An actual race calendar.

For the first time since moving to Bolivia, I have a calendar of races for which to train.  They're all in Bolivia, but just this morning I discovered the possibility of a 100K in Argentina.  That'd be a backup if the Ultra Trail Tiwanaku turns out to be a mixed Bike/Run event.

For now, I've had 2 very solid weeks of training, nothing terribly long or hard, but no missed workouts. Yesterday featured the Bella Vista road for an hour and fifteen minutes, and this past Friday I found myself way out...somewhere near the end of the road behind my house, somewhere I've never been before.

Cattle Ranch

Near the end of the road

The thing about Friday's run (and something which hasn't been a problem this summer because of the ridiculous rains) was the strength of the sun.  Holy cow did I get dehydrated.  I described it to Nataly's cousin:  pee the color of a rotten orange.

Anyway, my other runs were essentially nondescript: the usual roads, easy miles, one "stride" workout and 1 short run in Vibrams, in total seven hours and fifteen minutes of time dedicated to exercise last week after five very easy hours the week before.

On to the race calendar.  Last September I ran my first race in Bolivia, a 10k which I essentially did as a hard training run (I had all of 2 weeks notice, and really hadn't done any specific prep).  I did nab a PR, but the real benefit was meeting another expat runner who was connected to the race scene.  Via Facebook, she alerted me to a calendar of races in Santa Cruz for 2014.  All 10k or less, but at least it was something.

Then about 4 weeks ago, out leaked info in regard to an actual marathon in Santa Cruz.  Unfortunately, the race organizers decided to provide 2 weeks lead for competitors to get ready, and I didn't participate:  why run a road marathon, out of shape?  I could have finished, but... I gripped on the FB and one of my friends a couple of days later provided me with a link to the "Bolivia Adventure Series".

Oh Happy Day!  

A series of 5 races potentially concluding with an 80k Ultra outside of La Paz in November.  Since then I've been tweeking a training schedule and calendar and I've got it pretty dialed.

Here they are.  A, B, and C indicate whether I am using them as training races, or if there's any focus/special prep for the race.

• Circuit of the Stations, 8k: C priority, will be using this as a LTHR test.  May 18.
• Laguna Volcan 18k: C priority, part of the Bolivia Adventure Series.  June 8.
• Sky Race 28k: C priority, part of the Bolivia Adventure Series.  This race climbs the "Bolivia Death Road".  August 10.
• Ninos de la Calle 10k.  This is the race I PR'd in last year, and I'll come back to it this year, C-B priority.  If I'm feeling strong, I'll probably ease off the volume for the week and give it a good crack.  September 7.
• Conociendo a la PACHA MAMA 100k:  This is where things get a bit fuzzy.  This race is the race in Argentina.  If I do this race, it's because the Ultra Trail Tiwanaku is a part bike/part run event and I couldn't convince the race organizers to let me run the whole thing solo.  It would be the end of my racing season. A priority (or not at all).  October 13.
• Salar 42k.  Part of the Bolivia Adventure Series. B priority (or not at all) October 19.
• Ultra Trail Tiwanaku 80k.  80 kilometers running around La Paz? Yes please.  November 23.  A priority.  
• Cotoca 21k December, date unknown.  A or C priority depending on UTT.

There you have it.  I've got training weeks scheduled out to the end of November, the longest individual week will have me at eleven and a half hours.  That should equate to a distance somewhere in the neighborhood of 135 kilometers, which should get me to the finish line of the Pacha Mama.  Last year's winning time was 13 hours there, so it's not an easy race, but the field wasn't exactly from Boulder either.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and check back for weekly training updates as my season progresses (so cool to be able to say that)...
J

Holy Crap! A Race (report in 3 parts)...Pt. 1: Discovery.

Wow, so it's been a long time since I put keyboard to screen in this manner, hopefully I'm not too rusty.

First, a bit of an apology for dropping off there.  A number of things happened that made writing more than a little difficult (and perhaps too personal) so I took a break.  I don't know how much or how consistently I'll post here in the future, but having just run in my first race since 2011, I figure I probably ought to put something down.

As anyone who's read more than one entry on this blog is likely aware I like to style myself an ultrarunner.  Of course, I've run all of 2 ultramarathons, so it's probably more appropriate to call me an aspiring ultrarunner.

This year I've been hoping I'd be able to get to Colorado this coming weekend to run in Ouray and follow that up with 50 miles in Steamboat next weekend.  I've logged miles directed at Running Rabbit Running in what I thought would be good for a finish time somewhat under the 10 hour mark.

As the race dates have gotten closer though, I've realized that the airfare wasn't going to materialize and I decided to pay attention to an injury (achilles tendon) that I'd been ignoring.  So on August 16, I took the first of 10 days off.

