly, congratulations to Kyle Skaggs who is just an amazing runner; he ran basically the same time as he did last year but on a much harder (and longer) course. I think between him and Anton, they should pretty much re-write all the ultra records in the next few years if they can stay motivated and healthy. Complete results here. Having run Zane
Grey and San Juan, the Jemez course (as it was this weekend) is probably the harder of the 3, with San Juan a close 2nd and Zane Grey at least 20-30 minutes easier for the leaders. Of course that could differ for folks not from altitude, since San Juan's main challenge is the time spent so high.

So on the plus side, I enjoyed running with Kyle (briefly) in the morning and with Karl during the middle of the race. Karl is in very good shape as he his getting ready to tackle the AT starting in early August. Sounds like he has all the logistics dialed in but the thought of getting up every day for 45+ miles of rocky steep trail makes me want to take a nap.

By the way, if anybody is looking for any last minute gift ideas for my birthday, I could use a new hamstring. I think it will be fine (meaning back to where it was before the race at least) in a few days, and hopefully if I can stick to actual trail running and normal hill grades I can keep it that way. The Jemez course was beautiful, but def. a bit rough for me, even were I not nursing this bum hamstring. There were a couple of places were I just laughed when I saw what we were about to run through/over/across/down. The course was marked extremely well and with the remote nature of parts of it, the volunteers had quite a job of getting the markings up and the water hauled in.

I dropped at 32 miles, which not coincidentally was right before the steepest of the 3 mountains the course ascends/descends. Back to the pots; an artist from the Santa Clara Pueblo which is right in between Espaniola and Las Alamos made some nice small blackware pots for all finishers of the 50K and 50 Miler, and I really like that style of pottery. We own a nice larger pot from the San Ildefonso Pueblo, which is also right outside of town. They announced before the race that all starters would get one, but I felt that I should at least finish 50K to earn mine.

Random Thoughts:

The Los Alamos High School nickname is the "Hilltoppers." Come on, they live in "Nuke City USA" and that is the best they could come up with. Here's some suggestions:

1. The WMDs
2. Radioactive Waste
3. The Nukes
4. The Atomic Avengers

Jemez 50 Miler this weekend

2008-05-14T21:19:00.003-06:00

It has been quite a while since I raced (12/31/07 ATY) so I'm pretty excited about getting back into action this coming weekend down in Los Alamos. I would be hard pressed to predict a time; for one thing it seems that the course changes each year but I always like to throw a time out there so how about 8:50. That would be a bit faster than I ran San Juan (9:08) a few years ago but my San Juan race was more of a training run effort. From what I've heard the two races are similar in difficulty.

I figure Kyle Skaggs will run about 8:20 and I'd be pretty happy to be within half an hour of him. Nate and Karl are the two other big dogs in the race so it should be a really fun weekend. Two other CRUDers are heading down; Rick H and Harry H so we'll be going for CRUD bragging rights. Rick won the race the first year it was held. My parents are camping and hiking in New Mexico right now and will be meeting me at the race.

It Must Be Spring

2008-05-13T07:44:00.002-06:00

Woke up yesterday morning to a huge pile of Bear Crap in the driveway. Woke up this morning and it is snowing. Must be spring here at 7200 feet.

Question: Why did the bear crap in the driveway?
Answer: Because he can.

Playing Catchup

2008-05-09T11:20:00.011-06:00

Looks like I've been a bit delinquent with my training log, so here are the last two weeks as well as a few things on my mind lately. First, I watched the Kentucky Derby this past weekend and was sickened by the sight of Eight Belles collapsing with broken ankles at the finish. Does this really qualify as a "sport?" After reading the views of the two sides in the newspapers this week (PETA types on one side, horse racing insiders on the other) I was most struck by the following statistic; 2.4 horses die per 1000 starts, which the horse racing people used to justify the relative safety of the sport. Humm, can you imagine 2.4 runner deaths per 1000 starts in trail or road racing? Math isn't my strength, but I think that would mean 30 - 40 runners dropping each year at big city races like Chicago, NY, and Boston marathons. Of course if that were the case, at least each runner was making up his/her own mind about the risks before signing up, which can't be said for the horses. Another interesting fact was that each of the 20 horses in the Derby were all descendants of the same 1950's horse. Kind of makes you wonder about trail racing in 2050; will all the top contenders be descendants of Scott Jurek! Better get started Scott.

Ice Caves

You'll see in my log reference to the ice caves. These are some neat caves (dry in summer, ice in winter/spring) in the Ice Cave creek drainage about a mile from my house. They are just a few hundred yards off one of my running routes but I had never veered off to check them out so Rick, Jill, and Abby the dog joined Judy, Darwin the dog, and myself for some exploring. After hiking up there, Judy, Jill, and Abby sat in the sun while Rick, Darwin and I rooted around. Pretty cool stuff. As soon as we got down into the drainage near the caves, the temperature dropped about 20 degrees. Next year we'll go in earlier in the spring and they should be more fully coated with ice.

Off the Beaten Path

While Barr trail is great, it gets very crowded and there are plenty of other great trails on Pikes Peak. For our last CRUD long run, we started up Barr Trail and then took what is known as the Water Pipe trail, which heads towards Cabin Creek. There is a pipe and supporting structure there crossing the ravine (no trespassing allowed of course) which you cross to continue on the other side. You then get to the Cog railway (no trespassing allowed) where you head uphill. We only ran on the cog for a few miles till we got to Mountain View, where there is a 1.5 mile trail that heads over to Barr Camp at 10,200 feet. Just a little bit of snow here and it is melting fast. We then headed down the Barr trail and zipped over on another trail back to the Cabin Creek area and reversed our trip. While I'm not suggesting you take this exact route, there are plenty of other trails all over Pikes Peak you should consider exploring.

In the spirit of our "no trespassing" run, here's a little music quiz. One free beer to winner (must come to Manitou on a Thur evening to collect). Name the song and artist of the following:

The little country store
with a sign tagged to the side
Said, "No L-O-I-T-E-R-I-N-G, A, allowed"
Underneath that sign always congregated
quite A crowd
Take a bottle, drink it down
pass it, hey, pass it all around

Mon 04/21 – walk 45:00
Tue 04/22 – walk 45:00
Wed 04/23 – walk 45:00
Thu 04/24 – 1:30:00 including mod tempo run up to No Name Creek (38:00)
Fri 04/25 – 30:00 easy on roads with Darwin
Sat 04/26 – 3:36:00 Gold Camp/Old Stage/Frosty Park/Pipeline tr
Sun 04/27 – walk 1:15:00
Week – 5:36:00 / 40 miles

Mon 04/28 – run 35:00 hard/hilly on roads
Tue 04/29 – run 47:00 up by res and back
Wed 04/30 – run 1:18:00 up past res and back
Thu 05/01 – run 1:40:00 including tempo run to No Name Creek (34:37) and then easy to 7.8 sign
Fri 05/02 – walk
Sat 05/03 – 2:45:00. Barr trail/Water Pipe/Cog/Mountain View/Barr Camp/7.8/Water Pipe/Barr Tr
Sun 05/04 – hike 2:00:00 by ice caves
Week – 7:05:00 / 52 miles

Summer

2008-05-01T05:57:00.003-06:00

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.

Required Volunteerism?

2008-04-25T06:46:00.004-06:00

Ok, just a short rant today. I just found out that another of the races I was considering this year requires volunteerism as part of the entry process. I know, volunteers are the life-blood of many ultras but does requiring entrants to volunteer really help with this? Or does it just make more red-tape for the RDs who must find something (preferably 6 hours exactly!) for the volunteer to do. And I should say (because I really am a good person!) that I am currently doing volunteer work at a local state park trail system near me but there is no way I would go in and ask them to fill out a form for me so I can run some race. I want to help out with the trails; I'm not doing it so I can enter a race.

