Wednesday Dec 26, 2007

AM- 30 miles (4:05) Devil's Turntable to Verdigre to Bob Liska's to Sparta to Franek's to McManigal's then home (sz 11.5 Slingshots)

This is the longest run I've ever done in Nebraska.  Completing this loop had kind of been a tacit goal of mine ever since the 8th grade or so, so it was kind of neat to finally actually do it (although, a 30 mile run is surprisingly unremarkable for me anymore).

The first five miles were pretty rough because I was breaking trail through all of the new snow, but after that I was in a new township, so the road was already plowed.  I was wearing the brand new Slingshots because they didn't have any holes in the toes, and even though they seemed a bit big they at least didn't bruise my toenails.  

I actually had a lot of fun cruising up and down all of the hills into Verdigre.  The surface on Highway 84 was the worst of the whole run because it had been plowed and the 1/2" of snow still on the road was a crappy ice/slush mix.  After running down the main street of Verdigre I hopped on the creek road over to Bob Liska's, and it was gorgeous: all the new snow plus the moisture in the air had covered everything in frosty white.  It really looked like Christmas.

I ran into Rory Liska plowing the road heading up out of the valley, so that helped the footing, but that mile-long climb is still tough no matter what.  I took a gel at the 3hr mark when I got to the high-point of the run over by Pavelka's, and then I decided to head home from Sparta on the township roads instead of the county roads because they are more intimate and scenic, even if there was more snow.  I was doing fine until about the last 30 minutes when my legs got really tight and I had to just kind of ease it in instead of feeling strong the whole way.  All in all, a great run.  

Tuesday Dec 25, 2007

AM- 16 miles (2:02) incl. 5x1min-1xmile in 5:11-10x1min all with 1min recoveries (PC II)

PM- 7 miles (1:01) Pastures (sz 11 Slingshots)

I woke up early in the dark to get the workout in before gift opening.  There was a sharp north wind, so I waited until I was on the way back home before starting the fast stuff (which I started at the highway corner).  The fast mile was the one from the Cookie Corner straight-away to the silage pile, so it was even a net uphill.  Overall, I felt really good on all the hard stuff, probably because of the tailwind.  Either way, it's good to know I can still get the legs moving when I need to.

The second run was actually at 1pm so that I would be done running before eating a big Christmas dinner mid-afternoon.  Mom's cooking is incredible.  I don't think I ever want a Christmas without dumplings and home-canned sauerkraut.  This run was basically in a raging blizzard--we ended up getting 5" of new snow.  Weather like what there has been here at home makes me appreciate even more the Colorado Springs climate.

Monday Dec 24, 2007

AM- 16 miles (2:05) Grocery store and back in Niobrara (sz 11 Slingshots)

PM- 8 miles (1:06) Canyon out and back plus some pastures (PC II)

Sunday night I drove back to Nebraska to visit my parents for Christmas, so I was out on the farm--and away from the internet!--all week; thus, the delayed update.

This morning's run I took it nice and easy and just ran to town and back to pick up a couple packages of Ramen noodles for my Mom so that she could make a cabbage salad.  I think my legs were feeling the weekend's long runs because although 8 minute miles were easy they felt quick.  I added on out the Colwell Road to get the full time.  The weather was pleasant enough to wear shorts, but I was reminded of how much a factor the wind is out here in the hills---it's rarely something I even think about in Colorado.

In the evening, I didn't get out until the sun was going down, but I got to see a great sunset and a pretty magnificent full-moon rise as well.  My legs felt nice and spry, so, despite the biting wind, this run was well worth it.

Week Log 12/17-12/23

Mon-AM: 15 miles (2:07) Garden

PM: 7 miles (:53) Garden

Tue-AM: 9 miles (1:10)

PM: 18 miles (2:02) incl. 5 mile tempo in 30:11

Wed- 0

Thu-PM: 30 miles (4:11) Buckhorn-Diablo-Red Rocks

Fri-AM: 15 miles (2:02) Garden

PM: 8 miles (1:06)

Sat-AM: 35 miles (5:11) Diablo-Buckhorn-Sect 16-Intemann-Garden

Sun-AM: 27 miles (4:10) LRR-Bobs-Barr Camp-Williams Canyon

Total: 164 miles (22:52)

Another very good week.  The tempo on Tuesday was tough and seemed to really stress my lower legs, thus the mid-week scare, but I came back with three very good long runs the 2nd half of the week.  I just need to stay consistent: consistent with the mileage and consistent with getting in the quality stuff.

Sunday Dec 23, 2007

27 miles (4:10) UPT-LRR-Bob's Road-Barr Camp down Barr Trail then out and back up William's Canyon (PC II)

This was a pretty good run.  The Incline Club run was Waldo Canyon today, but I figured that since I'd taken the trouble to drive the 10 minutes to Manitou that I might as well get some legitimate vertical and altitude in, so I headed up Longs Ranch Road instead.  There wasn't too much more snow than last week until I got to Bob's Road, which was much worse than last week.   The 2nd day in a row of post-holing through knee-deep snow without socks or tights was...frustrating.  