Around that same time I gripped about my achilles on Twitter.  @RunnerMatt (fast guy from Boulder), responded that he'd had great success treating his ailing achilles using a roller.  I gave that a google and found myself a bit confused as to why I'd never encountered the treatment in my previous searches for relief.

I went to the grocery store and bought a rolling pin and went to work on my calfs.

Let's just call them tight and leave it at that (ouch)...

After a week off which involved nightly rolling pin work, I felt good enough to try out a short run.  I made it all of 100 meters from my gate before stopping, turning around, walking home and going to work with the rolling pin.  That was Friday about 2 weeks ago.

The following Sunday, Deneb, Nataly and I were at the IC Norte (a grocery store with a little mall attached) for lunch and some supplies for the house.  Recently a New Balance store opened upstairs in the "mall". Now...I prefer Brooks shoes, but NB are a decent second place and I've written at length about the MT10 on this very blog.  Love that shoe.  Anyway, since they opened I've harassed the store owner to:

1. Order shoes in size 13+, and
2. Stock some of the Minimus line.

This time when we went in there, there was a table set up on the side:

Sign up for 5k & 10k race on Sunday, Sep. 1.  

The woman who was collecting the entry fees and registering participants was on lunch and I wasn't sure how my heel would feel so I didn't leave my name on the desk, but did say I'd be back later on in the week (pending a successful test of the achilles)...

Thanks for reading, up next: 1 week of specific training.
J

Race Report--Blues Cruise 50k: Lesson Learned.

Getting Up and Getting There
[Note - all photographs were provided free of charge by the race organization, funwithphotos.smugmug.com, and iultra.smugmug.com]
From Erik's house, the race start for the Blues Cruise was about a 30 minute drive.  Packet pickup started at 7:30 and we wanted to eat a bagel and drink some coffee before hand so Erik set an alarm for 5 AM.  I figured I'd hear him puttering around so I didn't bother (I was on the couch in the living room).  When finally I did hear him, I took a look at my phone and discovered it was quarter to 6, a much more reasonable time for waking in my humble opinion.  It turns out Erik had had similar thoughts and decided 5 AM was a bit early and had set his alarm for 5:30.

Bagels were consumed, coffee drunk, and deposits in the water closet made.  We girded ourselves against the inclement weather that decided to arrive over the course of the night.  When we got up, though dark and impossible to see it sounded like it was pouring rain outside.  It was cold.  The rain eventually cleared out before the race started, though there were a couple of instances where a gentle shower passed overhead.

We left at 7, and got to the race start promptly at 7:30.  We'd checked in and had our numbers and pins no later than 7:35.  That left the better part of an hour to hang out and chat.  We went back to Erik's car.

Eventually the clock ticked over to 8:25 and the race director was marshaling the racers to the start.  Erik and I said good luck to one another and went our separate ways.  I took a position about 3 rows back and Erik chose more middle of the pack.  The race director said, "Ready! Set! Go!"

Really.

Race Start to Aid #1

I'm in the right middle of this pic to the left of the tie dye - white shirt, black (almost knee length) shorts.
Interestingly enough, the guy I crossed the finishing line with is right behind me.

The race went out faster than I was happy with, but not too much.  My first glance at my Garmin showed a low 7 minute pace and I was wanting something more along the lines of 7:45 so I eased off the pace.  The course quickly turned left onto some single track and tipped uphill.  A bunch of folks passed me, but I wasn't worried about placement at mile #1.  I was warm and into a sustainable groove.

By the time we arrived at mile 2, I'd warmed up enough that my shirt was uncomfortable and I'd hung it through the back of my visor.  Also by mile 2, I'd started hearing a bit from my stomach.  It was saying, "Dude, you know what?  I'm kind of hungry here.  Think we could get some fuel?"  This dialog would continue throughout the race, but I don't think it cost me any time.  At the start I ate a barely ripe banana, and wanted to grab a couple of gels, but I couldn't find any.  Obviously, I was pretty was anxious to get to the first aid station where I could get some sugary goo down my gullet.

I may have been one of the only people in the top 50 or so to stop there, and I took a moment to appreciate the aid station workers:  Jake and Ellwood Blues.  It actually didn't hit me at first; I was so focused on obtaining gel. By the time it did, I was just through the aid station.  I stopped and requested a song, but perhaps I should have asked if they had any rubber biscuits on the table.

Aid #1 to Ski Slope Hill
The remainder of the first third of the race was flat and relatively fast, but mud kept it from being really fast.  I was pretty efficient at the second aid station to the point where I neglected to appropriately acknowledge the workers there.  Darn it: Race goal #2 - Fail at mile 6.5.

The organizers had a number of folks on the course pointing out hazards and directing traffic.  Many of the bridges were quite slippery.  I was pleased with my Bikilas at how well they performed on the wet wood, but in the mud they weren't ideal.  Not sure any shoe would have fared well in that slop.