The two biggest offenders of this policy in my opinion are:

WS100, which is a for-profit operation and has the highest race entry fee of any 100 mile race. Of course they want free labor; it helps with the bottom line! I think I might start requiring my customers to no only pay for their furniture, but come to my (or another furniture shop) and do 6 hours of hand sanding.

Tahoe Rim 100. This is supposedly the "National Championship" of trail 100s this year, and they want 12 hours in addition to your entry fee for the privilege of racing for the title. Can you think of any other sport that would do this at their National Championship?

Bloody Shin Run

2008-04-22T15:19:00.009-06:00

On Sunday Rick H, Dan V, and I headed out from my house to try the Palmer Lake Res/Balanced Rock Road/Rampart Range Rd/Winding Staircase Rd loop. Since moving to Palmer Lake, this has become one of my favorite loops, but it is def. a summer/fall loop with tons of snow in the winter and early spring. We tried it a few weeks ago and turned back after about 4 miles of post-holing. It is 22 miles total, and tops out at 9200 feet (starting at 7200 feet at my house).

There was no snow at all till we go up to the reservoirs at about 7600 feet. Starting here, there were snowbanks extending across the trail every so often for most of the remainder of the loop. Dan was the smart one, as he was wearing tall socks but Rick and I really beat up our shins each time we sunk down into the snow. As we got higher, we were treated to some great views of the snow covered Pikes Peak (South of us) and Mt. Evans (North of us). Probably in a few more weeks this run will be completely clear.

I am feeling pretty good after an easy 3 weeks and am now signed up to run the Jemez Mountain 50 Miler with Rick on May 17.

Also, after the last 2 years being un-sponsored, I'm very happy to be running for Smith Optics/Pearl Izumi as of this week. I'll write up a review of the various shoes as soon as I get them.

Last 3 weeks of training log:

Thu 04/03 – 1:00:00 Including 3.2 mile tempo run up Rampart Range Rd in snowstorm (24:30)
Sat 04/05 – 3:00:00 Greenland Open Space/Spruce Meadows/Spruce Mountain and back.
Week – 4:00:00 / 30 miles

Mon 04/07 – 35:00 around neighborhood
Sat 04/12 – 2:40:00 hilly w/Rick. Crystal Park Road/Palmer Trail/Section 16/Intemman trail/Red Rocks back to Manitou
Week – 3:15:00 / 25 miles

Fri 04/18 – 30:00 easy on roads with Darwin
Sat 04/19 – 23 miles / 3:19:00 SF Trail/Stables/Falcon Loop. Warm.
Sun 04/20 – 22 miles Palmer Lake/Rampart Range Rd loop 3:18 still snowy in places.
Week – 7:10:00 / 49 miles

This and That

2008-04-19T17:12:00.004-06:00

It's been a wild week here in Palmer Lake; upper 60s early in the week, then 6 inches of snow, then upper 60s again. Today was a gorgeous day for the local ultra (Greenland 50K). A few Team CRUDers ran the event, while the rest of us ran the great Sante Fe/Ice Lake/Falcon Loop run (23 miles), which circles the Air Force Academy on a nice rolling single track trail.

Speaking of Team CRUD, check out our new socks!

The socks are just the latest step in our plan for total world domination. Better join us before it is too late.

For tomorrow's run, we'll be checking out the snow levels up at 9000 feet as we head from my house in Palmer Lake up Balanced Rock road to Rampart Range rd, then back down Winding Stairs road (22 miles). All 3 of the aforementioned roads are rough Forest Service roads with little traffic. The black bears are just coming out so hopefully we'll see one tomorrow.

In furniture news, I just completed a new design this week; this is the 4th piece in my Shaker collection and is made out of Cherry, Birdseye Maple, and Aromatic Cedar.

McNotRun 100

2008-04-13T07:11:00.003-06:00

Well, I never made it out of Colorado for this weekend's race in Pekin, IL. I was very sorry to have to miss the race, but Judy's surgery recovery wasn't going as good as hoped so I decided it would be lame to leave her alone for 4 days. I did enjoy following the web updates for the McNaughton and Mad City races yesterday. Congratulations to everyone who completed those events.

It has been snowing here in Palmer Lake for most of the last several days. I tapered even more than usual this time (didn't decide not to go till the last minute) and it was interesting how I felt yesterday morning when I did the CRUD long run; terrible! I often feel a bit sluggish for the first few hours of my 100s and I wonder if I might be tapering too much. I have always thought it was the travelling and strange food, but this was a good experiment to rule out some of those other factors. Of course any running you do the last 2 weeks isn't helping your fitness, but doing at least some running each day is probably good to keep everything loose.

What next? I am in pretty good shape so hope to find a race in the next month or so that is still open.

McNaughton 100 Preview/Prediction

2008-04-07T12:29:00.007-06:00

The McNaughton 100 (and 50 and 150) is less than a week away. This certainly isn't a "goal" race by any means, but I still hope to run a good solid race to kick start my summer season. I'll be driving up there alone, and basically just kicking it old school - camping at the race site and using drop bags and aid stations. I honestly don't know a whole lot about the race, but in the last week I've gotten some valuable information as to an elevation profile and a blow-by-blow course description with photos. While the high and low points of the course are only about 175 feet apart, you go up and down between those elevations constantly. The website says there is 1600 feet gain per 10 mile loop, for a total of 16,000 feet of gain, which is the same as the Leadville 100 and the Vermont 100. Mud looks like a given on this course, along with a few stream crossings. I actually don't mind getting my feet wet but the mud could be a drag.

Prediction: Eric Clifton ran 18:38 in 2005, and Karl Meltzer broke that record with a 17:40 last year. 2005 was certainly past Eric's prime, but still Karl breaking his record by an hour was impressive. I hope to lower that further to 17:00. I don't like races with multiple distances going on at the same time, but I just need to use common sense and not race any of the 50 milers if they go out faster than I want to run.

If any of you have run the race and have any words of wisdom, please let me hear it!

Ultradriving

2008-04-01T09:00:00.015-06:00

I did more driving than running this week. 2240 miles to 58 to be precise. Luckily I had great weather the whole way and, while tiring, it was nice to get out and see some beautiful, empty country. My clients in Northern California loved their new furniture and gave me a great place to stay overnight. And, Fiddeltown CA is a beautiful area with loads of hilly, curvy, mountain roads for running. The Poison Oak is everywhere out there so watch out AR50 runners!

I took Highway 50, aka the Loneliest Road in America, across Utah and Nevada.

There are just a few towns, each separated by a hundred miles or so, along US50. The towns include Ely, Eureka, and Austin. All are at about 6500 feet and surrounded by mountains. This region is part of the Great Basin, meaning water doesn't flow out to any ocean. Austin is surrounded by tons of mountain biking/hiking/running trails, but they are under a lot of snow right now. I stopped in Eureka, which is a small mining town of about 600 people, to have a beer in the Keyhole bar. Unlike Colorado, there are no smoking bans in Nevada bars apparently.

Somewhere out there I saw 2 guys walking down the highway pushing baby joggers full of gear; I think they must have been doing some kind of trans-state or trans-continental walk.

This tree is east of Fallon NV and is full of shoes. Supposedly, a newlywed couple had a fight underneath this tree and one threw the others' shoes up in the tree. The couple made up, and so threw the others' shoes up in the tree as well. Now, it is a custom to stop and toss your own shoes up in the tree. I declined as I had only one pair of running shoes and my good boots with me.

Similarities between Ultrarunning and Ultradriving:

1. Fuel is important to both. On Highway 50, there were several stretches of over 100 miles between "aid stations" and one expected fuel stop was closed for the winter.

2. When the sun finally rises, you perk up and feel like you can go all day again.

3. Your mind wanders in the most unusual ways.

4. You'll go crazy if you worry too much about each mile split.

Week Log:
Tue 03/25 – 1:01:00 hilly road run in Fiddletown CA through vineyards and horse farms. 2200 feet elevation sure feels good.

