721 for 140

If you don't know those numbers then obviously this post or invite won't mean a thing. And you live on Mars...

721! 721 frickin applicants for the Hardrock lottery on Sunday, December 4th. Yes, pale in comparison to the 2000 that applied to Western States but I think the odds of getting selected are about the same for both. No doubt WS has more history but my analogy is of a skier: If you want to be seen (and the key word is "seen") on groomed, wide open runs with night life to boot then you go to Vail. If you want to ski (and the key word is "ski") gnarly terrain with tons of fresh powder all day, every day and no night life then you go to Silverton resort. Vail costs a lot of money, Silverton not so much with your own guide... You get my point.

Hardrock is a special race for anyone who has participated. And I say "participated" because it goes beyond just running the event, it's anyone who has volunteered or even spectated. This is a community, i.e. one big family. For the last 7 years my family and I have gone to Silverton the first part of July, almost as a pilgrimage. Last year I did not run but I had the pleasure of crewing and pacing for Nick Clark but my family did not come and it was different. In fact, my wife and father in law were upset when I decided not to run and said, "well, what are we going to do now?" So you see, it gets in your blood. But once you come to Silverton for Hardrock and meet the people and see the amazing scenery, you will know what I am talking about. It's really special.

Anyways, to extend the large family to the front range, Todd Gangelhoff is hosting a Hardrock lottery party on Sunday, December 4th. You don't have to be in the lottery to participate, come over to see what this is all about and go for a run with us before hand. I will be the whipping boy once the lottery is over by all those not selected because I have an automatic entry. And I am proud to say that! I have been on pins and needles every year I have entered. One year I got into the race the day before, that sucked. But what I'm saying is that if you don't get selected there is still hope. The edge of getting off the wait list is around 30 to 35 slots, I was 33 that year...

Here are the specifics:

The Hardrock 100 Lottery Brunch and Happy Hour

It’s better to be disappointed among friends

Fun run starts at 7:30 am

Food, beers and lottery begin

at 11:00 am

Dec. 4th, 2011

5333 Golf Course Dr.

Morrison, CO 80465

3/748-0666

teamgangels@gmail.com

Where do I begin

Appropriate title for the blog post because it's been quite some time since I've posted anything and I have lots to say. This is gonna be a long one so go grab one of these.

Sure lots has been happening on the running front but also on the life front as well. Lately I've been in and out of some sort of motivational funk which turns into forcing myself out the door to run - that's not the way it's supposed to be! Yesterday on the Buchanan/Pawnee loop outing with friends really brought home why I started running on the trails some 8 years ago - enjoying the great outdoors with friends! But before I recap yesterdays adventure I want to go back to the SpeedGoat 50K and recap that race.

SpeedGoat 50K - 6.44 11th place

I have always wanted to do the SG50 since Karl started it a few years ago but the problem always has been recovering from HardRock. I don't recover fast and really marvel at those who do so not having done HR this year this was the perfect race to prep for UTMB and get back to my home state to visit family and friends.

My training was blah leading up to the race but I still had a goal of getting under the 6 mark based on previous times of people I know. Right out of the gate I was in the lead group with Joe Grant, Nick Clark, and Ben Lewis. The lungs took a while to come around but about the 20 minute mark things started to flow. I felt strong so I decided to use my fresh legs to push a tidge to test those less fresh-straight off HR legs. Nick followed and we created a little bit of a gap prior to getting to the top of the first climb. At the aid I tried to go down the ridge we would later come up and they quickly course corrected me and thus put me behind Joe and Nick. I was amazed how quickly Joe gapped both Nick and I on the down - in the span of a mile and 1/2 he had two minutes. With those tiny NB shoes and gnarly trail that is simply amazing!

The next aid, Larry's Hole, is where things went South. And before I say anything else, let me just say that the course was marked extremely well. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of junctions where course Marshall's were located all day - except this one. The right path takes you up the 'elevator shaft' straight up to where we just came. The left path starts the loop and the correct direction. Joe went right and the 3 of us followed. We heard people whistling, yelling, and hooting from Larry's Hole and we got so close to the top that we could people screaming from above. We all thought they were just getting into the race and cheering everyone on, until we heard a very distinct "TURN AROUND". Shit! A full 20 minute detour, I'd say more but who's counting. Of the four of us I'd say it affected me the most. Before that I was running good in high spirits and hopeful of the outcome. But for some reason it ate at me and I didn't have the fire in my belly to catch people. Simply put. Even at the turn around when Roch indicated Karl upped the winnings to $1000 I just didn't care. Not a good place to be in a race.

At any rate, I was still running good and feeling good. I passed a few people and then they passed me back before the finish. We came upon Larry's Hole again, probably mile 20 and someone indicated my teammate was only 8 minutes up on me. That surprised me and actually gave me a little spark. I pushed up the elevator shaft again and slowly gained on Greg Norrander who had passed me back already. Another guy was between us so the 3 of us went through the tunnel within 30 seconds of each other. At this point I was totally confused on where we were going, I thought we would go back up the hidden peak... And then I quickly remembered this is a Meltzer designed course and we certainly have to go down to work for the summit of hidden peak, right? Yep. Down towards Snowbird base, a few turns off the main road. I caught the first right turn but I missed the second left turn and continued downwards. My head was down because I was trying to first catch Greg and the other guy but when I looked up I noticed I was pretty close to the canyon floor. I turned around after about 5 or 6 minutes and saw two yellow "wrong way" streamers. Shit again! For a fleeting moment I almost went all the way down, which was right above the condo, to get a shower. No gotta finish this one out. It wasn't going my way but this is trail racing and staying the course is part of the adventure. I normally don't get off course this much so maybe I'll get some karma moving forward. And I want to reiterate - the course was marked VERY WELL!

Up the ridge trail I go, back up to hidden peak. I look below and notice 3 guys coming straight down the road. They apparently missed the first right turn and just came straight to the ridge trail. I told them they had just cut about a mile off but wouldn't worry about it at this point. I never looked back so I don't know what they did but I figured I did a little extra for them. And down, down, down to the finish I go methodically making my way. Obviously I have no sense of urgency other than to crack my first frosty brewski with family and friends waiting.