After I finally emerged onto the Barr Trail, it wasn't a whole lot better because of all the drifting.  It was a pretty big struggle to get to Barr Camp.  After thawing out a bit there and eating a pancake I headed back down the trail (much easier, ha ha), and then headed up the well-packed William's Canyon trail to get in the extra time/distance.  I took my second gel with only 25 minutes or so left in the run.  I normally would've just gutted it out, but I wanted to be sure to be alert for the tricky footing on the small ledges on the Williams trail.  It ended up being a gorgeous day; I was able to strip down to shirt-sleeves for the last part of the run.

After the run I immediately jumped in the car and drove the 10 hours to my parent's house in Nebraska for the holidays.  Driving that far with a 4 hour run in the legs is sure a lot of fun...

Saturday Dec 22, 2007

AM- 35 miles (5:11) El Diablo-Buckhorn Loop to Section 16 Loop to Intemann to Balanced Rock (Garden) then home (PC II)

This was my first real long run of this build-up.  It started out pretty chilly this morning after last night's blizzard (which really only netted about an extra inch of snow in town), so I had to turn around after about 5 minutes and get a stocking cap.  Also, after feeling so terrible last night I wasn't sure how long I was going to be able to run this morning, but in the first mile I could tell that the legs were feeling good so I grabbed a water bottle and a couple gels in anticipation of a longer run.

It's always incredible to me what a good night's sleep will do for recovery.  Last night, I didn't feel like running another step, but this morning my legs felt great and the run was completed without a hitch.

After an uneventful jaunt through Bear Creek, I headed up El Diablo with quite a bit of fresh, trackless snow.  Things were slow-going for sure.  Traction was tough, and for some reason I hadn't even worn socks this morning.  Right before the final creek crossing before the Buckhorn turn-off things got really dire.  I was post-holing through knee-deep snow and was still deep enough in the canyon that the sun wasn't getting to me.  The run quickly went from "hey, this is a great mountain adventure" to "jesus h. christ, I'm f'ing cold and dying and can I please just get some love from the sun?"  Once I climbed onto the Buckhorn ridge, I found some song but I also struggled through thigh-deep drifts that the wind had whipped up the night before.  Despite the agony, it was still early in the run, and by time I had made it back down to High Drive I was mostly thawed out.  

Next, I tackled the moderate Section 16 climb.  This great 5-6ish mile loop is a favorite among locals, so it generally stays well-packed and completely runnable all winter long.  I took my first gel (at 3 hrs) at the top of the climb, rocked it down to the Intemann and trail, and then took that all the way over to Manitou (instead of dropping down into Red Rocks).

I even took the Intemann Trail past Crystal Park Road all the way to where it becomes discontinuous because of some private land for about 1/2 mile.  This is a great little trail that it seems like not many people use because it dead-ends.  Hopefully, this trail will be continuous some day soon so as to connect Bear Creek/Cheyenne Canyon to Manitou and the plethora of great trails over there.

After running down Crystal Park Road, and stopping to use the restroom at the Sinclair, I took the road up into the Garden and then hit up the usual Siamese Twins, Buckskin Charly, and Niobrara Trail circuit before heading home via the Mesas.  I took my 2nd gel at 4hrs, and finished up the last hour or so of the run with that satisfyingly spent, creaky old man, don't want to do nothing but lay on the couch and eat ice cream and drink hot chocolate feeling that I so value after long runs.

Unfortunately, I had to spend the rest of the afternoon fixing a flat tire on my car, instead.  Although I felt useful and undeniably manly, I would've much preferred the ice cream/couch option.

Finally, the Pumas worked great on this run--I've been wearing them for the majority of my running and love them.  I'm seriously considering racing in these at Rocky.

Friday Dec 21, 2007

AM- 15 miles (2:02) Garden of the Gods (size 11 250s)

PM- 8 miles (1:06) Monument Loops+streets (NB152)

Today was a psuedo-recovery day.  I usually take Fridays really easy with just one 1:20-30 run, but since I took Wednesday completely off, I figured I could afford to get in some extra miles today.

Or, so was my theory.  It was a pretty rough day of running.  This morning was still really warm--almost 50F degrees at 6am--so it was great weather, but my quads, lower legs, and ankles were all pretty worked from the longer run yesterday evening.  I'm still just trying to get into shape, that's for sure.  I took my southern loop through the Garden (Ute Trail to Niobrara Trail) and gradually felt better and better as the run went on, but was glad to be done by the end.  Also, the fantastic sunrise/alpenglow in the Garden is absolutely worth noting.

I didn't leave the CRC until after 2pm, and by then it had actually started snowing.  The high for the day was definitely in the morning.  By time I got out to run, it was 25F and a full-blown blizzard with quite the windchill.  The main thing about this run was just how uncomfortable my legs were.  My ankles and shins hurt so I just took it as easy as possible.

Upon finishing I started scavenging for any food I could find.  All I'd eaten all day was a banana and a granola bar, so I was pretty hungry.  I don't want to go to the grocery store because I'm going to be heading home this weekend for the holidays, so I've been surviving off all the food (not much) that Jocelyn and her roommates left in the house.  I ended up finishing a bag of stale tortilla chips with moldy queso salsa and eating some cereal using water-diluted Half & Half as milk.  Quality stuff.