Sat 03/29 – 3:51:00 CRUD long run. Manitou – up Rampart Range Road to the Overlook, down to Waldo Canyon, around the long way, and back on the Ute Indian trail.

Sun 03/30 – 3:08:00 with Dan Vega and Kelly Mortensen. Santa Fe Trail - Ice Lake – Stables – Falcon Loop and back. 7 minutes faster for this loop than a month ago and it felt much easier, even coming the day after a long run. Did this one with no breakfast and no calories during the run to make it seem a bit longer.

Week – 8:00:00 / 58 miles

03/17 - 03/23 Log

2008-03-23T11:06:00.004-06:00

This was my longest week of the build-up for McNaughton and my hamstring is continuing to cooperate for the most part. I generally record everything by time, but this week I started using a GPS watch for a few of the runs (thanks to CRUDer Harsha for loaning it to me). I wanted to check out a few of the typical runs I do, and it turns out they were a bit longer than I had been estimating which is always nice to find out. I'm going to have a few rough days at the beginning of this week while driving to Northern California and back, but I'm going to try to sneak in a run on Tuesday morning in Auburn CA (perhaps on the WTC course).

Mon 03/17 – 0
Tue 03/18 – 1:13:55 / 10.5 miles (GPS) out and back on Spruce Mt. Rd. I did a measured 5 rolling miles @ 6:40 pace in the middle of run which felt good.

Wed 03/19 – 0. A little sick.
Thu 03/20 – 1:43:00 hilly, in and around Garden of the Gods. Including 3.2 mile uphill tempo run up Rampart Range Road (23:30 vs. 24:14 last week).

Fri 03/21 – 1:30:00 windy run on Santa Fe trail (12 miles GPS)

Sat 03/22 – 3:00:00 Greenland / Spruce Meadows / Spruce Mt (21 miles GPS). Nice except for some crusty snow and ice on Spruce Mountain.

Sun 03/23 – 2:33:00 Santa Fe trail – Stables trail – Falcon Loop. 4 inches of nice fresh powder from last night made for a beautiful morning run.

Week – 10:00:00 / 75 miles

Weighty Issue, Part 2

2008-03-18T13:29:00.003-06:00

What's the single best way for most runners to improve their performance? Lose some weight. Here is a list of reasons to lose weight:

1. Your Max Vo2 will rise. Think of a car; if you tear out a bunch of extra junk from the trunk, but leave the engine alone, the all important horsepower/pounds ratio increases. And this ratio is the auto equivalent of your Max Vo2 reading. While Max Vo2 isn't as important to a 100 mile runner as it is to a miler, the idea is to have the same cardiovascular output but a smaller body to push up and down hills. If you weight 180 pounds now, and manage to lose 20 pounds, you'll use less energy and burn less calories at the same pace.

2. Less stress/pounding means less likely to sustain an injury. Running is a pounding exercise, and any lessening of this pounding is bound to help your knees, achilles, etc.

3. You are likely to live longer and suffer less non running related health issues. Ever seen a fat 100 year old? Seriously, just because you can run a 50 or 100 mile race doesn't meen you are healthy.

I was thinking of weight recently in the context of shoe weight. Finding the lightest shoes seems to be a common topic with a lot of runners (and I too prefer lighter shoes) but I find it odd that many people will agonize over an ounce here or there on their shoes, but neglect the dozen or so extra pounds they are carrying around on their bodies. Of course there are other reasons for choosing light shoes, as the lighter shoes often fit and feel better, and provide more flexibility. But, wearing the ultra light shoes also adds an element of injury risk (see 2 above) if you are carrying more than your ideal body weight. Just remember, a lot of the people you see wearing the lightest shoes are themselves light (Matt C, Tony K, etc). They would be great runners regardless of what shoes they wore.

100 for the week!

2008-03-16T16:25:00.003-06:00

Ok, so it was only 100 kilometers but still, a good week for me. I upped my mileage, and also did a moderate hill workout on Thursday which didn't seem to bother my hamstring any. The only run that really bothered it much was the Saturday CRUD long run, in which we did encounter some hilly snow in the upper part of Bear Creek Park. Given the good last few weeks, I am now planning on running the McNaughton 100 Mile Trail race on April 12. I don't know a lot about it, but it is 10 loops of mostly singletrack; looks like it is rolling the whole way with quite a bit of cumulative elevation gain, but no long hills. It should be a good one to do with no crew, since I can get my stuff every 10 miles. Karl has the CR at 17:40something, which seems doable on paper, but anything can happen in a 100. I'll make a time prediction prior to the race.

Mon 03/10 – 0
Tue 03/11 – 1:31:00 out and back on Spruce Mt. Rd. 7:15 pace
Wed 03/12 – 46:00 around town 7:40 pace
Thu 03/13 – 1:05:00 Uphill tempo run on Rampart Range Rd (24:00) and then down through Glen Eyrie/Garden of the Gods
Fri 03/14 – 0
Sat 03/15 – 2:33:00 Monument Valley – Bear Creek Park – Lower Gold Camp Rd and back.
Sun 03/16 – 2:00:00 on treadmill. 7:24 pace
Week – 7:55:00 / 62 miles

03/03 - 03/09 Log

2008-03-09T09:53:00.004-06:00

Another good week, with even a few miles of faster running mixed in. The hamstring is hanging at about a 2 on the pain scale, which is very manageable. The main thing I look for with any kind of injury is if I seem to be changing my stride at all (which will lead to other problems). At this point, everything looks good in that respect. The American River 50 is out for sure now as I won't even be in California that weekend; I've moved up the delivery of some furniture I'm building for a client in Sacramento so I can be here in town for Judy's surgery on April 1st. But, I am leaning towards doing a trail race the weekend of April 12 if things continue to progress. I generally like to do big (for me) weeks 5, 4, and 3 weeks out from a race so I'll ramp it up to about 60-70 miles the next 3 weeks.

Mon 03/03 – 0
Tue 03/04 – 45:00 on treadmill, 7:47 pace
Wed 03/05 – 0
Thu 03/06 – 50:00 on TM, 7:20 pace with last mile @ 6:40 pace
Fri 03/07 – 52:00 out and back on Spruce Mt. Rd. 7:20 pace
Sat 03/08 – 3:15:00 Hilly slow run. Garden of Gods, Glen Eyrie, Mine Scar, etc)
Sun 03/09 – 50:00 TM, 7:20 pace with last 1.5 miles @ 6:40 pace
Week – 6:27 / 50 miles

02/25 - 03/02 Log

2008-03-04T07:46:00.004-07:00

This was the week I started feeling like a real runner again. I am still gradually quickening the pace of each run, and did my first true long run since ATY.

Mon 02/25 – 0
Tue 02/26 – 45:00 on Treadmill, 7:35 pace
Wed 02/27 – 30:00 on TM, 7:30 pace
Thu 02/28 – 1:15:00 up and down Cheyenne canon
Fri 02/29 – 47:00 out and back on Spruce Mt. Rd, 7:30 pace
Sat 03/01 – 3:15:00, Falcon Trail from Woodmen trailhead (via Ice Lake and Stables). Measured at 22.75 miles. Only about 6 slow miles of snow and ice with the rest a good honest pace.
Sun 03/02 – 0
Week – 6:32:00 / 48 miles

A Weighty Issue, Part 1

2008-03-02T12:19:00.029-07:00

Should runners lift weights? I believe so. In fact, I think almost anybody, runner or not, can benefit from weight training. That doesn’t mean that lifting weights will automatically make you faster, or a better runner, but I think there are enough other benefits to make it worthwhile. And, if you are very weak or have muscle imbalances, weight training very well could improve your running. The program I use focuses on the core (chest/shoulders/back/abs) and legs. A person can run 100 miles and still have very weak legs. Especially if you lack long hills in your area, adding some leg exercises can help you when you are faced with hills in a race.