The finish is the best part - always. But having so many family and friends there made it extra special. My sister and her family came all the way from Logan, thank you Patty. My Mom and Dad are always there so it was a nice little family reunion. My In laws where there, as they always are in support of me. Simply just hanging around the finish line drinking the goodness of the earth and visiting with people who are so close to my heart is enough to say that this race was a success. I told Karl that the SpeedGoat is an instant classic in my mind and I will be back every year to soak in the atmosphere. Congrats to all who toed the line, in particular, my friend Matt Keddington. This was Matt's first ultra and he did amazing - 9.20! I coached Matt in college (soccer) and he used to tell me running was for wussies.... glad to see you came full circle Matt.

Buchanan/Pawnee Loop - 6.04

Rather than me try to explain how beautiful and tough this loop is just go over here or here to get the full rundown with some pics and video. And here to see a video recap of our adventure.

I mentioned earlier about my motivational funk. Maybe after running 2500+ myles for the past 7 years, day in and day out, I am just burnt out of running by myself. Well it happens to be 7 years ago when I met Brian Fisher at my first trail race at Mt Falcon. We ran the race stride for stride then entire time, exchanged information at the end, and that was the beginning of a friendship that started on the trail. Fast forward to yesterday when Brian and I reconvened with Todd Ganglehoff, Joe Ziegenfuss, Troy Howard, Tim Long, and Eric Truhe. Thanks to Todd for organizing this adventure because I would have otherwise resorted to my standby all by myself in the same funk of trying to talk myself into a long run.

Obviously I needed more of a social event rather than a suffer-fest, so for 95% of the run I resorted to just enjoying myself. Up to the first pass (Buchanan) Todd and Troy sped off and the rest of us formed a line a few minutes back of them hitting the pass in about 2 hours. We dropped down to the bowl and reconvened to eat and drink. Just below Buchanan was an amazing place - stunning beauty. All I could think about is getting my son Jaxon up to that point to enjoy some backpacking. When you see footfeathers video, all that green vegetation is part of the area below Buchanan pass.

Down we went for the better part of 4 myles, then taking a left onto Cascade? trail. It was at this point where I decided to put a little work in. Todd led the way again with Troy, Eric, and myself in tow. Not really sure how far up we went in myles but I would say we cranked for about 45 minutes to the Crater Lake cutoff where we went left. We sat on a log, reconvened for a 4th time, and then we were off again. I thought about cranking all the way to Pawnee pass but shortly after starting up again my lower back tightened up pretty good. I stopped and stretched a few times, twisted and turned, hoping something would release it. Nothing was working so I dealt with it, having to shorten my stride the rest of the trip. I am not sure what triggers this pain but it's primarily on my left side which sends shooting pains down my left leg, and sometimes my left leg will go out because of it. Last time this happened I was given sage advice from none other than Brian Fisher to do core work to strengthen the muscles around there. Last time it worked and I have since gone away from doing any such core work, go figure.

Troy, Eric, and Todd took off again for the rest of the climb up Pawnee. If you've never been then the best way to describe it is the backside of Hope Pass. And if you've never been to Hope then just think straight up a boulder field to 12,500 in about 1.5 myles or less. I kept looking around wondering where the trail went because there seemed to be no notches to go over. I finally made it up to Pawnee Pass in 5 hours.

Now the trip down, which seemed to be worse on the back than leaning forward going up. Again, it is stunning up there looking down the valley seeing the trail wind down between the beautiful lakes. The one thing I did not anticipate was the amount of people on this trail once we hit tree line. My goodness! People of all sorts up high that astounding Brian and I. Brian let me go first so I could continually say "on yer left" and then get the dirty looks. Most people kindly got out of the way but some just looked at us as to say "WTF?!"

It just so happens that Brian and I spent the final myles stride for stride on another epic trip into some beautiful country. Almost as if that's the way it was supposed to be and as Brian put it "a secret love affair". We enjoy the same things in life. And with both of us having families, life usually happens most of the time with an adventure like this once in a while bringing it all back home. Makes us realize why we started trail running in the first place.

One final time to reconvene at the Brainard Lake trail head and tell stories of the day. The only way it could have been better on such a stellar day was to plan better and have a cooler full of beer waiting. The one story that I wish I had a picture of began before we even hit the trail. A bunny decided to jump right into Troy Howard's grill of his Toyota 4runner. We pulled up to the parking lot, came around to the front of his truck and remembered we hit the bunny but didn't feel like we ran it over. No wonder. It looked like it tried to jump at the last minute and went head first into the grill with the body dangling out. Tim Long saw it and thought it was one of those fake stuffed animals as a joke... looked like it. Anyways Troy tried to pull it out and it's head popped off.

Good times with some good people. Besides the back pain, this adventure has re-invigorated my mind. Good luck to Troy as he tackles Wasatch, good luck to FF, Brian, and Eric as they run Pbville, and good luck to Todd as he tackles the Bear. All of these guys will do really well based on what I saw them doing Saturday. No pressure guys but a podium finish is in order - you are fit!

My week running

And last I leave you with my week in running. Coming back from Utah on Sunday I headed straight for OKC where it was 110+. That's enough to make anyone not wanna run. I did get out for a couple runs on the treadmill but since I was with my boss I was very limited on time. The day after SG50 I did get out for a 4 mile run before I hopped in the car - good sign because I was not sore from the race at all. I was stiff but no deep tissue soreness. Here's the week:

Monday - meetings, travel no running

Tuesday - AM 6 myles TM (5 x 1 minute 10 MPH)

PM 4 myles TM (8 MPH)

Wednesday - meetings, travel no running

Thursday - The Bluffs 8+ myles (2 x 5 minutes LT - fastest time so far)

Friday - Coyote Ridge 11 myles

Saturday - Buchanan/Pawnee loop 26+ myles (8000+ ft of climbing)

Sunday - nothing yet

Total - 56 myles, 9 hrs 52 mins, 10,700 ft of climbing

I will make one more post with some thoughts around France regarding expectations and other non-running related things. I am traveling over with Nick Clark on Wednesday, August 10th.

Ultra Runner vs. Iron Man

This is classic! No need to explain.