The first 10 miles featured three of the seven aid stations on the course.  That's right: seven aid stations for 31 miles.  Truly a well supported race.  I had actually considered running the race without a water bottle, but ended coming down on the side of caution.  Running dry would have had much more dire consequences than a sore shoulder.

Throughout this portion of the race there was always someone close by.  Either just in front of me or just behind.  A little positional shuffling occurred, but no great shakeout happened.  That changed on Ski Slope Hill.

Ski Slope Hill to Aid Station #7
The third aid station was located right at the base of the first real obstacle on the course.  I chatted with the volunteers and thanked them for being out in the crappy weather.  I grabbed a banana and a couple of gels, I also topped up my water bottle with lemon lime Gatorade.  That's the only time I put something other than water in my bottle and also the last time I'll ever drink that stuff.  It just tasted awful and I was in fluid avoidance mode all the way to the 4th aid station.

A young guy pulled up to me here who I'd alternate back and forth with for the rest of the race.  He noted that this was his first ultra, later he noted it was also his first marathon.  He had logged a couple of olympic distance triathlons, but good work young dude - at the finish he declared himself bitten by the ultra bug.

We left the aid station pretty much together, and I settled into a solid power hike.  Young guy tried running the first bit of the climb, but quickly dropped into a walk.  Power hiking was absolutely the right decision and I ended up blowing by a whole bunch of folks.  I don't know precisely how many, but by the top of the climb I was tucked into the position I would stay until pretty much the finish.  I think visiting it the day before with Erik really helped on this key section of the course.

I played leap frog with a few folks between Aid 3 and Aid 4; they'd pass me on the descents and I'd pass them on the climbs, but for each climb it would always take a bit longer for them to catch me.  By the time we went through mile 12, I was in 30th place.

Once through Aid 4, it seemed to take an eternity to get to aid station number 5.  Aid station 4 was at mile 13.5 or so and Aid 5 came after mile 18, I think that is the largest gap on the course.  I pretty much ran out of water and I had only taken 2 gels so by the time I got to the 5th aid station, I was fantastically glad to see the volunteers.

I ate a good sized chunk of banana here and this time I asked how far it was until the next aid station so that I would know how many gels to grab.  The aid workers didn't know off the top of their heads, but were kind enough to dig the info up quickly so that I had it when I set back out on the trail.  I took 3 gels with me and went back out.

The next part of the race I recall running large chunks without being able to see anyone either in front or behind me.  I eventually caught up to a guy who used to live in the area and had regularly ridden his mountain bike on the trails of Blue Marsh Lake.  He and I ran a mile or two together, and I commented to him that somewhere around mile 5 I realized I was running the race without medical insurance and really needed to take it easy on the descents.  I probably should have just kept my mouth shut.

He and I arrived at the stream crossing together at mile 19.  The water was cool, but not freezing cold.  It actually felt really good on my tiring legs.  I was a bit nervous, wading through the water, that there would be some hidden rock or danger that would send me sprawling, but I was able to cross without misadventure.

On the ensuing climb I left my companion behind and started thinking about how I'd go about finishing the race.  When would I start looking for the energy to kick for the finish.  I was actually feeling pretty good.  I knew that my 4:30 goal was gone, but the muddy conditions really took that off of the table for me before the race even started.

I did think that 4:45 was still possible and I decided that I'd try to get as close to that time as I could without totally cratering and losing even more time.  At the next aid station I took on board 3 more gels, thanked the workers and set out chasing my revised stretch goal.

Until this point I'd been taking extra care on the descents.  I tried to avoid big piles of leaves and run where I could see there was clear footing.  Along a descent somewhere around mile 25.4 there was no clear trail, just leaves, and I absolutely tattooed a rock hidden in the leaves.

My toes were curled up, so I hit the rock with the head of my third metatarsal on my right foot.  The pain was truly remarkable and I thought I'd broken the bone.  I limped to the bottom of the little descent and hung my toes over the side of a bridge.  I was happy to see that I could wiggle them fairly freely and continued on - not that there was much choice, the next aid station was one mile further along and I wasn't about to sit down on the trail.

Aid Station 7 to the Finish
I got to the last aid station sporting a rather pronounced limp, but I was sure I could finish.  They were serving perogies, and brats (I think), and had a jar full of pickles.  The Eagles were playing so I requested some pickle juice.  The volunteer laughed and poured off me a shot.  Mmmmm...Salty goodness.

I hit the trail for the final bit and started giving what I had left.  4:45 wasn't going to happen, but maybe I could still beat 5 hours and pull a few places back.

The young guy from the Ski Slope Hill aid station passed at the aid station, so I de-greeted the aid station workers and set out in pursuit.  I could tell I was slowly reeling the whippersnapper in when my foot made this wonderful, cracking/crunching sound which was accompanied by a grinding sensation.