First, a little about physiology and a few misconceptions about weight lifting.

1. Lifting weights will make be muscle bound.
2. Lifting will take too long.
3. I don’t belong to a gym.

1. Body/Soma Types:

A system, developed by W.H. Sheldon, uses the terms ectomorph, endomorph, or mesomorph to describe the build of an individual. In the simplest terms, ectomorphs are those with lean, slight builds who don’t easily put on weight. Think Paul Tergat. Mesomorphs are those who are naturally more muscular and easily add muscle mass. Think Herschel Walker. And Endomorphs are those who tend to be soft and chubby, and have difficulty keeping their weight down. Think Jack Black. While a lot of Sheldon’s research is questionable (after identifying the 3 body types, he attempted to draw conclusions about the personalities that went with each) the basic idea of somatotyping is generally accepted by exercise physiologists. However, in actuality, most people have some characteristics of each body type. Knowing your body type(s) is helpful in determining your workout routines and diet.

So, for most people, and runners in particular (because most are ecotomorph type builds) adding muscle is hard. When you combine the fact that you are doing many hours of an aerobic activity each week, you are not in danger of looking like Mr. or Mrs. Olympia from a basic lifting routine. And, if you are that 1 in a million freak of nature, you’ll be the envy of all your skinny runner friends.

2. Strength Endurance

For distance runners, strength endurance is much more important than raw explosive power, so the lifting routine I use and recommend for other runners is a fast-paced circuit training/Superset routine. This allows you to complete your lifting in a minimal amount of time, and also adds an aerobic component to the workout. You’ll be moving from one exercise to the next quickly allowing one muscle group to rest while you exercise the next one. This also limits the chance of building up any appreciable muscle mass.

3. Gym or Home?

While a Gym is ideal if you have access to one, you can do quite a lot of lifting at home with just a few dumbbells and a few machines. Also, at home you never have to wait for a machine making it easier to quickly move through your circuit. If you have the space, it also might be more cost-effective in the long run to start acquiring the necessary equipment. Check out Craigslist for good deals on equipment that people bought and never used.

Sample Lifting Routine:

In the following routine, do one set of each exercise and then move to the next. Start with 1 complete set and build up to 3 sets. Each set should be between 7 - 10 reps (first 2 sets) and 6 - 8 reps (final set). Try to select a weight that brings you close to failure by the end of each set. If you move quickly, you should be able to do each complete set (1 set of each exercise) in 10 minutes, meaning the whole workout is only 30 minutes. Strive for good form, even if it means less weight. Generally doing this 2 or 3 times a week is ideal. I show the abs as exercise 10, but you can save this one and do it anytime while you are watching TV or whatever.

1. Bench Press / Push-ups
2. Lat Pulls / Pull-ups
3. Pull-overs
4. Dumbell Shoulder Presses
5. Upright rows / power cleans
6. Good Mornings
7. Leg curls
8. Leg extensions
9. Calf raises
10. Abs/Obliques/Low back

Exercise Details
Below I show a few photos of each exercise and describe a little about each.

1. Bench Press (or Push Ups):

Lie on the bench and grasp the bar a little wider than shoulder width. Put your feet on the bench to avoid straining your back and/or cheating. Lower the bar to your chest and then powerfully push the bar back up till your arms or straight. Don't bounce off your chest.

2. Lat Pulls (or Pull Ups):

Grab the bar with a wide grip. Tuck your knees under the support (or get somebody to hold your shoulders) so the weight doesn't pull you up in the air. Lean back a bit, then pull the bar down till it touches your chest. I do 5 to the chest, then do the next 5 bringing the bar down behind my neck.

3. Shoulder Presses:

Get 2 dumb-bells and hold them in front of your shoulders with your palms facing your body. Push them up at the same time, rotating your hands till your hands are facing away from your body at the top.

4. Pullovers:

A great exercise for expanding your chest and working the serratus. Lie on your back with a dumb-bell, holding as shown. With only a slight bend in your elbows, lower the weight over and behind your head, feeling the stretch. Reverse the motion, again keeping your arms almost straight.

5. Cleans (from a hang position).

One of the best single lifts for your core. Start with a very light weight till you get the feel for this one. Bend over and pick the barbell up till you are standing with arms straight down. This is the starting position. Bend slightly in the knees and then explosively drive up, using your legs to get the weight moving. Then using your upper back swing the weight up till it is high enough to bring your elbows in, supporting the weight against your chest. Lower the weight back to the hang position and repeat. 10 reps of this exercise will get your heartrate up higher than any speedwork.

6. Leg Curls:

Doing one leg at a time, curl each leg till it comes as close as possible to your butt.

7. Leg Extensions:

Again, use one leg at a time. Slowly extend your leg till your knee is straight. Hold it a few seconds, then slowly lower.

8. Calf Raises:

Use a calf machine, or use a step as shown below. Grab a dumb-bell in the same hand as the leg you'll be using. Lower your heel till you get a good stretch. Then flex your calf till you are on your tip toes.

9. Good Mornings.

Great exercise for your lower back and hamstrings. It is very important in this lift to keep your back arched (lordosis). Avoid rounding your back even if it means not going down as far.

Sources Used:

Exercise Physiology; Energy, Nutrition, and Human Performance (McArdle, Katch, Katch)
Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding (Schwarzenegger, Dobbins)

Judy's Health

2008-02-27T09:10:00.004-07:00

Cancer - the word was certainly a shock to us but Judy is handling it remarkebly well and the current prognosis is very positive. Many of you now know, but Judy was diagnosed with Cervical cancer a few weeks ago and had surgery to remove her uterus last week. We have now been referred to a gynocological oncologist in Denver who we see on Thur. From what we have learned from the first surgeon and from our reading, the oncologist will likely do a surgery to remove some of Judy's lymph nodes and then possibly follow up with radiation. The cancer was caught very early and so we are feeling very positive about the outcome. I have now doubt you'll see Judy out on the trails again sometime this summer. Thanks so much to everyone who has called or emailed us to check on her. Our friends in Team CRUD have been particularly helpful and kind, stopping by to give her support and just talk, taking her mind off the cancer for awhile.

2/18 - 2/24 Log

2008-02-25T08:46:00.002-07:00

Mon 02/18 – 45:00 on Treadmill, 7:53 pace
Tue 02/19 – 0
Wed 02/20 – 45:00 on TM, 7:47 pace
Thu 02/21 – 0
Fri 02/22 – 47:00 on dirt and paved roads around town
Sat 02/23 – 2:30:00 Balanced Rock trail to Limbaugh Canyon then down and over to Greenland Open Space. Very snowy trails.
Sun 02/24 – 45:00 on TM, 7:43 pace

Week – 5:32:00 / 40 miles

02/11 - 02/17 Log

2008-02-19T22:37:00.004-07:00

Mon 02/11 – 45:00 Treadmill, 8:27 pace

Tue 02/12 – 30:00 TM, 8:20 pace

Wed 02/13 – 45:00 TM, 8:13 pace + .5 miles @6:45 pace
The pickup near the end was just to see how I felt running at normal pace. The effort was easy, but the longer stride is still bothering my hamstring. So, I will keep up with the very gradual quickening of each day's run.

Thu 02/14 – 30:00 TM, 8:06 pace

Fri 02/15 – 30:00 TM, 8:00 pace

Sat 02/16 – 2:00:00 Manitou – GoG – Rampart Range Rd – Williams Canyon
This was a nice run being off the treadmill for the first time in a week. The lower part of Rampart Range rd is all clear of snow. Rather than running back down the road, I decided to take the beautiful Williams Canyon trail. This is one of the prettiest canyons around, but unfortunately is "closed" right now due to the insane placement of a shooting range that shoots right down into it. There was a family shooting skeet (or trap?) but luckily it was just shotgun pellets that were hitting the tree limbs above Eric and I as we scooted down the top part of the canyon.