Lots of things going on

Recovery is good. Hardly any swelling and not sore. I'm tempted to run but at the same time it feels good to relax for a few days. The Doc gave me the go ahead to return to running after 5 days but to ease into it. Having said that, I'll take the rest of the week to be fat and happy while putting a dent into my beer fridge downstairs.

Some good racing going on this weekend with the The North Face 50 in San Francisco. Next to the Western States starting line up, this one has to be the most competitive. Some Euros coming over to take a stab at the $10K prize money for first. My picks are: Roes, Mackey, Skaggs, Steidl, Dakota, Jez Bragg. Pretty good interview over here with Dave and Dakota. Dave is munching on a apple and Dakota is amped up. I think Dakota summed it up nicely when asked for predictions, he said "I think I know how to race 50 miles now, last year I was still learning, and I just want to see how I stack up against the best". Irunfar.com is following it so check it out.

My schedule is coming together:

Ponderous Posterior 50K

Hagg Lake 50K

Chuckanut 50K

American River 50 mile

Massanutten 100 mile (lottery)

Western States 100 mile

White River 50 mile

UTMB (lottery)

JFK 50 mile

There will be some smaller ones here and there but this is the bulk of my schedule for 2011. The highlight is Western States. Not so much for the race itself but the race within the race. I've been jawing back and forth with AJW (all in good fun of course) telling him I want to beat him. I'm not afraid to say that's my goal. My goals are generally time based but there's an element of time in here. You see, Andy has done very well at Western States and as he puts it "That's my house, you'll see...". Just as I consider Hard Rock "my house". He came to HR and nearly beat me. In fact, on Grant Swamp pass (mile 85) he could nearly touch me. I looked at my pacer (Brian Fisher) and said "He's not gonna beat me on my course", in so many words. In the end, he pushed me to my best time ever at Hard Rock (27.42).

Andy has 6 top 10 finishes at Western States with his best time of 17.07, but thinks he could go 16:30. Not only is he tough at Western States but he is tough in any 100 mile race - which makes it doubly tough at Western. He IS the Mariano Rivera of 100s. Andy has run 25 - 100 mile races notching 6 wins. I've run 11, won none, and only a couple that I consider a decent result. I have not figured out 100s and Andy has, to say the least. If I can compete with him then it not only makes me better during the race but in the daily training as well. Win or lose I know Andy will bring out the best in me and visa-versa.

I had to do a little research but we have raced head to head 8 times (sometimes unknowingly) where I have been victorious 6 times. The two losses where at White River 2006 and Rocky Raccoon 2008. So a rivalry is born! And at the end of the day we will have a beer together to talk more smack. Train harder than you ever have Andy cause I'm comin'!

And remember people, this is all in good fun for motivation to get my arse out the door every morning. But more importantly for braggin rights and a few beers.

Western States lottery: Only a few names I recognize on the list of 219 drawn today; Mike Foote, Michael Buchanan, Mark Lantz, Adam Lint, Tammy Massey, Jim Skaggs, and Grae Van Hoosier. Congrats to all! We'll see you in Squaw on June 25th, if not before. Pearl Izumi atheltes Josh Brimhall and Darcy Africa were shut out but I would suspect they will get in via a Montrail race.

NF 50 race: Congrats to all! In particular, Geoff Roes 2nd, Dave Mackey 3rd, Dakota Jones 4th, Jason Schlarb 5th all currently hailing from Colorado! Must be the rocky mountain air...

It's that time of year

Rest. The hardest part - believe it or not. I'm fit but tired. In past years I've tried to maintain my fitness without a break but have paid dearly with injuries later the next year. To top it off, I'm an official Master's runner now so the down time is vital to make it through next year. Especially considering the schedule I'm looking at.

NEW: Mackenzie Lobby from Running Times writes an article on MMTR.

Nothing set in stone except for one race, and that is The almighty Western States. I used my auto entry from MMTR and signed up this morning. Now the question is what do I want to do to build to WS?? Hmm.... As it stands right now my goal for 2011 would be to win the Montrail Ultra Cup. That means my schedule would center around all the MUC races such as: Bandera, Mt Cheaha, Way Too Cool, American River, and Ice Age. Outside of that the tough decision comes when I have to decide on Hard Rock, my favorite race. This might be the year I skip Hard Rock (because I won't be able to race it) and go for UTMB, another one on the list.

So for the next month I'll keep the blood flowing with 20-30 mile weeks, during which time I will solidify my schedule. It always comes together so I'm not too worried about it. Just time to try and relax both mentally and physically - by far the hardest part.

Also I updated my top 3 beer list. Terrapin Hopsecutioner makes the list, bumping off Gubna. Yes Gubna has been my fav. for a while but truth be told; I only had it on draft and last week I bought some cans and did not like it as much. Besides Terrapin's mascot is a vicious looking turtle. This list is getting tough! During my down time I might have to make it a top 5 or 10. C'mon now - Stone IPA or Modus Hoperandi isn't even on the list.

btw - thank you for all the comments on the MMTR post. I've been traveling so I haven't had time to respond but I appreciate all the kind words and the people I met in Virginia.

The Beard

I think a beard will help....

Ha, go figure.... got out for 6.2 myles this morning and felt GREAT! One of those runs where you get the little tingles in your head and the world is a perfect place. No soreness or stiffness. AND left the watch at home (thanks for the advice Darren). Trying to put the 'fun' back into this shee-ite!

I just happened to look over the Grand Slammer list and noticed Neal Gorman is quietly making a run at the record. Joe Kulak's record pace thru Leadville was 53.13:50. Neal Gorman is 53.35:05, just 21:15 behind JK. For the record Neal Gorman must run 21.31:44 at Wasatch. Good luck Neal!

Blog has been stale

Sorry bout that. Silverton, Colorado isn't necessarily the best place for high speed internet. Been there for the better part of two weeks so for now I've got to get caught up on work and will post my tale of two races later tonight.

Pearl Izumi - Run Like an Animal Challenge

The Pearl Izumi "Run Like an Animal Western States Challenge" is official! Pearl Izumi understands the enormity of one of the greatest ultra races to ever take place so they have stepped up with some cash-money! The rules are very simple and straight forward: no matter what course is run, $2000 to each man and women who are first to break the respective course records. For the men anything under 15.36:27 (set by Scott Jurek in 2004) and for the women anything under 17.37:51 (set by Ann Trason in 1994). They understand the course records were set on a different course with different conditions but, hey, that's trail running and this is a challenge. Let's see what you got!