I bleated a choice expletive and lurched to the side of the trail.  I stood there for a minute and thought about dropping.  I had a mile or so to go back to the last aid station and 3.5 to finish.  I decided I'd grit my teeth and press on, hell or high water I'd finish this race.

After a minute or two, the endorphins took the edge off and I was able to manage a "log" - part limp part jog. I even realized that while touch and go, I could probably finish in under 5 hours.  And I did.  It was painful and I had a while where I didn't know where the course went, but eventually I got there.  The guy I'd left behind at the water crossing helped point me in the right direction and asked after my well being.  I'm glad he came by when he did, because I was about to go off course.

At the Finish.
I crossed the finish line in the 59th minute of the 4th hour after the start of the race.  I ran this race faster than I ran the first half of the Steamboat 50, while finishing on a severely damaged foot.

My first stop after the finish line was the buffet table where I took on board a couple of raspberry tart kind of  cakes, a brat and a potato pancake.  I then went over to the paramedics who were kind enough to check the pulse in my foot and provide me with a bag of ice and some gauze to keep the ice in place.  I don't know if my foot is broken, but we're 5 days out now and the swelling is almost gone so I expect I just messed up some tendons.

Erik came in about an hour later.  He'd beaten his goal time of 6:30 by a full 11 minutes.  The Blues Cruise was also his second ultra in 4 weeks and his second ever ultramarathon.  You can read his report on his blog, it seems he's been bitten by the ultra-bug too.

I ended up finishing 30th overall and took home a rock which said Blues Cruise 5th place 40-49.

Lesson Learned.
Over all I enjoyed the race, but I don't see myself ever running a race in Five Fingers again.  Had I had more protection, I would have been able to run the descents more aggressively and I would not have suffered the injury at mile 25 which almost took me out of the race.

My Vibrams will still be my primary road shoe, but as long as I'm racing (not just out for a run) I won't be using them on the trail.  With a burlier shoe, I'm certain I'd have been in the top 20 of this race.  So, while I had a great time out there running the Blues Cruise, I'm packing a fair load of regret as well.

Oh well.
Thanks for reading, and consider "choosing your protection rather than your correction" (Eric Orton).
J

Running Sunday

After 2 days of travel I've arrived in VT.  The damage from Irene is really quite remarkable; it's amazing what a flooding stream can move.  I'll put some pictures up next week, but today I'm thinking about the Blues Cruise.

I'm picking up my rental car this afternoon and driving to Ithaca where I'll crash at my Dad's.  I've got to pick up a hand bottle for the race, so I expect I'll hit this store tomorrow.  Afterward, I'll drive down to Reading and start getting into race mode with my old friend Running Moose.

Speaking of race mode, I've been nurturing a "playoff beard" ever since I decided to come up here and run.  I absolutely have no problems growing hair on my head, but the face - that's another thing entirely.  It'll be good to shave.

It looks like the weather for the race will be touch and go.  Temperature wise, perfect, but with a chance of rain on top of already muddy trails.  I'm going to go with short sleeve tech shirt, shorts, buff, gloves, and my Bikilas.  I brought my Trek Sports, but they have a tendency to rub the outside ball of my feet much more than the others and given the wet trail conditions, I'm going to try and minimize my chance for blisters.

The trail conditions will also rather significantly impact my goals for the race.  Priority #1 will be to maintain a positive outward appearance (smile).  After that, well, I'd like to knock over my time goals, but muddy trails with steep hills may make that difficult.  It's a bit weird to write this, but it will probably be good to be near the front in the second half of the race - hopefully that's some place I'll find myself.

Thanks for reading, and don't count all of your chickens before they hatch.
J

Quick note re: Changing Plans

So, Irene came and went and left my wonderful home state a wreck.  Couple with that a real jones to get home and I have decided to travel north at the end of September.  That makes a big change to the schedule and asks a pretty serious question.

• No marathon PR attempt in November.
• What do I do with all of this base?

Turns out a very good, very old friend of mine is running (his second) ultra marathon on October 2nd.  I'm going to be jumping in with him, the Blues Cruise 50K.  Here's a link to the website, which is quite a bit out of date.

I don't have many expectations as far as the race itself is concerned, but I'll lay out a couple of goals.

1. Go under 5 hours.
2. Smile.
3. (Stretch) 4.5 hours.

I think all 3 are attainable, but am confident in only #2.  We'll see.  Should be fun.  I'll also be running this race in my five fingers.  I had wanted to run the marathon in November in them, but this'll have to do.
Thanks for reading and be sure you always have a stretch.
Jay

Space Coast Marathon

That's the one.  Maximum elevation on the course is something like 35 feet asl and now I've got 2 more weeks.

I think I'll even go to the pre-race dinner.

First run in 3 weeks.

I've had a brutal couple of weeks trying to get my wheels on. I've been thinking about running every day, but the final spur never quite arrived.