Sun 02/17 – off
Week – 5:00:00 / 35 miles

This was a really good week of training for me. Though only 35 miles, this really isn't that much off of a typical week (55 miles) so it should be just another week or so till I'm back to some semblance of fitness. I've also been good about stretching and lifting and am feeling like I haven't lost too much fitness during the time off in January.

As I write this, I'm in the hospital with my wife Judy who is recoverying from surgery. She unfortunately has a fairly serious illness so please think kind thoughts for her; we both hope she will be back running herself sometime soon.

Health Status, Potpourri

2008-02-15T19:06:00.022-07:00

As you can see from this photo of Darwin in front of my shop, it was a beautiful sunny day here in Palmer Lake today. In fact, it has been pretty nice all week except for one day of snow and wind. Tomorrow should be a nice day for a long run up Rampart Range Rd. The group will then come down through Waldo canyon but I'll skip that part due to the snow. I'm really psyched with the improvement in my hamstring this week. I have run every day on the treadmill and might have finally stumbled on the right combination of treatments to get me back on track. I have been stretching like crazy and can actually comfortably touch my toes for the first time since college (when we had to stretch as part of practice). I am also rolling my hamstring on a firm foam roller before and after each run. Finally, I bought a Chopat thigh/hamstring sleeve online and have been wearing that when running. It is quite tight all the way up to my butt and just keeps everything warm and in place. I've now run 7 days in a row for the first time in more than a year and it feels better than a week ago.

I'm actually feeling good enough that I signed up for a race online yesterday. I'm not ready to committ to it, but as with so many races it was going to fill up and I wanted to be in just in case I'm ready. More on that in a week or two if things keep going well. I'm also signed up for American River and will be out in Sacramento that week anyway (to deliver a bed and table to a customer) so I still may end up doing it. If it was a trail race I'd do it for sure just as a long run, but it isn't exactly the most scenic setting in the world and I'd really rather save it for a year when I am ready to run a fast time. If I don't do AR, I'll probably at least do a long run on the WS course while out there.

Red Hot 50K in Moab - good luck to everyone going out for this one. Last year an avalanche on I70 caused a lot of front rangers to miss the race but no such problems this year. Several CRUDers will be going out to run in the red rocks.

Cheyenne Mountain Half Marathon Trail Race - There will be a new trail race taking place on Sept 20 this year at the new (year old) Cheyenne Mountain State Park. I'm sort of the RD for this, as the state park people contacted me about putting on an ultra. Basically, the state just acquired a new piece of open space that allows for unbroken public land from CMSP to Mueller state park up in Teller County. There are no trails connecting the two yet, but there will eventually be an ultra going from one to the other and back (about 50 miles). In the meantime, we will be putting on a trail race on the existing trail system in CMSP. Stay tuned for more info. It will be a fairly challenging trail half; I'm predicting about 1:30 for a winning time. Me and the CRUD gang have been scoping out potential routes and are getting close to the exact distance.

CO Democratic Caucus - This was a first for us (first year here having a caucus). It was pretty cool actually. First, nobody really knew how to run it so we all just read the instructions and stumbled through. I felt like a kid hiding in the back of the classroom when we had to volunteer/nominate delegates for the county convention. Second, it was neat seeing so many of our neighbors there. We sort of figured a lot of our neighbors were democrats due to the hippy dippy nature of our neighborhood, but El Paso county is like 75% republican so you never know. The biggest rap against the caucus format is it supposedly favors the party activists but it certainly didn't seem that way to us. Everybody just sort of talked about the various candidates and then we did the 2 types of votes (straw and preference). Obama was the big winner, by the way, in our precinct.

I just finished up a new design last week and got some profesional photos taken; it is a Shaker inspired desk, secretary, and chair made of Cherry and Birdseye Maple. The seat is woven from reeds. It was my first attempt weaving a herringbone pattern and it shows.

In other woodworking news, I did my part to stimulate the economy this week by purchasing a large, very expensive, dual drum sander. If anybody has a stubborn callous that needs treatment, stop on by and we can sand it right off. I had a scary experience last time I tackled a wiring project at the shop, so I have a real electrician coming over this weekend to get the new machine hooked up.

Jan 1 - Feb 10 Log

2008-02-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

Ok it has been a rough 6 weeks as far as my running goes, but I'm getting ready to be back on track. Most of my new plan is mental; I've decided I miss running more than I miss a pain-free hamstring, so I'm just going to start running and figure/hope it will gradually get better with continued stretching and massage. The practical side of this new plan is no more snow running; the snow is just killing my hamstring so as much as I like to be out on the snowy trails, I am just saying no for the time being.

As far as a goal race; I am signed up for American River but will not be running there. It is too much of a rush and my "resolution" for this year was to only race when I was ready, regardless of any lost entry fees or other committments. I am pretty sure I will be running the Vermont 100 on July 19th, however, as that is my 40th birthday. Just happened that the big day falls on a Saturday so I was able to find a race. I ran Vermont once a few years ago and had a pretty rough day, so I'm looking forward to going back.

01/01 - 01/16 - rest/recovery from ATY
Thu 01/17 – 35:00 Snowy, hilly Cheyenne Canyon
Sat 01/19 – 2:35:00 Snowy, hilly Cheyenne Canyon
Sat 01/26 – 10:00 flat on Treadmill (TM)
Sun 01/27 – 1:04:00 Crystal Park Rd.
Tue 01/29 – 25:00 flat on TM
Sat 02/02 – 2:10:00 in Cheyenne Mountain State Park. Snowy.
Sun 02/03 – 30:00 flat on TM
Thu 02/07 – 1:00:00 Cheyenne canon, snow
Sat 02/09 – 2:00:00 Falcon Trail, snowy.
Sun 02/10 – 30:00 on TM.

Early Pemberton 50K Results

2008-02-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

The Pemberton Trail 50K was this morning in Fountain Hills, AZ (outside Phx), with Josh Brimhall winning in 3:21, which is a course PR for him. My good friend Kelly Mortenson was 2nd in his debut Ultra with a time of 3:26. That is all I know so far. Congratulations to both Kelly and Josh.

Kelly has a marathon PR of 2:19 and has also broken 30:00 for 10K, so look for him to make some noise in ultras after he gets more experience. He has been one of my pacers for both of my Leadville wins, as well as a training partner for years.

Results Added 2/10:

1 Josh Brimhall M32 3:21:39
2 Kelly Mortenson M36 3:26:09
3 Nick Coury M20 3:40:20

14 Jamie Donaldson F33 4:18:11
21 Juliet Morgan F41 4:33:51
23 Honey Albrecht F48 4:36:53

My Tractor Aint Got No Traction

2008-01-25T05:34:00.000-07:00

In many parts of the country, winter is here and you've probably been slipping and sliding a bit on your training runs. It seems that each year around this time, some new products come out to address the traction problem for runners. For several years, Judy and I have used Yak Trax for our daily walks with the dogs. They are nice because they can slip over any shoes you happen to be wearing. We gave them as gifts to Judy's parents (who live in upstate NY) a few years ago for when they need to be out walking around. Judy's father took a bad fall last month while getting their mail, pointing out the biggest design flaw of the Yak Trax; for maximum effectiveness, you have to have them on!

The last few years, I have run with just plain shoes, however, figuring that slipping is to be expected when running on snow. Also, the yak trax sometimes slip off your shoes (unnoticed to you) and so it is easy to lose them when running. With my current hamstring problem, it seems like any slipping is making it worse so I have been thinking about using the Yak Trax again. Well, in something approaching serendipity, my running buddy Dan Vega was helping me deliver and install some library cabinets and shelving at a home near here. While we were working, the homeowner was surfing the web and chatting with us. She had taken a bad fall that morning on her driveway and had stumbled across a webpage describing "screw shoes" and was asking us if we ever used them (she knew we were both runners). I walked over to her PC and she was looking at this page. Partway down the page is a photo of Dan drilling sheet metal screws into my running shoes! Here is the photo:

This photo was taken in probably 1999 at an Incline Club run. Anyway, it convinced me to go back to this old, low tech approach to winter running for this weekend's snowy run.