Thursday Dec 20, 2007

PM- 30 miles (4:11) Mt. Buckhorn-El Diablo Loop to Intemann Trail to Red Rocks to Garden then home (PC II)

What a great run.  I didn't run before work this morning because I was taking Jocelyn to the airport, and then I didn't get off work until 2pm, but it didn't matter because it was ridiculously warm this afternoon--61F degrees!  On basically the shortest day of the year!

I started out feeling awkward and tired because of the day off yesterday, but within in a couple of miles I knew that my ankle tendon wasn't going to be a problem--it's always nice to have some affirmation that a day off does some legitimate, simple good.

By time I made it through Bear Creek and into the mountains, though, I had found my groove and chugged to the top of Mt. Buckhorn.  I was feeling good and loving the weather, so I kept going and took the Buckhorn trail along the ridge all the way over to the 666 (El Diablo) trail.  The trail through here was a lot more clear than I'd expected.  Running down El Diablo was great, with the snow offering extra cushioning, and by the time I got to the bottom I decided to just extend my run an extra hour instead of doing the late-night two-a-day I had originally planned.

Even though it was getting legitimately dark, the run over to Red Rocks on Intemann was fantastic and I had a blast on the Sand Canyon trail--my favorite singletrack in the Red Rocks system.  After sucking down a gel (I'd been running for 3hrs), I ground up the tough Ridge Road climb and then hopped on the panoramic Niobrara Trail in the Garden of the Gods.  This is one of my favorite trails in the Garden because it's the name of my home town, but also because it runs right along the precipitous spine of the ridge formed by the Niobrara geologic formation on the east side of the Garden (by the way, my hometown, Niobrara, NE, is the type-location for the Niobrara formation:  there are miles and miles of chalk bluffs/cliffs lining the Missouri River there).

It was great finishing up the run in the moonlight.  My legs were definitely tired by the end, but it's runs like these that make all the difference for me in 100 mile races--the first 3 hours are cake--basically pure fun--but because I usually do a 4hr run with minimal caloric help (read: gels) the last hour gets a little uglier and it's a great opportunity to rehearse the fatigue that occurs during the average ultra race.

I can't emphasize enough how incredible it is to be back running here in the Springs.  I know it seems redundant, but to be able to do a 30 miler like this literally from my front doorstep with less than 2 miles of pavement and ~3000' of climbing with such stunning and varied scenery is an absolute gift and privilege that I feel so lucky to be able to indulge in.

Wednesday Dec 19, 2007

No running today.

Today was a rare (somewhat) voluntary day off for me.  The pereoneal tendon above my left ankle was really tight this morning along with my calves, achilles tendons, and quads, but I was basically just worried about the ankle tendon.  I've had problems with it in the past, and I'm hoping that one day off now will save a lot of grief later.

Tuesday December 18, 2007

AM- 9 miles (1:10) Mesas and Monument Loops (NB152)
PM- 18 miles (2:02) Pikes Peak Greenway North out and back
5 mile tempo in 30:11 (6:27, 6:01, 6:08, 5:38, 5:55) (NB240)

The morning run was nice; I haven't really been up to go running before 8am since I've been back in the Springs, but it's a beautiful thing with the alpenglow on Pikes Peak. I just took it nice and easy and enjoyed the warmish weather (wore shorts). I noticed my left ankle tendon (the pereoneal tendon, I think?) was a tiny bit tight at times...really need some new road flats.

After getting off work at the CRC at 1pm I immediately went out for what I hope to be a Tuesday routine of a flattish/up-tempoish run straight north and back. There are new mile markers every half-mile on the trail, and for the most part they seem to be on---as you can see, my 1st mile and 4th mile seemed to be a bit off.

The Pikes Peak Greenway trail runs from Fountain, CO (a suburb of Colorado Springs) at the south to Palmer Lake (another suburb of Colorado Springs) at the north end for a total of ~40ish miles of trail going straight through the heart of Colorado Springs. Palmer Lake is at about 7200' and Fountain is about 5500', so the trail enjoys a very gradual downhill from north to south. I've found that this makes it a great venue for running tempo workouts at altitude--in the past I've been able to do 10-12 mile marathon pace/tempo pace runs at a reasonable effort because the slight downhill makes the pace doable despite the altitude.

I was plenty happy with this run since I've really only been running for a week or two; there were times that I felt smooth and times I was struggling a bit, but all in all I just need to start consistently injecting some 6min-pace-or-faster running into my schedule every week. I did notice by the end of the run that my left ankle pereoneal tendon was a bit upset by the quicker pace as were my calves and achilles tendons. Finally, the weather on this run was absurd. It was about 50 degrees and by the end of the run I was drenched in sweat. It seemed a lot more like a spring day than a winter day. All in all, a good run.

Monday December 17, 2007

AM- 15 miles (2:07) Garden of the Gods (PC II)
PM- 7 miles (:53) Garden of the Gods road loop from Old Colorado City (NB152)

This morning I took Jocelyn on my standard 15ish mile loop in the Garden of the Gods--a good long run for her and a perfect recovery day run for me. It was weirdly warm out--we were in shorts and a t-shirts--and it was just a great day to be out on the trails. On the way out through the Mesas we had seen a Nathan hand-held water bottle in a snow drift and when it was still there on the way back I stopped to pick it up. We soon realized that it was full of beer and decided that some runner hadn't just left it there in the middle of run! However, the first thing Jocelyn and I said to each other was, "Hmm...has Alex started running with beer now, too?" As it turns out, that's exactly what had happened.