Part of the problem is that I haven't had a goal for several months.  The last two Septembers, I've had motivation in the form of Imogene.  I knew I'd be running Imogene in 2009 in September of 2008. I knew I'd be running Imogene in 2010 somewhere in the middle of mile 6 of Imogene in 2009.  I had Imogene on my calendar, for the remainder of 2010, but somewhere in February that turned into wishful thinking.  It's back on the schedule for 2012, but this year - nope.

What finally got me out the gate today?  I believe I've got a race to train for.

• Round trips from Santa Cruz to Miami aren't too unreasonable.  So this past Sunday, I was looking for a marathon in Florida to get something on the schedule.  
• Pensacola to the rescue.  November 13.  
• A perfect 23 week training cycle too, 3 months of base training, 2 months to build intensity, 2 weeks to peak, and 1 week to race.  
• I'm going to try to shatter my "PR".  

I ran the Steamboat Marathon in 3:33.06.  That race is run at elevation and is more often downhill than up, but there is quite the lump at mile 23 which absolutely killed me.  It took 5 (or more) minutes out of my time had the road merely stayed flat.

Since I've been in Bolivia, a litany of things have resulted in my dropping a very large chunk of my gut.  I think I have lost 30 lbs relative to what I weighed when I ran Steamboat.  Unfortunately I don't have a scale so that's just a guess at this point.  With the weight loss, good preparation and me going down instead of up to race, I think I can take 20+ minutes out of my time.  Can I go under 3 hours?  There's a question to monitor...

Anyway today was the first day of my training program.  Since I haven't run in weeks I decided to peg the speedometer at 8:30 and not pay attention to my HR.  I did wear my monitor and saw 198 BPM at one point but with 3 weeks off that's really not surprising.  I ran for 45 minutes and averaged 8:34/mile total distance?  You do the math, I don't want to turn on my Garmin.  Next week I'll start being a slave to it again and in 2 more weeks I'll check the number I'm using to estimate my lactate threshold.

Anyway, I'll soon have a financial incentive to head out the door every day.  That's a powerful motivator.
Thanks for reading.
J

Steamboat 50 (Part 3 - Return)

What's gone before and before before...

I messed around up top of Rabbit Ears probably for 5-10 minutes.  It was cool, but at some point I had to head back down that grunt of a hill I had just climbed up.  A volunteer kindly took my picture and I was gone.  Back toward where I had come from.  I typically go downhill pretty fast and I passed a few folks on my way back down.  I also slipped on some steep loose gravel, but just like Imogene somehow managed to avoid any serious consequences.

Somewhere in the 2 and a half mile stretch from the turn around back to the Dumont aid station I went through my longest run ever.  It was remarkable, I even commented to my little video camera about it.  I was feeling pretty good, but my stomach was starting to grumble at me.  Nothing serious, but it felt full and didn't care to stop feeling full.

Back at Dumont, I thought some carbonated beverage might help and I drank some coke and ginger ale to see if that might help.  I hit my drop bag for a couple more gels and Clif Bloks, turned down a beer offer and headed back onto the trail.

Charles Danforth and I had been pretty close entering this aid station, but I lost him somewhere just before it and I wouldn't see him again for quite a while.   I figured he was visiting with his family and that's when it really hit me that my wife and son weren't going to see me finish.  I got really pretty choked up, but the moment passed.

I ran alone for a bit.  I leapfrogged with a couple of very nice women for a while.  Then, as I'm negotiating a downed tree while simultaneously passing someone, my other nemesis of the day appears.  Chris, a guy I had met on a "Church of the Holy Trail" run several weeks back, was letting me pass.

Initially it didn't register, but then I was like:  Hey aren't you Chris?  While he was simultaneously re-introducing himself and saying that he thought he had recognized me eariler.  We would run together for pretty much the rest of the race.

The stomach issue was becoming a real problem, and I was starting to suffer from micro-cramps in my legs.  I had no desire to drink and eating was out of the question.  I got to aid station number 6 and declared myself perplexed and an aid volunteer commented on the salt crusting my cheeks, suggested SCaps, some melon and a turkey wrap.  Initially, I thought the turkey wrap was the all time worst idea ever presented to me, but right then Charles shows back up and said that I should really give it a try.  I was sure he was ahead of me, but it turned out the other way around.  I accepted the roll and headed back out onto the trail.

I would take a bite of the wrap and a mouthful of water to soften it up.  Eventually I got almost the entire thing down.  I was starting to feel better too, but was still worried about the cramping.  I had a vial of Advil and Endurolytes.  Probably a half hour after the SCaps, I took 4 Endurolyte capsules.  This worked.  By the time I got to the Long Lake aid station, I was feeling good again.  My rough patch officially over.