If you want to give this a try yourself, Matt's page (linked above) gives all the details.

Happy running!

Nike - Thanks for hiring Craig Masback!

2008-01-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

I just heard today (most of you probably already knew this as I think it was anounced last week) that Craig Masback has resigned as CEO of USATF to take some kind of marketing job with Nike. All I can say is, good riddance. I've been a frequent critic of USATF as it has operated under Masback, so I am holding out hope that they make a better choice of the new CEO and can get things turned around. The main 2 criteria in my opinion for the new CEO would be no former elite athletes, and no lawyers (though a former Prosecutor would be ok!).

In a nutshell, here are my main complaints with USATF:

1. Drugs. We have lost all moral authority on this issue. Remember all the grief (rightly so) we gave the Eastern Bloc countries for their state-sponsored drug programs in the 70/80s? While the USATF is obviously not directly engaging in such programs, it is certainly enabling rampant drug use to take place. As with most sports in the US, USATF has not demonstrated any desire to actually police itself. Am I the only one who finds it odd that the only big name track athletes to fail a drug test have been at or near the end of their career? Regina Jacobs. Mary Slaney. Etc. And of course it took the Feds, and not our own sport, to crack the biggest name in track so far: Marion Jones. Being an elite athlete is not a right, it is a privilege. Masback has often taken a lawyerly "right to work" type approach when dealing with probable drug use by top athletes, where no such right should exist.

2. Development/Youth sports. Where are the programs that the member dues should be going towards? Track is a great sport to which we need to be introducing new kids all the time.

3. What does USATF have to do with trail ultras? Nothing. No reason for them to be involved at all. It isn't an Olympic or World Champ sport. The sport has a way of self-selecting the important races and simply slapping a "USATF Championship" label on a mediocre race isn't going to change that. But, if they insist on being involved and asking ultra runners to pay dues, see #2 above.

4. For the ultra event that is (and should be) under the purview of the USATF, namely the 100K world team, how about providing some support for the team? It is an embarassment to make runners who make a US team have to pay for any part of their trip expenses. Wearing the US jersey should be an honor for the folks able to qualify, not just for the ones able to afford to.

Winter Scenes

2008-01-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but I'll try to get back into it soon. Meanwhile, here are some photos from a few recent CRUD runs showing some of the beautiful winter scenery around here lately.

Blog Tag - Year End Questions

2008-01-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, I was blog tagged by Paul Charteris to answer the following questions.

Now that my year is over, here you go:

1. Most memorable moment on the trails…

Running the Leadville Trail marathon and Leadville Trail 100 with my dad (his first 100). My parents spent most of the summer camping in the Leadville area and my dad finished the LT100 despite some injury and health problems. The time wasn’t what he hoped for but his finish rate at 100 mile races is better than mine!

2. Best new trail I discovered in 2007…

More like a “re-discovery;” years ago I did a run in Limbaugh canyon with friends who lived in this area, but had not been back on that trail until this year when we moved to Palmer Lake. Our home is actually about 1 mile from the low end of the trailhead (the upper end is several thousand feet up off of Mt. Herman Road). This trail can be turned into a loop using Balanced Rock and/or Winding Staircase Forest Service roads.

3. My best performance of the year was…

Not an ultra, but I ran a hilly trail marathon back in my home town in 2:40:35, which broke the previous course record by about 10 minutes. To quote Greg Crowther, probably not an Uli-proof record, but I can’t envision too many other people touching that one.

4. I do not know how I previously survived without…
Well, I'm not really into gadgets but I did finally get an Ipod shuffle and used that on a few runs this year.

5. The person I would most like to meet on a trail in 2008...

I haven't run against either of the Skagg brothers yet, and I'm always up for getting beat by new people!

6. The race I am most excited/scared about in 2008 is…

I'm excited to run a race in which I'm 100% healthy going in. And I'm scared about the thoughts of my next 24 hour race and/or my first 100K road race.

ATY Race Report

2008-01-03T14:04:00.000-07:00

We are back home in Colorado after driving down to the Phoenix area for the Across the Years race. The race didn't go as I had planned, but it was quite an experience none the less. For complete results as well as some great photos and videos taken during the event, please see the ATY website. Also, in case I forget further down in this posting, thanks to all who sent the online messages to me before and during the race; after I started falling apart Judy would relay the messages to me as I came by.

I have always believed that mental atitude is the most important component of sucess as the race distances get longer, and while I kept a very positive outlook on my prospects going into this race, those thoughts probably bordered on the delusional. My hamstring had been bothering me more and more, with a drastic turn for the worse on Dec 11. I had quite a bit of accupuncture and electric stim during the last few weeks, but the relief was always temporary. The DNF thus should have probably been a DNS (did not start) but I always hold out hope that things will go better once the race starts.

I started the race running each lap in approx 2:16, which is about 7:25 pace. I had planned to run that pace for about 57 minutes each hour, and then walk the rest of the hour for the first 100 miles. I was carrying a water bottle every 4th lap, eating a gel every 20 minutes, and taking a salt pill about every 45 minutes. One good aspect of the race was for the 2nd race in a row, this fluid/nutrition plan seemed to work very well with no periods of low energy.

I didn't walk at the end of the first hour but did so each of the next 4 hours, and again, this walking break plan seemed to work well, though next time I will do them more frequently. The hamstring was bothering me right from the beginning, but I hoped it wouldn't get any worse. During the Heartland 100, it stayed at the mild uncomfortable level from the beginning on, and actually felt better at the end than at the start. No such luck this time however. I believe I went though the marathon in 3:13 and 50K in 3:5x. I then tried to slow down to about 2:22 per lap and held that through the 50 mile split in about 6:38. The hamstring took a severe turn for the worse after a bathroom break at 4 hours. I basically stopped running after 50 miles and just sort of jogged/walked for a few hours before calling it quits. My final distance was 66 miles. We hung around till the Midnight festivities and walked a few laps with our friend Carrie who was moving up through the field in the 72 hour event (congratulations on your 200+ total!). After getting some sleep back at our hotel, we came back in the morning for the awards and brunch, which were both very enjoyable.

My Race Post Mortem

Put simply, even had my left hamstring held up I would not have reached my goal of 165 miles. I wasn't adequately prepared for the absolute flatness of the course, or the hardness of the packed dirt. I believe both of those conditions would have finished off my quads at some point. I'm sure many road guys would find the dirt soft, but for me, it was quite a bit harder than I expected and harder than the dirt I run on around here. Before my next 24 hour race (and yes, there will be another one!) I'll do more road running even if the course is dirt. As for the flatness, I needed to add a second long run in my training to simulate this; the Heartland 100 was flat by trail 100 standards, but still had 6200 feet of climbing. For this build-up I did a lot of 2 hour flat runs, but I think I needed to a few 4 - 6 hour flat runs.

My feeling is I'll get my goal eventually, and if it takes 2 or 3 attempts it will just make it more rewarding when I do achieve it.

Random Thoughts on ATY

The whole ATY experience was a good one despite my own failures. The feeling and atmosphere was different from any previous race, mainly due to being able to see the runners continually as they each worked through the long hours of their respective events. We were lucky to have our table set up right next to the tables of Tony Mangan (72 Hr 1st), John Geesler (72 Hr 2nd), and Carrie Sauter (72 Hr 3rd F). We spent some time at the race on day 1, and then of course on day 3 when I was running so it was fascinating to see how each of these runners approached such a long event and worked through the inevitable rough patches.