The evening's run was a quick-paced run through the garden with Julian. He thought we were only doing 7:30ish pace, but I'm pretty sure we were going faster. Anyway, it was a lot of fun to be slicing through the night with him, but my New Balance 152 flats are basically completely shot. There's almost a hole worn all the way through the bottom of the right one. The hard running on pavement (Julian is nursing his plantar and didn't want to run on the snowy trails) was a bit taxing on my shins/ankles.

Week Log 12/10-12/16

Mon-AM: 15 miles (2:00)
PM: 4 miles (:30)

Tue-AM: 7 miles (1:00)

Wed-AM: 15 miles (2:03) Garden of the Gods
PM: 7 miles (1:00) CRC run

Thu-PM1: 23 miles (3:02) Mt. Buckhorn
PM2: 4 miles (:34) CRC Holiday Party

Fri-AM: 10 miles (1:35) Red Rocks Canyon

Sat-AM: 30 miles (4:20) Garden-Intemann-Sect. 16-High Dr-Gold Camp-Stratton

Sun-AM: 20 miles (3:06) LRR-Bob's-Barr Camp
PM: 7 miles (1:01) Monument

Total: 142 miles (20:11)

Obviously, a great week. First real week of running in a long time; if things can continue to go this well, Rocky will be fun. Also, I am now 100% completely injury-free!

Sunday December 16, 2007

AM- 20 miles (3:06) Longs Ranch Road to Bob's Road to Barr Camp and down to Manitou (PC II)
PM- 7 miles (1:01) Monument Loops (New Balance RC152)

This morning was a great run with the Incline Club. I didn't run over to Manitou because I had to be to work at noon and because I decided I should split up my 4hrs of running today just to be on the careful side.

After getting a couple minutes late start because I was stripping off my tights (correctly anticipating a warm day in the mountains) I spent the run up the Ute Pass Trail (UPT) catching up to and passing a lot of runners, including Dan Vega and Kelli Lusk.

Once I turned onto LRR, the powdery ankle-deep snow and steep terrain had me grunting and cursing, and despite the wind I was soon grinding along in shirt-sleeves. At the top I took Bob's Road over to Barr Trail and up to Barr Camp. After the snow and radical incline of LRR, the packed down Barr Trail felt positively flat. It is amazing to me that I can still run to 10,200 feet (because the trail was so well-packed) on trails in December---it's hard to beat the Pikes Peak massif for training.

After chatting with Neal and Teresa Taylor (the caretakers at Barr Camp--Neal finished his 10th Leadville 100 this summer), eating one of Teresa's scrumptious pancakes, and quaffing a free Gatorade in exchange for carrying a bag of trash back down to Manitou, Steve Bremner and I enjoyed a brilliant run back down to the city on Barr Trail. I love that trail.

In the evening, Jocelyn and I went for a quick jaunt around Monument Valley Park in the dark (we didn't get out until 7:30pm). My legs were a bit tired (mostly from standing up all afternoon working at the CRC), but mostly I noticed that my New Balance flats are on their last legs (they only have about 360 miles on them, but pretty soon I will have worn a hole completely through the bottom of the right one). All in all, a great day of running.

Saturday December 15, 2007

30 miles (4:20) Garden-Intemann-Section 16 (steep way)-High Drive-Gold Camp-Stratton (PC II)

What a great great run. Runs like this are a huge reason why I moved back to Colorado Springs. Even though there was only about 3000' total climbing (split mostly between two successive ~1500' climbs, Section 16 and High Drive) this run still offered awesome scenery, very little asphalt and completely runnable, mostly packed trails (despite all the snow) right from my front doorstep. High Drive was actually a little rough because all the wind last night blew some big drifts into the packed down trail, but all in all it was a great run. Oh yeah, and even though it was about 10F last night, I was able to wear shorts and strip down to shirt-sleeves for the second half of this run because the sunshine was so brilliant. After Bozeman, I will never take seemingly insignificant details like that for granted again.

I felt really good on this run, too, despite being up pretty late last night. My legs were peppy right from the start (started out with Ashley and Jocelyn) and I kept a much more honest pace all day than I usually do on long runs. Also, the Pumas are a great shoe. I almost want to wear them for Rocky...

Friday December 14, 2007

AM- 10 miles (1:35) Red Rocks Canyon+Intemann Trail (PC II)

This run is a testament to the great trails in Colorado Springs. Red Rocks Canyon is a relatively new open space that was saved from development (it's prime real estate with great views of the Rampart Range and Garden of the Gods), and with it being only a 5 minute drive from downtown (you could run there completely on trails, but it would take an hour or so---or, 30 minutes on the streets), Jocelyn and I were able to go put in a stunningly scenic run for my weekly easy day. I am so lucky--just click the link and check out some pictures of the place in the gallery. Even though the run was a little cold and breezy, it was neat to be able to watch the snow clouds progressively come down from the mountains. They never quite made it all the way to town, though.