Chris, Charles and I ran in a fairly loose line until we got to the Long Lake Aid station, where I stopped to fill my water bottles and eat a pretzel.  I headed out, and very quickly realized I was forgetting something.  Keys and phone were in my drop bag.  I turned around retraced 100 meters and found my bag sitting in the sun.  I opened it up and upon grabbing my keys and phone, I literally scalded my hand and they ended up on the ground.  I was more than a little surprised, but upon reflection quickly realized that what I had done was effectively leave them on the dashboard of a car in the hot sun.  I picked up the phone and tried to open it, but it was stuck.  I was fairly certain that the thing was dead.  I hoped that the same wouldn't be the case for the keys.  Oh well, they got stuffed into my fanny pack and I headed back out onto the trail with my fingers crossed.

This section from aid station #7 until the Mount Werner station is remote and the race director made it clear that rescue would be difficult if one found oneself in serious difficulty.  I was not having problems, but as I traversed this section I came across 2 people who were.

One gentleman had been unable to keep anything down since the Dumont Aid station -15 miles back, and another person who had been in difficulty since just after the turn.  I offered them both water, gels or Bloks, but they both declined.  I don't know if they finished, but I was really struck with the stubbornness of people who undertake this kind of thing.  I don't think that kind of stubbornness is in me, but I don't really think this race really tested me either.

I caught back up to Chris somewhere on this second to last section, and I think he was experiencing a bit of a rough patch.  We motored along together for a mile or two until he declared that he was holding me back and pulled off.  I wasn't really troubled by our pace, but thought perhaps a fairly cheerful guy could be pretty annoying if you're suffering so I went on alone.

Upon reaching Mt. Werner, there was Charles again.  Dude was truly my nemesis on this day.  At this point I was feeling tremendous.  I didn't really take much time at the aid station, I simply topped up on Succeed and got motoring on the descent.

I started flying.  I pushed the pace into the mid 7's and passed a whole bunch of people.  I was feeling good.  Suddenly, my blisters from Imogene let go.  The one on my left heel splattered seemingly all over and the one on my right heel was torturing me.  I started questioning my own sanity and slowed down a bit.  It was rapidly getting warmer as I descended the mountain and I walked a bit in the shade and had a drink.  I got passed back by one of the people I had passed higher up on the climb.  Then the wheels came off.  I remembered I wanted to finish with a smile.  So the 7's turned into 12s and 13s.  No worries.

Charles came by along with several other people.  I wanted to finish alone so I waited until there was a good gap and jogged it out.  My Mom and her dog were at the finish as was Fred Abramowitz with a pint glass and a hand shake.  Charles quickly greeted me at the finish and said that he couldn't get beat by a rookie.  Chris came in just a couple of minutes after I did and I went over and thanked him for the time we spent on course.

Anyway, this was really remarkable.  Somehow I had finished.  My official finish time was 11 hours 27 minutes and change.  I negatively split the course and I met all of my race goals:  Finish, Smile, go under 12 hours.  Had I not gotten behind on electrolytes and water, I might have been close to 11 hours, but that goal will have to wait for another year.

I believe the ultrabug has bitten and I've been infected.
Thanks for reading.
J

Steamboat 50 (Part 2 - Outbound)

What went before...

The race director marshaled the field out the door around 6.  I wasn't sure what time precisely, but we all clotted together in the start/finish chute and waited for word to get under weigh.  It was chilly at the start and I was wearing the exact kit I went with for Imogene.  Loose fitting wind breaker I've had for an eon, buff, CU Visor, light weight gloves, Boulder Marathon long sleeve tech shirt, shorts, Ijinji (celery color) socks, and Cascadias.  This very quickly turned out to be way too much clothing, but I appreciated it initially.

We didn't have to wait long until we were released and quickly everyone was off and running.  Even me.  I realized my folly fairly quickly and settled into a solid power hike.  This is my first 50 and none of my goals required my "running" this opening stretch.  I expect I wouldn't finish last in an uphill time trial which ended at the Mount Werner Aid station, but with the better part of 44 more miles to go after that first climb I was happy just to let more ambitious bunnies bound away.

After a mile or so, I was very close to dead last.  Looking back down the hill I could only see 6-10 headlamps behind me.  While somewhat disconcerting, I figured that was really not tragic, as the energy I was saving here would probably pay dividends once the opening climb was over.  This is also probably a good place to note that I was wearing my HRM and had decided that an appropriate max HR for this climb would be 170 (my average for Imogene), I didn't set the alarm, but I checked regularly and I never did exceed that target.  Throughout the first part of the race I used my HRM to keep my effort in check:  whenever my HR climbed into the 160's I dialed back the effort a bit.

As the climb progressed, my conservative approach paid off and I started reeling folks ahead of me back in, all the while staying within an assumed safe effort.  We hit the top of the climb and the first aid station and the local radio was blasting Barry White:  Can't get enough of your love or You sexy thang or something like that.  Up next though, Born to Run by The Boss.  That got a laugh.  My split up to this point was 1 hour 44 minutes.