Pearl Izumi is not a sponsor of Western States so a prize purse was out and any mention of this challenge at the race was out of the question. This is only way they knew the could be involved so late in the game without infringing upon the official sponsors of Western States. Pearl Izumi is committed to bringing out the best of the best in one of the greatest fields ever assembled. Again, Pearl Izumi is NOT a sponsor of this race so this challenge is completely funded separate from the race itself. Good Luck to everyone - especially my teammates Josh Brimhall, Nick Clark, and Nick Lewis! I'll be out there pacing Josh Brimhall motivating him with the smell of some cash-money!

Post a comment with any questions.

Colorado Trail

About a week ago The Denver Post had an article about a fellow by the name of Winston Branko Churchill. Winston hit the CT in July 2008 to sort some things out and, in particular, figure out why society is so tightly bound to material things (i.e. bigger houses and more money). The takeaway I got from the article is that like many others who have an appreciation for the wilderness, Winston was trying to find himself and figure out his place. The tragedy of the story is that Winston never returned from the CT as his body was found about a month ago.

This caused me to think deep about why I'm doing the Colorado Trail. Am I trying to find myself? Am I trying to find meaning to this life? I don't know. What I do know is that I share the same appreciation for the wilderness and also question my affinity to material things. In addition, I like to challenge myself and find out what I'm capable of. One of my sponsors, Nathan Hydration has a tag line of "Helping athletes redefine their humanly possible". Maybe that's what I'm doing, simply stepping out of the box and redefining my own limits. I never wanna look back at my life and say "should have, could have, or would have". Needless to say this adventure will change me.

Now to the adventure itself:

• I don't plan on breaking any records.
  
• Start on September 2nd and finish on September 13th (my 40th birthday)
• Begin each day @ 6 A.M. and hopefully be off the trail by dark
• Anyone is welcome to join me at any time along the trail
• I will be wearing a SPOT device and will have a link up on the blog
  

• Day 1 – Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 – Brian Fisher pace
  Segment 1 - 16.8 myles
  Segment 2 – 11.5 myles
  Segment 3 – 12.7 myles
  Segment 4 – 16.6 myles
  Day Total – 57.6 myles – end Long Gulch
  
  Day 2 – Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 - Long Gulch
  Segment 5 – 14.4 myles
  Segment 6 – 32.9 myles
  Day Total – 47.3 myles – end Goldhill
  Overall – 104.9 myles
  
  Day 3 – Friday, September 4th , 2009 – Gold Hill - Rick Hessek pace
  Segment 7 – 12.8 myles
  Segment 8 – 25.4 myles
  Segment 9 – 13.6 myles
  Day Total – 51.8 myles – end Timberline Lake
  Overall – 156.7 myles
  
  Day 4 – Saturday, September 5th, 2009 - Timberline Lake
  Segment 10 – 13.0 myles
  Segment 11 – 21.5 myles
  Day Total – 34.5 myles – end Clear Creek Rd.
  Overall – 191.2 myles
  
  Day 5 – Sunday, September 6th, 2009 - Clear Creek road
  Segment 12 – 18.5 myles
  Segment 13 – 22.8 myles
  Day Total – 41.3 myles – end Chalk Creek
  Overall – 232.5 myles
  
  
  Day 6 – Monday, September 7th, 2009 - Chalk Creek
  Segment 14 – 20.9 myles
  Segment 15 – 14.2 myles
  Day Total – 35.1 myles – end Marshall Pass
  Overall – 267.6 myles
  
  Day 7 – Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 - Marshall Pass
  Segment 16 – 15.2 myles
  Segment 17 – 20.4 myles
  Day Total – 35.6 myles – end Hwy 114
  Overall – 303.2 myles
  
  Day 8 – Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 – Hwy 114 - Paul DeWitt pace
  Segment 18 – 13.8 myles
  Segment 19 – 13.7 myles
  Segment 20 – 12.7 myles
  Day Total – 40.2 myles – end San Luis Pass (overnight pack)
  Overall – 343.4 myles
  
  Day 9 – Thursday, September 10th, 2009 – San Luis Pass - Paul DeWitt pace
  Segment 21 – 14.8 myles
  Segment 22 – 17.1 myles
  Day Total – 31.9 myles – end Carson Saddle (overnight pack)
  Overall – 375.3 myles
  
  Day 10 – Friday, September 11th, 2009- Carson Saddle - Paul DeWitt pace
  Segment 23 – 15.9 myles
  Segment 24 – 19.8 myles
  Day Total – 35.7 myles – end Molas Pass
  Overall – 411 myles
  
  Day 11 – Saturday, September 12th, 2009 - Molas Pass
  Segment 25 – 20.9 myles
  Segment 26 – 10.9 myles
  Day Total – 31.8 myles – end Hotel Draw
  Overall – 442.8 myles
  
  Day 12 – Sunday, September 13th, 2009 - Hotel Draw
  Segment 27 – 20.6 myles
  Segment 28 – 21.5 myles
  Day Total – 42.1 myles – end Junction Creek
  Overall – 484.9 myles

I hope to see you along the trail somewhere.

2008 - Year in Review

The picture above pretty much sums up my year but I'll get back to that in a minute. First I want to thank all the people in my life that have helped, inspired, influenced, harassed, kicked, punched, loved, or supported me in one way or another during 2008. I don't need to name names because you know who you are - Thank you! You have made a better version of me.

In spite of what you see on my training blog - running is not who I am, it's what I do. My life is my family, my job, and my friends with running sprinkled over the top. Running just happens to be the endless supply of nitrous oxide for a smooth running engine.

The 2008 year really started back in December of 2007. I had taken two complete months off in 2007 to recover from an Achilles injury that happened in August. It's the first time in 5 years that I had taken that much time off so I really didn't expect too much for the coming year. But I still had goals I wanted: 1. PR at WTC 2. Get a PR in 50 myles 3. Break 30 hours at HR 4. Complete the Kokopelli trail 5. Compete in a stage race. Here's how the year turned out:

Moab Red Hot 50K+ - 4.30
I started the year at the Red Hot Moab 50K+ in February as a temperature check and it turned out better than I had hoped. With two months worth of training and no more than 60 myles in one week I turned in a decent time. With the friends, family and spectacular scenery it was a great way to start the year.