Afterwards, we went out and enjoyed a peaceful afternoon at Agia Sophia--a quaint little coffee/book shop on the west edge of Old Colorado City (and, just across the highway from Red Rocks). Although I could do without its ubiquitous Jesus iconagraphy, I really like the hushed atmosphere, the plush leather couches, and the reasonably-priced menu.

Thursday December 13, 2007

1PM- 23 miles (3:02) Mt. Buckhorn (Puma Cortland II)
6PM- 4 miles (:34) Colorado Running Company (CRC) Holiday Party Run (PC II)

Today's first run was such a delight. Mt. Buckhorn is an ~8300' peak near Bear Creek Canyon; this run is the basis of my training in the winter time because it offers a ~2000' climb (over about 3.5 miles) in the middle of a 3hr run from my front doorstep in downtown Colorado Springs on a gravel road (High Drive--closed to cars in the winter) that remains runnable basically year round because it sees lots of foot traffic. The final mile or so to the summit of the mountain is on the Upper Captain Jacks trail from the top of High Drive.

The base of High Drive is also an excellent gateway to the plethora of trails in Bear Creek/Cheyenne Canyon (Intemann, Section 16, 666 (El Diablo), Captain Jacks, Gold Camp, etc.). After being in Bozeman, I can really really appreciate the easy access opportunities these trails provide, even in the wintertime. It takes about 1hr of running (completely on trails from downtown COS---this is huge) to get to the base of the climb in the mountains, but this is usually how much warm-up time I require before really being ready to tackle the uphill.

Anyways, I didn't get out the door to run until this afternoon because I was working at the CRC from 9am-1pm and because when I went to go running this morning at 5am I couldn't find the key that is needed to unlock the front (and back) doors from the inside. Yes, these doors require a key to get out of the house...a little strange. I ended up feeling pretty great for this run (even though I hadn't eaten anything but an apple all day), and then only had about an hour or so until I went back out for the CRC run prior to the Holiday Party.

The CRC Holiday Party is a great running community get-together...I'm pretty sure neither Runner's Roost nor the Boulder Running Company do anything similar, but some of the guests really underline the fact that the CRC is a wonderful ambassador of trail running--Nancy Hobbs, Matt Carpenter, Cindy O'Neill, and Kelli Low were all in attendance.

Wednesday December 12, 2007

AM- 15 miles (2:03) Garden of the Gods (Sportiva Slingshots)
PM- 7 miles (1:00) Colorado Running Company Social run =Shooks Loop (Puma Cortland II)

It's so great to be back in Colorado Springs! Even though COS has gotten a decent amount of snow the last few days, everything was packed down enough to make running very doable...it was even warm enough to be wearing shorts! The run this morning in the Garden was gorgeous: there aren't many things I enjoy more than a jaunt through the snow-covered red rocks and evergreens there. I felt so privileged to be back on my favorite trails.

The evening's run was an easy loop on the standard Shook's Run Loop. It was great to see some of the familiar faces while having a beer afterwards.

Tuesday December 11, 2007

7 miles (1:00) Painted Hills Connector (Raceblades)
Geezus, it was cold this morning. That's really about all there is to say. Ran at 5:30am before class so I could hit the road right afterwards. Legs felt awkward in the Race Blades. Right hip flexor also tight.

Monday December 10, 2007

AM- 15 miles (2:00) Sourdough to Sundance Trails out and back (Puma Cortland II)
PM- 4 miles (:30) city streets to the grocery store and back

This morning's run was crazy. It started out tame enough, but about 30 minutes in the skies opened up and it snowed maybe the hardest I've ever seen for the remainder of the run. When I began there was a negligible skiff of new snow, but by the end ~4 inches of powder had fallen...in less than 2 hours!

My foot was pretty much the same on this run: started out a little tight, but completely fine the second half. It was a lot of fun to explore the Sundance Trail...I'd never been on it before and it's a nice little trail tucked in next to a spring. Even though my legs didn't feel great this morning, I was in a great mood. By the end, I was belting out Animal Collective's Winter's Love at the top of my lungs...an appropriate little ditty considering the conditions (if you click the link, be sure it's with an open mind and wait until at least the 2:35 mark before giving up...you won't regret it...).

In the evening, I decided it was time to do my first two-a-day, mostly because I'll be shortening my run tomorrow morning (in order to get on the road for a long day of driving), but also because I needed to go to the grocery story to get some trail mix (so I don't fall asleep in the car tomorrow). I tried out my (drastically altered) Race Blades for the first half of the run, but they weren't really happening, so I changed back into the Pumas for the 2nd half. Despite the slick footing, it was a very peaceful run in the dark.

The last seven days have been 115 miles, so I think it's safe to say that I'm back! However, it's crazy how this amount of mileage barely even feels like training to me. I'm certainly not in good shape, but I think my body has undergone some type of permanent adaptation as a result of the several bouts of extremely high mileage that it's experienced over the past three years--here's to hoping that I exercise a little discipline in the coming weeks and months!