I grabbed a bit of banana, some Succeed, and ventured out onto the running portion of the course.  Almost immediately upon leaving the Mount Werner Aid station we were onto some sweet sweet singletrack.  Briefly I was alone, but soon I came upon a group who were ticking over a pace I could dig.  There was banter.  We discussed the beetle kill, forest fires.  Where everyone was from...  Spirits were high and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

The train stuck together until the Long Lake Aid station where I met my first drop bag and ditched all of my excess clothing.  Jacket, gloves, buff, keys and phone all went into my bag.  I grabbed a couple of gels and Clif Bloks.  I topped up the Succeed in one water bottle and water in the other and headed out again.

The singletrack continued.  I was alone again.  The entire group I had been running with took less time to get through Long Lake than me, but that was fine.  Running alone in woods and open fields like the ones that feature RRR isn't exactly a difficult chore.

Eventually though I came upon another group of about 10 probably a quarter mile ahead of me.  It took a bit, but I ended up catching up, working my way through and eventually out the front of the group.  I think it was during this pass where I acquired my day's nemesis.  Charles Danforth has a website with many detailed trip reports.  I referenced it several times prior to running the Pawnee/Buchannan loop earlier this summer.  I also was planning on running the Four Passes Loop in Aspen with my cousin and Charles's site came in handy again because he had backpacked it before.  I bailed on Four Passes because of weather, but it's still out there...

Charles and I would go back and fourth the remainder of the day.  We would run together for a while, he'd pull ahead and I'd pull him back.  It was great having somebody to chat with of about the same ability.

Aid station #3 came and went without much fanfare.  Looking at my data on the day, I probably ran this third section too hard.  Perhaps the excitement of catching and passing a group got the best of me, but I was having fun, so...

Charles and I ran to aid station number 4 together the entire time.  Around mile 20, Goeff Roes passed us going the other direction very quickly followed by about 4 other runners who I wasn't familiar with.  They were all 9-10 miles ahead of us at about 4 hours into the race.

Aid number 4 was the only one with easy access for crew and family.  Charles had the latter.  I envy him that, as my wife and son have been in Bolivia for more than 2 months.  This time through though I was fascinated enough by the people willing to quaff the Dales, Gubna and other frothy beverages being offered by the aid station volunteers, that I didn't really do any reflection of my own.

At this aid, I had another bag full of gels at this aid station as well as a clean short sleeve tech shirt which I gratefully changed into.  I perused the offerings other than beer under the aid tent and headed out to the turn around at the Rabbit Ears themselves.

This final section of the outbound portion of the race was "run" on a jeep road which started out gradually enough, but eventually became a real grunt.  It's like the race organizers wanted to remind the racers that this was an ultramarathon and that they damn well better be sure that they really want to be doing this.  After 18 or so miles or so of fairly steady running, they put a seemingly near vertical incline for everyone to savor.

During the gradual section, I saw Jim and Brooks on their return.  They were about 5 miles ahead.  Jim looked really quite strong and Brooks really quite determined.  Charles dropped me on the climb up to the Ears, but not by too much and I wanted to mess around a bit when I got up to the top anyway.

The Rabbit Ears are remnants of volcanism that occurred somewhere in the latter third of the last 65 million years.  The landform itself was really pretty cool and its volcanic matrix contained large blocks of the country rock it intruded.  Anyway, I climbed up to it so that I could get a good look.  Shot some video and declared the landform Miocene in provenance, climbed back down to where the volunteers were checking runners off as they made it to the turnaround and headed back the way I came rather full of confidence that I could finish the race.

I made it to the turn in 5 hours and 48 minutes, 12 hours wasn't remotely out of the question, but that waits until tomorrow...

Thanks for reading,
J

Steamboat 50 (Part 1)

This is a tough one.  The memory is a bit vague.  It's been tough to codify my thoughts on the race.

The quick and dirty of it is:  Holy Crap, really?!

But if you're interested the rest of this one and probably 3 more posts will be dedicated to the race itself and it's denouement.  The longer version probably starts the night before...

Like I noted in the post on Saturday, I went to the race meeting and picked up my packet.  The race director gave a moving memoriam to Jenna Gruben, an ultra runner and uber-volunteer for the Steamboat race.  When I picked up my packet there was a little shrine set up to her with a couple of quilt tiles to be signed by the racers.  It didn't feel right, as I had never met Jenna, so I didn't put my name down or offer any words.  It's interesting though because when I think back, the Fruita race was touched by Jenna too and prior to the start, there was a moment of silence and some racers adopted some sort of iconography in remembrance.  Had Dave mentioned Imogene to me 4 years ago instead of three, I expect I would have known this person to whom I have devoted one of my longer paragraphs, but as it stands I guess I missed out.