Way Too Cool 50K - 3.45
Next was Way Too Cool 50K in March, which I've done for the past 3 years now and consider it the kick off to the year. I got a PR by 7 minutes but still couldn't break the top 10 - can you say "stacked"? All of my speed work for the year was done in February to get ready for WTC. This was the first time at this race I didn't bonk and actual past several people in the last 6 myles. In previous years I was the one being past. At this point in the year I started to become hopeful for the year



American River 50 mile - 6.24
In April I went back to Auburn to run the American River 50 mile just to get a PR - this time I cracked the top ten and got a PR. I knew it was gonna be a fast race with the likes of Krupicka and Pacheco. Anton killed it in 5.48 and a couple other were under 6 hours - WOW! The last 3 myles of this course is straight up from the river to Auburn so it makes those times that much more impressive. I finished strong but had to hike up the hill and couldn't close in on the guy who was 30 seconds in front of me. I probably won't go back to this race since I would rather do WTC every year and they are in the same area.

Collegiate Peaks 50 mile - 7.26
Then 3 weeks later I went back to Collegiate Peaks 50 mile and actually won - I was surprised! I ran this race my first year of ultra running and clocked a 7.55. It's a two loop course in opposite directions so you can see where you're at as far as placement. Although it's really hard to tell because they run a 25 mile as well. I came through the first loop in 3.26 and I thought that was a little fast so I slowed up. But it was too late, wheels started coming off around mile 39 and really had to grit my teeth to finish. But a PR on that course - I'll take it!

Desert RATS 150 mile stage race - 22.50
June brought a whole new experience for me - I decided to run a 150 mile stage race in the Desert! I'm not good in the heat but I've always wanted to run the Kokopelli trail from end to end so this is how I did it. I also wanted to do a stage race so this was the natural choice. Well organized event - but grueling! The heat hovered around 100 each day and most of you know I don't do well in the heat but I managed on this one. Some of the most spectacular scenery in the world! The staff was amazing - transported our stuff, set up our tents, cooked us hot meals every night... what more could you ask for in the desert? How 'bout amazing people! The other runners and bikers were all great people and I forged many lifelong friendships that I will never forget. I mean who could forget the big pink Italian? He did this race to raise money for orphans back home in Italy and he struggled mightily every day - but he finished for the orphans! Each person had a story to tell and I was intrigued to hear them all! Allen Belshaw and I did most of our running together and helped each other when we could but the 1st prize to get under 24 hours was $1000. At some point strategy took hold and Allen proved to be the stronger, smarter runner and went home with $1000. But since Allen and I had battled day in and day out, Reid (RD) ponied up a free entry for me next year - we'll see.

Hard Rock 100 mile - 29.50
Next up the mighty Hard Rock - 3rd time is a charm. Only 3 weeks after the desert race. My goal for the previous two times was to get under 30 hours as it had only been done by a 1/2 a dozen or so people - finally 29.50. Only to be out done by 6 and 1/2 hours by Kyle Skaggs! Kyle gets my vote for UR performance of the year! Under 24 hours at HR has never been done and it's quite possible that only a couple people in the world could do it. Hard Rock was certainly the highlight of my year and my running career. And the picture above is me finishing HR with my hands to heaven saying "thank you, thank you - I can't believe it!" The one thing about this race that made it special for me was that I had both sides of my family there supporting me - my wife and kids, my parents, my in-laws, and friends. And I will never forget coming into Cunningham aid station after a long hard night cresting the ridge hearing my family cheer and scream for me - real emotional for me! The last time they saw me was 10 PM the night before and I was bonking hard getting ready to go over Handies alone. They had no idea what kind of shape they would see me in - I had past several people in the night and was bearing down on Ricky Denesik. I had come back from the dead and felt good! I will also never forget finishing with my son Jaxon who said (as he started to cry) "Dad I am so proud you" Damn near crumpled me! To this day as I run those sounds and images motivate me! I could have finished the year then and been content but I still had a couple more races lined up.

Mtn. RATS 75 mile stage race - 10.54
After two 100+ mile races in 6 weeks I had no expectations for this next race. 3 weeks after HR I competed in another stage race in Steamboat Springs - Mtn. RATS (sister to Desert RATS). Unlike Desert RATS where everything was transported for us - At Mtn. RATS we had to carry everything on our back. It quickly turned into a calorie counting strategy. Go with less calories for weight or more calories to recover each day. The minimum calories was 5000 for the trip - and some were AT 5000. I chose 6500 and still came home with a couple bars and gel packs. Allen and I did battle again and ran most of the race together. On the second to last day I mustered up some strength and pulled away and only won by a few scant minutes. But again - friendships forged on the trails! We had a great group and would do it again with those people - my friends!

Leadville 100 mile - 20.29
Last on the calender was Leadville. Since I didn't get into Wasatch this year I wanted to go back to Leadville to try and get under 20 hours. Even with the effort two weeks before at Mtn. RATS and HR 3 weeks before that I was still hopeful of a decent race. I had been pleased the way I was finishing races and I knew I finished Leadville in 2006 poorly. I made it to Winfield in 8.46, which was a little fast but I didn't think too much of it. I came back down the road leading the race and my crew past me and my father in law yelled out "Seize this moment!". It gave me a little extra gas to try and get over Hope pass but sure enough the wheels came off going back up over Hope (exact place as last time). The weather had been terrible all day and the trails were just nasty going down hope so I didn't think under 20 was in the cards for me. I picked up Aric Manning at Twin Lakes and he motivated me all the way to the Fish Hatchery. I had a little more hope of catching people but the legs didn't respond anymore. I was slow the last 25 myles but couldn't do anything about it. I was happy with the time - PR for 100 myles. Don't know that I'll ever go back to Leadville though....

So in the end I had a year in running that I will never forget - achieved my goals all the while my wife and family supported me! And that is key - the WIFE AND FAMILY SUPPORT! Thank you again and I love you all! I could not or would not do this without you. I have high hopes for 2009! I will post later this month about my race schedule and goals that I want to achieve. Before I close I have to give special thanks to Aric Manning for heading up the Pearl Izumi-Smith team, he scarifies job and family time for our best interest in the team - Thank you!