Week Log 12/3-12/9

Mon-0
Tue-8 miles (1:07)
Wed-13 miles (1:42)
Thu-18 miles (2:22)
Fri-15 miles (2:03)
Sat-20 miles (2:43)
Sun-22 miles (3:01)
Total: 96 miles (12:58)

Obviously, a good week. Wow, way better than I'd expected actually...I didn't know I was that close to 100. Next week I plan to maintain through the first half of the week (assuming the foot stays fine) while moving back to CO, and then hopefully pick it up with CRUD tempo on Thursday morning and some fantastic MOUNTAIN runs on the weekend!

Sunday December 9, 2007

22 miles 3:01 Cherry River-Painted Hills-Peet's Hill (Puma Cortland II)
I guess I was getting tired of doing the same exact run every day, so I passed up the Story Hills and headed out to the Painted Hills single track after making my customary loop down by the East Gallatin. The morning started off brilliantly cold (-5F) but seemed to warm up pretty quickly and by the end I was stripping off my hat, gloves, unzipping the jacket, etc. My legs started out feeling pretty good, but I was definitely getting that great achey feeling in them by the end.

absolutely cannot wait to get back to Colorado to check out my old haunts of High Drive, Mt Buckhorn, 666 Trail, Garden of the Gods, and Section 16. This isn't a case of thinking the grass is greener--I know the grass is greener in Colorado Springs. Put it this way: I didn't move to Montana for the running, and I was sad to leave Colorado back at the end of the summer because in my mind (even then, when I was living there) west-side Colorado Springs/Manitou Springs offers an almost unbeatable variety of trails, basically year-round. And, at this point in my life, running is larely what I do, so the venues are pretty important to me.

The foot felt pretty much the same today. It always feels basically 100% the 2nd half of the run. As long as it doesn't get any worse (in fact, it seems to be getting ever so gradually better) I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.

Saturday December 8, 2007

20 miles 2:43 Cherry River+Story Hills (Puma Cortland II)
The wind made it plenty cold this morning. My foot felt great after an hour or so, and I had a lot of fun exploring up in some new areas of the Story Hills. There wasn't really anything significant about this run except that it was finally of decent length with my foot still feeling fine.

Friday December 7, 2007

15 miles 2:03 Cherry River+Story Hills (Puma Cortland II)
God, it was cold this morning; 7 degrees, but up in the hills the wind was blowing like no other and I didn't have a jacket on so things were getting pretty dire. This morning, my ankle seemed a little bit more sore than usual, but the foot was a little better--for some reason I'd rather have the ankle hurt than the foot. Pretty tired this morning--probably because I didn't run until the afternoon yesterday and didn't get to bed until late last night, so the pace was considerably slower than yesterday. Still, all in all a good run, but I'm already getting tired of running these same trails over and over because everything good is completely snowed in. A major plus was running through the very narrow, forested trails down by the East Gallatin River---I felt like I was in a painting the way that the snow was stuck to everything like giant tufts of cotton.

Thursday December 6, 2007

18 miles 2:22 Cherry Creek to Story Hills (Puma Cortland II)
I didn't run first thing this morning because I had to get an early start on polishing some rock samples before being able to look at them on the scanning electron microscope (SEM) later today. However, when I woke up it was dumping snow, and I was kinda glad to put my run off until the early afternoon.

As it was, I got out the door at 1pm. It had stopped snowing and a fresh 5-6" had turned everything back into a glorious winter wonderland; I love how pristine everything looks after a fresh snowfall. This ended up being a good run. For the first hour or so I was a tiny bit hesitant about my foot, but around 1:20 it felt completely fine and basically didn't hurt the rest of the run. That happened around the 1:20 mark yesterday too, so I don't know what's going on. The climb up the Story Hills gravel road was solid and it was a blast floating back down the trail in the fresh powder. All in all, I kept the pace very honest on this run.

Wednesday December 5, 2007

13 miles 1:42 Story Hills (Puma Cortland II)
This was a good run. The foot never really got worse, but there were some occasional tweaks in there; however, only after some serious self-discipline did I decide to not go the full two hours. I just figured I'd rather go a bit shorter today and still be able to run later in the week.

It was a lot of fun exploring around up there---there is a solid amount of nice little cow paths, pickup doubletracks, etc. but it seems like a fair amount of it might be on private land. Anyways, hopefully the improvement continues with the foot.

Tuesday December 4, 2007

8 miles 1:07 Peet's Hill/Lindley Park/Gallagator Trail (Puma Cortland II's)
Ended up just sort of tooling around on the nearby trails. The foot seemed okay on this run. The run didn't make my foot feel any worse--there's just a little twinge in there anyhow--so I'm just going to try to build up slowly the rest of this week and not stress it too much.

There has been a minor melt here in Bozeman...temps have been in the 30s the last couple of days so now there's tons of slush and ice covered in water, which just might be the slickest surface I've ever experienced.

Western States Lottery Results and...a Rant.

As anyone who might be reading this blog already knows, the Western States Lottery was this past weekend. I won’t get into the specifics of the process, nor the history of the event as perfectly good accounts of both can be found other places. However, also as many already know, a number of who some might consider to be “top runners” (most prominently, I suppose, being Karl Meltzer, myself, and Leigh Schmitt) weren’t picked in the lottery nor allowed entry by the race committee.