After the meeting, I hightailed it for food.  Went to the City Market and picked up an 8 piece, dark meat, fried chicken box.  You know, "The cornerstone of a nutritious dinner."  I ate 4 pieces of chicken for dinner and added in some pasta salad, broccoli, a half gallon of apple juice and some Chips Ahoy with milk.  Probably a 2000 calorie dinner at a bare minimum.  Carbo-loading is for short races.

Upon eating, I set my alarm for 4:45 (I think) and turned out the lights.  It was about 9. I felt tired and expected to sleep.  Nope.  I usually don't have too much trouble sleeping, but before Imogene and before Run Rabbit Run, I slept like crap.  I actually got up around 4:20, turned on SportsCenter, and got my act together.

 "Mellow Cup Coffee" is enough to oil the works apparently.  It was nice to get that out of the way before I even left the motel.  I ate a few more Chips Ahoy with milk - "The cornerstone of a nutritious breakfast," - I mixed up a couple of water bottles full of Enduromax, grabbed my gear and headed out the door around 5:20.

I parked, got checked in, and got some water.  Mellow Cup had performed the most pressing duty and I figured I didn't need any more caffeine so I was looking for hydration.  I also grabbed a muffin, but I was pretty well topped up with Chips Ahoy so I only ate the top.  I usually hate when people do that, but I was willing to make an exception.

While milling about waiting to get marshalled to the start, I met Jim and Brooks.  Two dudes who would end up in the top 20.  I was familiar with Brooks because of Brandon and Jim from twitter.  Both gents are obviously much, much faster than I and I wouldn't see them at the finish, but that's a story for another day (Thursday maybe?).

Thanks for reading.
Jay

Steamboat Ruminations

All right.  A couple of days removed from Imogene and I'm starting to realize the impending 50.  This is a similar year to last in that one week following "The Race" on my calendar, I scheduled another.  Last year, it was my first marathon.  Boulder.  That race was run on a day which was brutally hot, and the organizers somehow managed to run out of water and Gatorade for the later finishers of the race.  I also seem to remember results taking forever to get posted afterwards.  Googling around afterwards, in part to see if anyone was injured or worse as a result of the organizers rather lax preparations, I stumbled across Brandon's blog, and that really got this ball rolling - You know, if that dude can do this stuff, why can't I?  So...

Early in the year this year, I had proposed to my cousin that we run the Mount Desert Island Marathon.  He used to be a sub 3 hour marathoner, and might well be close to that now if he trained for it, but skiing is his real passion.  I was thinking I'd try for a Boston qualifier at MDI, but wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be wasting a plane ticket, lodging and the sundry assemblage of folks for what might turn out to be an abject failure...  So I put the Steamboat Marathon on my schedule with a time goal of 3:30.  If I could hit 3:30, I'd bust my ass with interval training and miserable hot runs throughout this summer and then try down at sea level to uncork 3:15.  It was a hard cap.

Steamboat went well through the first 22 miles.  I was well under my 3:30 goal, but two factors conspired against me in the last 4 miles.  One, a not insignificant hill got in my way and two, the sun.  The lower stretches of the course were very exposed and the temperature seemed to get very high.  I suffered.  I had opted not to don my "Sun Runner" hat prior to the race and that might have been the difference.  I finished Steamboat in 3:33.  Three minutes off of my goal pace.  No BQ attempt this year, run for fun was the name of the game.  Intervals suck, but running long in the mountains doesn't:  a fifty miler would make it onto my schedule.

At first I thought it would be the North Fork 50.  I've got some roots in Buffalo Creek, and a fundraiser for the volunteer fire department seemed like a tremendous idea.  But, couple the high temps of July 17th with a difficult course I was already very familiar with thanks to my MTB and I decided NF50 would be a no go.  I started thinking that a 50 after Imogene would be sweet.  Ideally something in October, but I wanted something that didn't involve laps.

I ended up deciding that Steamboat would be the race, but I had to hold off on registering until August because of financial timing issues.  When I got around to clicking the link "register now" the race was already over it's 150 runner cap.  I was sad.  I mailed the race director a note, "Are you going to open up more slots?"  and got back, "We're going to try.  Check the site regularly."  Which I dutifully did and lo, more slots opened.  Thanks Montrail.

So, just like last year.  One week after Imogene, I'll be undertaking my first of some crazy distance.  Last year it was a marathon which took almost 5 hours.  This year it'll be my first ultramarathon.  I'd say I have a specific time goal, but I wanted to go under 4 for last year's Boulder Marathon, so I'll just say I won't be breaking 10 hours this year.  Next year - 100?  Um... Doubtful.

Re: today's running.  Quads are still sore from Imogene, but much better than yesterday.  All else is happy.  I ran 3 miles very easy in my VFF with Homey who also got brushed today.  Good day all around.

Thank for reading.
J