Who ya gonna vote for?

Just my personal opinion and believe me I am no political expert.

I am just about sick of this whole presidential election! Did you happen to see the debate the other night? Just answer the damn question! Rather than answer the question they wanna act like two bickering siblings. Who's better to lead our country right now? Neither one of these guys, they just have the most money to run an effective campaign against each other. Obama is probably smarter and a phenomenal public speaker but really doesn't know anything about the mess we've created overseas. McCain really doesn't know anything EXCEPT the military and wants you to believe he will avoid war at all costs. Has there ever been a President that hasn't taken us to war? I believe there are better leaders in this country that are more capable of getting us outta this mess but either don't have the money or are way down the list as far as political hierarchy. Does anyone out there really believe that the problems we are facing in this nation will be fixed in 4 years? Don't kid yourself! Each President that is elected is elected because he promises to help you and I personally right now - they don't tell you that our kids, kids are the ones that are gonna have to pay for it. The economy, war, health care, whatever the problem we are facing was set into motion decades ago by promises made by previous Presidents. Remember Reganomics?

What's the answer? I dunno, you tell me? I just know that I am sick and tired of the whole Presidential election, primarily the negativity associated with it. We may be witnessing history in the making but I want no part of it! The President really doesn't lead the country anyway.... it's the people under him that tell him what to say and what to do, right? How 'bout we make them both President?

On another note, much more important stuff is going on..... like my swimming! Looks like I've created a pattern of swimming 3 times per week about a mile each time. This week I went Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for an hour each time. Yesterday I really concentrated on my strokes per length. I did some reading online that says strokes per length are important for economy in the water. Looks like I'm around 16 strokes per length which really doesn't mean anything to me yet but probably will the longer I do it. And also yesterday I followed some sort of workout that included 5 x 100 m and 10 x 50 m. During the 100 m sets I took 1 minute and 30 seconds rest between sets and the 50 m sets I took a 30 second rest.

Last but not least, I will be resuming my running this coming Monday. I've taken two weeks without running a step and my body feels great. I'm eager to get started again! I've also arranged some testing to be done, such as VO2 Max, running economy, and fuel utilization. This will help me focus my training rather than just going out for run at the same pace every time.

Hope all is well!

36 laps - 56:00

Before I give an update of the past two weeks, I've got to explain the photos. This is one of Phil Mendoza's pacers at the Bear - Greg Shadow. Sorry Greg I cut your face off but it was dark. I guess there's not much explaining to do if you don't know Greg because you wouldn't understand. Greg paced Phil from Tony Grove to Franklin and it was timely because Phil needed a pick-me-up. See the dollar? Greg did a little dance for Roch Horton at Franklin - crazy stuff happens in the middle of the night! This has got to be one of THE best pacer outfits EVER! If you've got a photo of something better, I'd love to see it.

So after I decided not to do the Bear, I still had my travel plans which dropped me off in SLC on Thursday. And since I plan to go back to the Bear next year I decided I would help out as much as I could but most of all hang out with good buddies. I ended up pacing Phil Mendoza from 39 to 47 and 61 to 75 straight through the night. I was more than happy to help Phil. Not only is he a good friend but he has helped me countless times during the past couple of years. In fact, I remember the first time Phil paced me at Wasatch in 2005, he said "I will never do a hundred" Well we all know this ultra thing is highly addictive so I kept telling him it was a matter of time. Phil finished in 33.34 minutes for his first hundred - nice job Phil! I'm proud of ya!

As for me, for the past couple of weeks my Achilles has been sore so I have decided to take a month completely off from running. That month basically started after I paced Aric at Wasatch for 60 myles so that means I'll start back running minimally during the second week of October. In the meantime I have been swimming and riding a mtn bike to stay active and not become morbidly obese. I've been to the pool 4 times now and today I finally reached 1 mile... in 56:00 minutes nonetheless. I know it's slow but I took Tim Hola's advice thus I'm trying to concentrate on one thing each time I go. So far my breathing is better and becoming more natural, I'm breathing out of both sides every other stroke, I'm cupping my hands as my arm goes through the water, I can make it 4 lengths of the pool before I have to rest (100 meters). So as you can see this swimming thing is a learning process and it's fun learning. I find myself eager to get in the pool and become more efficient. The next thing I'm gonna work on is turning underwater. I'll keep you posted on my progress but for now it's 1 mile in 56:00. Oh and btw - Jaxon went to the pool with me today and he did 12 lengths of the pool - I'm pretty proud of him!

Last, I want to tell you about a book I just read. It's called Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. It's a book about people being in life or death situations and why some people die and why some people survive. It's a very scientific approach to understanding the mind and how we are wired. So for Christmas this year, all my family and friends are getting a copy of the book so they can better understand why I do what I do. Any ultra runner or endurance athlete always gets the question "why?" This books explains a lot of that and maybe now some of you who know me will understand me. I've never been able to put it into words why I do endurance events but Launence Gonzales did if for me so now I don't have to. Here's an excerpt from his book:

"D.H. Lawrence wrote that every year you pass an anniversary unaware: the anniversary of your own death. I've seen it so many times before, as adventurers circle and circle the spot marked X where they meet their own death, taunting it, teasing it, playing with the big cat. Never fool yourself into thinking you can tame it.

Sure, we do it in our ordinary lives, too - you can get killed on your lunch break - but we do it blindly. In our adventures, we engage fate deliberately. We choose a relentless and indefatigable opponent, while others pretend to be safe. We feel that our experiences are much more real, while seeing the masses as deluded in their complacency. When well-trained people are fetched off by fate during a well-planned and thoughtful expedition, there is no more ignominy in it than when an ordinary Joe gets hit by a bus. No one says, "He shouldn't have been walking there." But a climber named Karl Iwen, unfamiliar with Three Fingered Jack, a volcanic mountain in Oregon, which he was descending, left his companions, left the trail, left his ice ax strapped to his pack, and ventured out onto the snow, where he treated his companions to a spectacular show as he slid into the couloir and did a 600 foot impulse control, or what I call "the rapture of the shallow."