Why am I writing about this, and why might this be considered troublesome? Well, it’s my blog and the nature of blog writing is inherently selfish, so I’m going to write about whatever concerns me. And, I guess the main reasons that me not being allowed into Western States concerns me is A) for the selfish reason of my wanting the opportunity to test myself against the stiffest competition available in ultra running, and B) because I love the sport of ultra running and think that some of the actions of several race committees, including Western States, across the country are somewhat hurtful to the sport in general.

I’m not really one who is typically content with the status quo in any situation, and for me, ultra running is no different. I yearn to push the boundaries, explore my limits, and hopefully, be allowed a more intimate glimpse into the core of my being in the process. And all that other cliché stuff (seriously). Although ultra running offers that opportunity to me on many levels, racing is a unique experience. To paraphrase Jenn Shelton, “Running is a way of life, and racing is a celebration of that life.” And, to me, the unique thing about racing is the presence of others—be it spectators, a crew, a pacer, media, other competitors—sharing in that wonderful yet heart-rending experience of plumbing the depths of the soul.

So, my first point is that without sufficient competition a race loses a whole bundle of its meaning for me. In order to inspire my absolute best performance, in order to truly fulfill my potential, in order to be allowed that aforementioned privileged view with the utmost clarity, I need others of equal or greater ability out there pushing me to step as close to the edge as possible, to achieve the most pristine look afforded to only the truly brave (or, stupid, maybe). I need to be prodded to that terrifying territory where one knows for sure that an inch further and nothing but the great, yawning abyss awaits.

I have only been there but once thus far in my (so far, very short) ultra racing career. It was at 11,400’ on the top of Sugarloaf Pass at about mile 80 of the 2006 Leadville 100. I’d been doing everything in my power to continue simple forward motion ever since leaving the Fish Hatchery aid station at 76.5 miles and having my crew tell me (wrongly) that Steve Peterson was only 20 minutes behind me. As shitty as I was feeling, I knew that if I wanted to maintain my lead I needed to go as hard as possible. All I’ll say is that crazy things happened on top of that mountain, and if you’re an ultra runner I don’t really need to tell you about them, because you already know. But, the point is, I never would’ve accessed that raw, primitive, unadulterated portion of my being if I hadn’t been forced to by the (albeit, false) pressure of knowing that a 5-time Leadville champion was hot on my trail (Steve was actually nearly an hour back at that point).

The two other 100 milers that I’ve had the pleasure of finishing since that first finish at Leadville have done far less to throw my psyche into such a clarifying frenzy. They were both certainly a measure more comfortable, but consequently, a touch less fulfilling. (But, only a touch…a very, very light touch.) Maybe the experience of a first 100 mile finish can never be regained, but I do know that I have disappointingly been unable to give my absolute best effort at either subsequent event because of a lack of competition. So, I primarily plan my racing schedule by looking for the competition that will force me back to that rare position on the edge of the precipice.

Western States clearly offers the competition this year to provide that kind of race, but it saddens me to think just how great the field could be at Western States in 2008.

The second part to all of this is that I think not promoting the top competition possible at any given ultra is actually a disservice to the sport and the mid- and back-of-the-packers that compose the majority of any race field. What, you say? Aren’t you being a bit elitist by calling for all these concessions for the top athletes? Yes, I can see that point of view, and I think that I understand the importance of essentially treating all runners in a race “the same.” There certainly seems to be a noble egalitarianism in it. Plus, I have spent many years as a mid- and even back-of-the-pack runner. The only thing I need to do to ever get humbled is go jump in the average big-city road marathon or even the average NCAA Division III Cross Country meet. The depth of decently good runners in this country is absurd and I am nowhere near the top.

However, even though I am a mid-packer in either of those types of races, I don’t feel any such sentiment that, in order to treat me more “fairly”, the race directors should block the admittance of the truly top runners. In fact, one of the coolest things about going and running a big-city marathon for me is that I get to toe the same line as any of the East African runners—the best runners on the planet—and run the same race as them. That is the essential beauty of our sport.

This type of fraternity is magnified in the ultra running scene because the top runners in ultra running are just normal dudes (and chicks) and don’t have a hard time relating to slower (but no less committed or passionate) ultra runners. I don’t really understand how giving other ultra runners the opportunity to be in the same competition while something historic occurs up front is treating those mid-pack runners unfairly. Some day, I would love to be running in the Berlin or London or Chicago marathon at which the world record is being set.

I think the same sort of thing is true in ultra running. When the tight-knit community finds out that some big face-off is going down (e.g. Scott and Karl at Hardrock last summer, or Uli and Matt at the TNF 50 this past weekend) everyone gets excited and wishes that they could be there so that when they finish their races a few hours later they might actually have the opportunity to share a beer with them or ask them how many gels they ate per hour or if they had any rough patches and what they did to get through them. The ultra running community is a wonderfully intimate one and I don’t think allowing more heated competitions to occur more often is going to change that.