Nardini Manor, where the race is held, is an amazing location. This isn't a case of someone simply cutting a running path around their acreage. Everything about the Manor is dedicated to having the event, from the running path, to the parking lot, to the various tents and out buildings housing the bathrooms, medical staff, kitchen, etc. As anyone who followed along on the web knows, the technical aspects of the race are heads and shoulders above other ultras. Each time I passed the start/finish line my total distance in both miles and kilos, my last lap time, and my lap count all were projected on a large screen so I never had to even use my own watch or worry about keeping track of my laps. I could also see the same information for the last 20 runners who had passed. Much of this organization and timing information is due to the efforts of Paul Bonnett, Roger Wrublik, Dave Combs, and Lynn Newton, each of whom I was able to meet for the first time.

On the runner side of the event, it was great to see, meet, and even run with such accomplished runners (to name just a few) as John Geesler, Tony Mangan, Hans Bern Bauer, Scott Eppleman, Tim Englund, Wendell Doman, Dave Putney, and Daniel Larson.

Being held over a holiday, the race has made it very family friendly and amongst the competitors were many husband/wife/children combinations. I believe the age range of the runners spanned from 6 to 75.

The course itself was very hard packed dirt and was not a simple loop, meaning when running it in the clockwise direction you still made a left turn also (check out the course map for an idea of what I mean). Overall, I think this course is perfect for the 48 and 72 hour events, but probably not the ideal 24 hour set-up. There are several spots on the track where the combination of a narrow track and tight corner makes congestion and traffic a possible issue. On one of these sections, I actually got my foot stuck in the loose dirt under the fence because I tried to sneak by on the outside and just ran out of real estate.

Random Thoughts on Fixed Time Races

I have even more awe and respect for the great 24 (and 48/72) hour runners now that I've been around one of these events. I'm not sure if Mark Godale gets enough credit for his fine 162 mile performance. And I really can't even comprehend the 180+ marks of Yiannis Kourus. Seeing John and Tony keep cranking out the miles even though it was obvious early on that they weren't going to get their goals was also inspirational.

While these longer timed races won't appeal to everyone, they are a very historically significant part of ultra running and I hope that more of the trail guys will give one a try. In most long races the front of the pack and the back of the pack are basically doing two separate events. Take Leadville for example; the top guys are running it in 18 hours, meaning they are finished shortly after dark, while the back of the pack is out there pushing the cut-offs for an additional 12 hours. As we all know, the longer you are out there the more chance of injury/sickness/sleepiness etc. Somebody pushing it for 30 hours is just flat out working more and harder than the 18 hour finisher. At a fixed time race, by contrast, everyone is running the same amount of time and has to deal with the same issues.

12/10 - 12/31 Log

2008-01-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

For the last 3 weeks prior to ATY, things went downhill as far as my hamstring so I just skipped posting my log, but here it is. TM means Treadmill. I'll write up my ATY report later today probably.

Mon 12/10 – 0.
Tue 12/11 – 1:30:00 TM, 7:40 pace. This run for some reason really got the hamstring past the mild discomfort stage into a bit more of an issue.
Wed 12/12 – Walk 45:00
Thu 12/13 – Walk 45:00
Fri 12/14 – 1:15:00 TM, 8:00 pace. Walk 45:00
Sat 12/15 – Walk 1:30:00
Sun 12/16 – 0.
Week – 2:45:00 / 21 miles

Mon 12/17 – 35:00 TM, Walk 1:00:00
Tue 12/18 – 40:00 TM, Walk 35:00
Wed 12/19 – 0.
Thu 12/20 – 45:00 TM, Walk 30:00.
Fri 12/21 – Walk 45:00
Sat 12/22 – 2:00:00 Santa Fe Trail on light snow. Walk 30:00
Sun 12/23 – Walk 1:00:00
Week – 4:00:00 / 30 miles

Mon 12/24 – 50:00 Monument Valley Park (MVP). Walk 30:00
Tue 12/25 – Walk 1:00:00
Wed 12/26 – 55:00 MVP. Walk 40:00
Thu 12/27 – Walk 1:00:00
Fri 12/28 – Driving to Phx.
Sat 12/29 – Run 15:00 (on ATY course)
Sun 12/30 – Walk 30:00
Week – 2:00:00 / 15 miles

Mon 12/31 - ATY

ATY Countdown

2007-12-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

Well, my goal race of the season is almost here. It has been weird reading other runners' blogs with the "year in review" type topics being discussed since for me the real year will be over before my running year. So, after the race I'll do a wrap-up of my year and plans for 2008....

Judy and I had an uneventful drive down to Phoenix from Colorado. We split it up over 2 days and spent some time in Flagstaff walking around the historic downtown area. They have a huge metal pine cone hanging from an old hotel that is dropped each New Years Eve (Flagstaff is in the middle of a huge Pine forest which is part of the Coconino National Forest).

We drove straight to the race site, arriving about 4 hours into the first day's races. It was good to spend a few hours out there and just get a feel for the surroundings. I was able to jog a few laps to see what my initial goal pace felt like (a lot better than it does at 7200 feet btw!).

A nice touch, since you see the same runners so often, is that each runner's bib includes their name, and is worn on the back so you see who it is as you pass. A lot of familiar names which I can now associate with a face, or at the very least a back.

This morning, we drove into Phoenix itself and went to Squaw Peak. I lived in Phoenix right out of college for my first job back in 1991 and used to run and bike a lot in the various mountain parks. I wanted to show Judy at least some of the areas I remembered. The city has grown tremondously in the last 16 years but the trails were still the same. Judy ran for about 75 minutes and I walked around some.

I haven't been nervous before a race in a long time, but I'm a little stressed for this one. It is just such an unknown since I'm looking at about a 50% longer distance than I've ever covered before. I've had several really good races in 2007, but this one will set the tone for how I feel going into 2008.

No Country for Old Men

2007-12-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

Wow - what a movie! If you are a fan of Cormac McCarthy's writing, the Coen brothers really captured the stark, minimalist feel of his western/El Paso writing style (his earlier southern gothic themed writing is amazing as well, but much more lush and eloquent. Check out Sutree for a great example). Too often film makers feel like every second has to have everything; action/dialoge/music, etc. so it was great to see a movie that just let the dialog and landscape speak for itself (hardly any music at all in fact).

Great quote from Llewellyn Moss (main character) when asked by the homocidal, maniacal killer Anton Chigurh what happened to the 2 Million dollars. "It's gone. I spent a million and a half on women and booze. I guess I just wasted the rest."

Great Country for Trail Racing
After getting into the El Paso frame of mind, you might want to check out this race. Mark Dorian asked me to pass this on:

Incidentally, if you or any friends in CO are interested, I have a 50Km race here Feb 16 ( see www.cactuspass.com for full details) and will put up in nice hotel any very good runners, plus provide a few perks (fee waiver, gift, etc.) The past few years I have had Eric Clifton, the Skaggs brothers, Greg Feucht, Jon Olsen, Emily Baer, Tania Pacev, and others-- in short I always get a few national class runners. Generally the weather has been good. It is a fair course but with some rough footing-- actually very much like some Colorado runs with a long climb to a high pass, scree slopes, old mines, etc.

It is easy to get to the race from El Paso airport. So many folks do not believe El Paso is in the middle of the Rockies, and has much more inc ommon with Albuq. or Denver than with any TX cities.

PLEASE feel free to help spread the word as we got a late start on this year's race!

New Pieces, Better Photos

2007-12-14T11:59:00.000-07:00

In furniture news, I have recently finished a few new pieces and made arrangements with a photographer near my shop to start having my stuff professionally shot. What a difference it makes. Over the last year, I had gotten a little better with my photo skills and had a nice set-up with lights and several backdrops, but I was still having a problem with getting the whole piece of furniture in focus (particularly larger stuff) and with no harsh shadows.

Anyway, I think they came out really nice and while it is a hassle to haul everything to the studio prior to shipping or delivery, it will be worth it. I was also able to use a few of the good photos in a new Ad I'll be running in 2008 in 2 magazines: Arts and Crafts Home and the Revival and Style 1900.