The perfect adventure shouldn't be that much more hazardous in a real sense than ordinary life, for that invisible rope that holds us here can always break. We can live a life of bored caution and die of cancer. Better to take the adventure, minimize the risks, get the information, and then go forward in the knowledge that we've done everything we can.

No, some people would rather not see it, but the bull is there for all of us. Some of us choose to pass the cape in front of its horns. To live life is to risk it. And when you feel the rush of air and catch the stink of hot breath in your face, you enter the secret order of those who have seen their own death up close. It makes us live that much more intensely. So intense is it for some that it seals their fate; once they've tasted it, they just can't stop. And in their cases, perhaps we have to accept that the light that burns the brightest burns half as long.

But I believe that if you do it right, you can have it all. I adhere to what my daughter Amelia calls the Gutter Theory of Life. It goes like this: You don't want to be lying in the gutter, having been run down by a bus, that last bit of your life ebbing away, and be thinking, "I should have taken that rafting trip..." or, "I should have learned to surf..." or "I should have flown upside down - with smoke!"

Pete Conrad was the third man to walk on the moon. He died in a motorcycle accident on an ordinary day. It took him a while to die as he went to the hospital. I wonder what he was thinking. I hope it was: I did it all."

AMEN! Couldn't have said it better myself

Official end of the racing season

You've probably all guessed by now (due to the lack of posts) that I've decided to end my racing season for 2008. I contemplated doing the Bear 100 in two weeks but I'm just too mentally and physically tired. Nagging injuries start to creep up on me around this time every year so I think to increase my longevity in the ultra running scene it's best to switch gears and rest. So what next?

Good question. What next? In the last couple of off seasons I have done cyclocross bike racing once a week to maintain my fitness but I'm just not up for it this year. In the two seasons of cyclocross I worked my way up to a category 3 racer so I was in the middle of the pack and doing fairly well. Cyclocross is a 45 minute race that is completely anaerobic. The bikes are basically beefed up road bikes with nobby tires. The course is usually in a park or open space and on a dirt track with obstacles. It was fun but I need to do something else this year.

I've decided this off season, which consists of October and November, I am going to learn how to swim for fitness. I've never been a good swimmer so I think I've always had an aversion to the water because (just like golf) I hate not to be good at something. Well today I went to the local lap pool and did 20 laps in 30 mintues. I need help! I have no technique and I don't know how to breath properly. My good friend Tim Hola is an excellent swimmer so after Iron Man Hawaii I might employ his services. So for the last 3 days here is what my workouts looked like:

• Tuesday - Mtn. Bike 15 myles - 1.10:32
• Wednesday - Run 11 myles - 1.15.11
• Thursday - Swim 20 laps (1/2 mile) 30 minutes

Don't draw any conclusions from this - triathlons are not in my future. I just feel that swimming and mtn. biking can get me off my feet, give my Achilles a good rest, and keep me fit. I am an adrenaline junkie, I admit it. But most of all I like the feeling of being fit. Even with two weeks off from running I feel sluggish and run down - I need my adrenaline fix.

I have been running pretty much non-stop for 5 years and my body is starting to show signs. If I don't take a break now then I won't be around much longer in the ultra running scene. And besides being fit, I also like the challenge of learning something new. I was amazed at how inefficient I was in the water today. I was also amazed at how much I started to enjoy the workout once I started to figure things out - like breathing. This swimming thing is gonna take some time but I have a real good feeling that it will only make me stronger come January 2009. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Next year I will be 40 so I want to make it an epic year. Here are a couple of things that I would "like" to do (key word here is "like"):

January - Calico 50K
March - Rim to Rim to Rim Grand Canyon
May - Miwok 100K
June - Squaw Peak 50 M
July - Hard Rock 100 M
September - Colorado Trail (473 myles) in 14 days ending on September 13th

Remember "like to do". Nothing set in stone, just some things I am thinking about

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - Mahatma Ghandi

39?!?!?! Really???

Pardon my french but HOLY SHIT!! Where has the time gone? It seems like it was yesterday when I was in college... I guess it wasn't too long ago considering I graduated when I was 27. I really don't feel 39 and I probably don't act 39 but age to me is over-rated. I believe people are only as "old" as they feel, and quite frankly I'm in the best shape of my life at 39. But I still have to shake my head...

Am I where I thought I would be at age 39? Absolutely! In debt, happily married with two kids, working my dream job as a pharmaceutical sales rep, and still running. Well maybe not the "still running" thing. I can think back to high school cross country hoping the season would be over soon so that I could play the sport I truly loved - soccer. I hated running! Soccer was the sport that I saw myself playing in the old man 40+ league. But as I got into my early 30s I started to slow down and had a pulled muscle every time I played a game so I hung up the cleats when I turned 32.

I went back to running because I had not accomplished my goal of running a road marathon under 3 hours. I rededicated my training, started eating right, lost 20 lbs, and finally ran a 2.50:30 at the San Diego marathon in 2003. It was the challenge that lured me back and once I achieved my goal I started thinking "what am I physically possible of?"

Something changed in my thought process as I entered my 30s, some like to say it's called maturity. But I just like to see it as I didn't want to let life pass me by. I didn't want to look back on my life and say "shoulda, coulda, woulda" So what am I getting at here? Life is short. We are only here for a very short time so make the most of it. As Brian Fisher likes to tell me in races "don't be afraid to take chances, otherwise you'll never find out what is possible"

So here I am today 39 years old with a good life (meaning I have good family and good friends) and I'm in the best shape of my life. I'm looking for that next challenge. I'm looking for someone to say "you can't do that!"

39 years old and looking to go into the prime of my ultra running career for 2009.

And I'll end with my favorite quote in the world: The more you learn, you learn the less you know. The more you think you know, the less you learn. -Stephen Ashbrook

btw - I ran today for 39:39 and then went for a bike ride with Jaxon for 39:00. Do you think I could possibly swim for 39 minutes straight? Stay tuned for the next challenge...

Spider!

Click photo for larger image

Anyone know what kind of spider this is? I live in Colorado and found this spider in my window well. It's a little bit bigger than a silver dollar. I don't see any webs nearby and seems to seek shelter in a small crack. I've never seen this big of spider here in Colorado!

Hard Rock 100 - 2008

Well here we go folks!

It's now Thursday morning and I didn't sleep well last night as I ran HR in my sleep 3 times! I was hoping to sleep good but my mind was racing. It's a good/bad thing to get here in Silverton so early: good because you get to see everyone else in the HR family and acclimate, bad because all I want to do is to get it on but I have to wait.

My family finally got here Tuesday night - boy was it great to see them! Talk about recharging my battery! I've been here since Tuesday night, July 1st so that makes it a week all alone. In that time away from mainstream life, I realize how important my family is to me. They mean the world to me! I am truly blessed to have a family (wife, parents, in-laws, and friends) to be so supported of such a selfish sport. It isn't the actual race but the training for such a race over the last year. The race is the celebration for me and my family- I get to celebrate successful training and my family gets to reconnect with other crews/friends. But together we get to enjoy the amazing scenery and experience.

Now about the race itself, I have no expectations but to finish. In fact, normally I carve out splits for my crew but I haven't even thought twice about that. I have provided them with time of day splits from the 2004 and 2006 splits and to gage my arrival based on those. With the snow (and just being Hard Rock), expectations or predictions are futile. Expect the unexpected here -always! Karl Meltzer put out his traditional odds and for the first time I made his list with 8-1 odds. Thanks for even mentioning my name Karl, I'm honored! If Kyle Skaggs stays safe then it's his race to lose. He's an amazing runner and for just 22 y.o. he's amazingly mature. I did trail work with Kyle last year and came to find out what a really nice guy he is as well. Stay safe Kyle!

On another note, my pacer Brian Fisher is now #3 on the wait list. He's in for sure. In fact, we spoke with the race director last night at dinner and he told Brian to pack his drop bags. I said, "hey wait a minute Dale, you mean to tell me you're gonna let Brian off the hook and not sweat it out all night like I had to last year?!?!?!" All in all I'm happy for Brian because he looks forward to this race just as much as I do. I basically did it w/o a pacer last year and can do it again. Although it woulda been nice to have the extra light going over Handies...

That's all for now until after the race. Checkout this website to get updates every 15 minutes. Oh and one more photo for dexterity - The beauty is nothing like I've ever seen!

Good to know Mother Nature has a sense of humor...

And the mini adventure continues. I guess Mother Nature didn't get the memo that I had to ride my bike to the light rail station to get my car... or then again maybe she did?

I woke up this morning with the roof tops and grass coated with SNOW! Oh well, couldn't be any worse than the Cyclocross races that I do early in the winter. The trip to the light rail station turned out to be O.K. It was below 30 degrees this morning so I bundled up with all my winter riding gear and was out the door by 9:30 a.m. Below 30 degrees running is a world of difference from riding in below 30 degrees. Even though I was bundled up I was still cold. The roads and path were pretty clear but I had to take extra precaution when I went over the wood bridges as they were slick. In all I went 12 myles in about an hour and got to my car without incident.

Optimistically speaking, I got a great cross training workout in and I got to use all my cold weather riding gear that I spent so much money on. Being on the bike today made me realize how much I like biking. Maybe my next new hobby?? Although I'll have to invest in more gear and bikes, what d'ya think Nicole?

2008 "endorsing" sponsor

A few more teasers about my sponsor:

• They have been involved in ultra-running for 5 years
• They have been watching me over the last couple of years
• They say the reason they are sponsoring me is because of my blog.... meaning they now know how hard I've been working and feel I will be committed to the team.
• They have had some ties with other sports but have since pulled out.
• They have been in business for almost 14 years.
• They love being involved in the ultra-running community.

That's all for now so for you 2 or 3 people who actually read my blog, stay tuned.....

Sick again?!?!

It's not as though I just got sick today but this day it all came crashing down. I've been fighting a cold or two for the past two weeks, starting with a cough and now nasal stuff. I guess it doesn't help trying to run on the brink of getting sick and it being sub 30 degrees for the past week either.

Needless to say I didn't run today. Either way I had planned on taking today off because I have been running for 4 straight days now. I'll run 4 miles tomorrow and 10 miles on Sunday to make a total of 34 miles for the week. I'd say pretty good first week back!

On another note, my wife is set to be induced for the birth of our second child on Wednesday. I am nervous and excited at the same time. Every time we talk about the birth of our new son, Jaxon (our other son) gets giddy. He starts to laugh out loud so I KNOW he's excited.

Running again

Quick recap of 2007:

After a long hiatus from running (2 month to be exact), I feel like I am finally back! 2007 has been a loooong year! My racing started in January and continued every month through September. Here is what it looked like:

January Calico 50K
February Pemberton 50K
March Way Too Cool 50K
April nothing
May Jemez 50 mile
June San Juan Solstice 50 mile
July Hard Rock 100 mile
August Highline trail - Uintas 80 miles
September Wasatch 100

In reality, my season never ended from 2006 as I ran Sunmart 50 mile in December of '06. Looking back at my schedule I knew I needed a break or something in me would break. Sure enough after my 80 mile Uinta trip I experienced severe Achilles pain in my left Achilles. I thought a couple of weeks might heal it but I took 3 weeks off leading to Wasatch, ran Wasatch, and two weeks later started cyclocross racing. Dumb move on my part because cyclocross involves getting off your bike, running over barriers, and jumping back on. Needless to say I wasn't doing my Achilles any good.

I stopped riding the bike the second week of November after I crashed pretty hard and decided that two weeks of doing absolutely nothing was needed. Fast forward to today, third day straight of running no more than 5 miles per day at an easy effort with relatively no pain.

Monday December 10th 5 miles Monarch trail
Tuesday December 11th 5 miles Monarch trail
Wednesday December 12th 4 miles Griggs

There is no looking back now. My race plans are shaping up rapidly for 2008:

March Way Too Cool 50K
April American River 50 mile
May Jemez 50 mile
June San Juan Solstice 50 mile
July Hard Rock 100 mile, Mountain R.A.T.S. stage race
August Leadville 100 mile
September Wasatch 100 mile
October White Rim trail

I will keep this blog updated for my sole purpose of logging my training days and races. I have used log books in the past but feel this might be easier to keep up to date.