I've also spent quite a bit of time editing old photos to remove the backdrops, so that all the photos on my website look more consistent and clean. Finally, I added a little javascript slide show on the main page of my site. This kind of busy work is nice as my race gets closer, as it takes my mind off it.

12/3 - 12/9 Log

2007-12-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

This was supposed to be another higher mileage week for me, but I ended up getting sick at the beginning of the week so I took it pretty easy until Thursday. The Cheyenne Canon hill tempo run went very good this week, with a PR for the season, though I still didn't win the Pineapple.

On Saturday, I did a very hilly, snowy trail run with CRUD. Probably not the greatest training for ATY, but sometimes it it is nice to just do a long fun run in the snow. For the Saturday long run, we started in the Garden of the Gods, ran up Rampart Range Rd a few miles, took a steep trail down into Glen Eyrie, took another trail over to the "scar", and ran up to the top of the scar, which is an old surface/strip mine.

CRUD Gang at the top of the Scar

From the scar, you basically run off a cliff and pick your way down to another trail that then winds down towards the Flying W Ranch. We then ran back into Glen Eyrie and then through the Garden of the Gods back to the start at Balanced Rock.

Today's run was the coldest so far of the season; 7 degrees when I left the house and about 20 when I finished. Unlike Saturday, however, it was beautiful; sunny with a bright blue sky, and several new inches of snow on the ground.

ATY Prognosis

Looking back over my training, I've run 1016 miles in the last 17 weeks (when I started keeping track) for an average of 59.8 miles per week. During that time, I've mainly done slow running with a few hill tempo runs and one long up-tempo run (marathon in 2:51). I will do one more higher mileage week of about 70, then back off the last 2 weeks. When I taper, I typically keep running the same intensity and distance on my runs, but I just take more days off. I think the less miles you run (like me), the less you need to taper because your legs shouldn't be feeling dead. While I have hit my mileage goal (60 MPW), I have certainly not done the quality stuff I'm used to. However, I also realize that it is pretty rare for everything to go perfect in training before a goal race. If I waited for everything to be perfect in training, I'd probably never make it to a starting line. Note that the 60 MPW compares favorably with the 4 month lead-ups to both my LT100 wins, which were 46 MPW and 50 MPW.

For the race, I'm still feeling good about my goal of 165 miles. The race will also be giving me an official 100 mile split, since it is likely to be the fastest 100 I ever run. I'm shooting to go through 100 miles in 12:55, and then hope for the best for the remaining 11 hours. 65 miles in 11 hours seems doable but who knows what it is going to feel like. I'm also a bit worried about the lack of daylight. A full half of the race will be run in the dark.

Mon 12/3 – Complete day off. Sick.
Tue 12/4 – Walk 1:00:00. Still feeling bad.
Wed 12/5 – 45:00 on treadmill, 7:50 pace
Thu 12/6 – 1:35:00 Cheyenne canon (35:10 season PR) tempo and then down Columbine trail.
Fri 12/7 – 1:00:00 treadmill, 7:50 pace.
Sat 12/8 – 2:45:00 GoG, RRR, Scar. Walk 20:00
Sun 12/9 – 1:55:00 Palmer Lake. Cold and snowy; 7 degrees!
Week – 8:00:00 / 55 miles

A Modest Proposal

2007-12-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

In case any readers have been in cave the last few days, there has been a good bit of angst created by the WS100 lottery results. There are many other races that either fill up quickly or require a lottery to gain entrance, yet one hardly ever hears much of a complaint about those (ironically, 2 of the races that are a Montrail Ultra Cup backdoor into WS100 are just such races, meaning you have to be fast at the keyboard and fast on the trails should you hope to make it to Squaw Valley this way). The situation with WS100 is complicated by the fact that it wants (even claims?) to be the holy grail of 100 mile trail running in the US. The fact that the number of entries flooding into the WS100 office continues to rise in the face of every increasing choices for 100 mile trail races amazes me, but that is a topic for another day.

In my opinion, since we don’t have any control over the entrants selection process at WS (probably a good thing!), and there are plenty of other races out there that do not fill up early, why not let WS do its thing and simply choose another race to be our informal “championship.” Of course no one race will be ideal for everyone, just as WS isn’t now but surely there are other races out there that would love to see a highly competitive and deep field show up. I will make this promise; if there is any way to vote/decide on such a race, I will be there. I figure I have only a certain number of quality races left in me, and at this point in my life I want to either run fast races or competitive races, and if the two happen to be the same all the better. Many will say that the race in question would have to be a longstanding event with a lot of history, such as WS100. Well, speaking of history, the WS100 course has changed so many times over the years, that despite its long history it is still hard to figure out how you stack up with the runners of yesterday. In fact, I’d like to see all races list both “Event Record Holders” and the various “Course Record Holders” along with a brief description of the differences of each course.

Ideally, I’d like to have several races and rotate through them over the course of 3 or 4 years. If nothing else, this would help avoid the “one course wonder” type phenomena that you sometimes notice with runners. For example, if you can not only beat all the best runners two years in a row, but do it at say Superior Trail one year and Rocky the next, I think you might just be the best 100 miler out there.

Let's Play Poker
Another idea I've been kicking around for awhile, and I've talked with a few good runners about it and got some decent feedback, is whatever race is picked, have an option of putting up your own money to make things interesting, sort of like the big Poker tournaments. For example, if you think you should be worthy of "special consideration" at WS100, surely you are feeling confident enough to put up a few hundred dollars!

Possible Races:

Rocky - fast, anyone can get in
Superior - slow, anyone can get in
Leadville - high, anyone can get in
Bear (don't know if this fills up)
Angeles Crest (don't know)
Burning River (midwest)
Something on east coast?
etc.

edit on 12/05 - Tahoe Rim Trail another good choice. Only mild altitude so not much of an issue for flat-landers.

edit on 12/06 - Let's add AT and Javelina to the list.

11/26 - 12/2 Log

2007-12-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

This week and next week are supposed to be my longest/hardest weeks prior to tapering for the Across the Years race. When planning out my schedule, I decided to do one very long run (Heartland 100) and then a series of 4 x 2hr runs over the course of 36 hrs. The longest other single run was 3:12 a few weeks ago. The point of any training program is to stress the body into adaptation. Obviously the higher mileage that you run, the more you need to do in your peak week in order to add stress.

I thought the 4 x 2hr runs would be a good way to simulate running the same pace on increasingly tired legs w/o the stress of another true long run. I have to admit though, it looked a lot easier on paper than it turned out to be. I couldn't imagine keeping up that schedule for more than the 2 days (for one thing, I didn't accomplish anything this weekend other than the runs and a whole lot of football watching). I was joking with my wife that it would really suck to be in the Ground Hog Day movie and have Sunday as the day I kept repeating over and over!

The main problem I had in the middle 2 runs was serious bonking. I don't usually eat or drink when I run for 2 hours or less, but by the 3rd run it was catching up with me. The final run ended up feeling much better as I carried some gatorade.

Random Weird News
Check out the new Tourism Slogan for Scotland.

Mon 11/26 – Walk 1:00:00.
Tue 11/27 – Walk 3:00:00 (uphill), run 2:00:00 (downhill) up to treeline on Pikes Peak.
Wed 11/28 – Complete day off.
Thu 11/29 – 1:15:00 (Cheyenne Canon uphill tempo run 35:40 - Season PR).
Fri 11/30 – 0. Walk 45:00.
Sat 12/1 – 7:00 AM – 2:00:00 on treadmill @ 8:10 pace.
4:00 PM – 2:00:00 on HS track at 7:50 pace.
Sun 12/2 – 7:30 AM – 2:00:00 on Monument Valley trails at 7:50 pace.
3:30 PM – 2:00:00 around Palmer Lake at 7:50 pace.

Week – 11:15:00 / 78 miles