Now. As for the current Western States field, it’s going to be a barn-burner. Here is my list of notable runners currently in the race (I really hope I didn’t miss anyone):

Women
Bev Anderson-Abbs (2nd Woman and 13th overall last year)
Meghan Arbogast (1st overall at Where’s Waldo 100K this year)
Michelle Barton (2006 Javelina Jundred Champion)
Annette Bednosky (2005 WS Champion)
Chrissy Ferguson (too lazy to look anything up...)
Devon Crosby-Helms (2007 US World 100K team)
Nikki Kimball (2007 WS Champ and 8th overall…among other things…)
Caren Spore (perennial top-3 finisher in races)

Men
Josh Brimhall (2nd at 2006 San Diego 100, 1st 2006 Zane Grey)
Graham Cooper (2006 WS Champion, 3rd 2007 WS)
Mark Godale (2007 Burning River 100 Champion)
Hiroki Ishikawa (8th 2007 WS, 1st 2007 Grand Slam)
Andy Jones-Wilkins (4th 2007 WS, 1st 2007 VT, 1st 2007 Teton, 2nd 2007 JJ)
Hal Koerner (defending WS Champ)
Sean Meissner (damn you, laziness...)
Zach Miller (2007 Mt. Masochist Champ, 2nd 2007 JFK…never worse than 2nd in a 50)
Brian Morrison (<300y from 2006 WS Champ)
Glen Redpath (6th 2007 WS, 1st Master)
Erik Skaden (2nd 2007 WS, 2007 MUC Champ)
Michael Wardian (2007 JFK Champion, prolific 2:2x marathoner)
Mike Wolfe (2006 & 2007 White River 50 Champ, 2nd 2007 Bighorn 100)

Of course, there are many other possible entries with the remainder of the MUC series…but right now a top-10 finish in this field makes you one heckuva runner (right now, I’m going to say Zach Miller for the win…).

Week Log 11/26-12/2

Mon-7 miles (1:00)
Tue- 9 miles (1:13)
Wed-10 miles (1:24)
Thu-15 miles (2:05)
Fri-17 miles (2:23) Beacon Hill to M Trail
Sat-22 miles (3:00) Bozeman Creek Canyon
Sun-6 miles (:50)
Total: 86 miles (11:55)

Obviously, this was a great week. I became a real runner again and even though the first half of the week was spent feeling awkward and worrying about my ankle, the second half I started feeling really good on all of my runs. Now, it's just a matter of listening to my foot and becoming 100% healthy so that I can be ready to do some real running once I move back to the balmy climes and clear trails of Colorado Springs in 10 days.

Sunday December 2, 2007

6 miles 50min Story Mill out and back (Puma Cortland II)
Brilliant sunshine and -7F degrees this morning. I started out today with the intention of taking an easy day because I've increased the running a whole bunch this week, but I actually ended up going even a little shorter than I'd planned because my tendon in my left foot was protesting a fair amount. It never really got worse as the run went on, I just decided that there was an unacceptable level of discomfort there and that it needed a break. I'll just keep listening to it and see how things feel over the next couple of days. Iced afterwards.

In any event, running shorter than planned this morning has given me some extra time to finish writing my term paper for my Tectonics course.

Saturday December 1, 2007

22 miles 3:00 Sourdough Trail to Bozeman Creek Canyon out and back (Puma Cortland II)
I woke up this morning to -9F temps and falling snow. Gotta love Montana, I suppose. I felt really good on this run despite the chilly weather. I was getting decent purchase on the squeaky cold snow, and because it was the weekend there were very few people up and moving about yet. There are about 4 miles worth of roads to get to the canyon, but then running in the canyon is nice because it's protected from the wind. The trail was about what I expected--probably 6 inches or so of packed snow and a couple inches of new snow. It made for punchy footing, so I only ran about 2 1/4 miles in (there are mile markers) before heading back to town.

I took a gel with me on this run in case anything like yesterday happened, but today I was strong the whole way except for my left hamstring (chronically tight) and my right hip flexor (also been a bit of a problem the last couple of years). Sometimes I think I should give in and just devote myself to a consistent yoga routine...but the thing is, I'd always rather be out running for an extra half hour or hour than stretching.

The ankle was completely fine on this run, but the top of my foot was a little tight every now and then. It's definitely something to do with a tendon there, but at this point it's not really limiting me, so I'll just keep watching it. Iced my whole foot in a cooler of snow-water after the run.

Finally, my name didn't get drawn today in the Western States 100 Lottery...maybe some day I'll find the time to vent my views on the current situation in ultra running of race entry, depth of competition, race fees, etc., etc., but not right now. All I'll say is that I'm not convinced yet to try and qualify for WS by running one of the Montrail Ultra Cup races (Way Too Cool 50K, American River 50, Miwok 100K). Right now, my opinion is that I won't fly across the country to only run 31 miles, AR is too asphalty and flat, and I want to do the Zane Grey 50 instead of Miwok. I'm thinking of maybe entering the Massanutten 100 in May and then hitting up the San Juan 50 in June. Or maybe I'll do just the Bighorn 100. We'll see.

In other news, apparently Uli beat Matt today out at the TNF 50 Championship race. That isn't super surprising to me, but I did expect Matt to come out with the win. Maybe he is finally getting old after all...I'll be interested to hear his take on the race. Unfortunately, I haven't heard any further results from that race, yet.

Friday November 30, 2007

17 miles 2:23 Story Hills to Beacon Hill to Fish Hatchery to M and back on Highway/Story Mill (Puma Cortland II)
This run was kinda crazy. When I ran past the bank downtown, the sign said it was 3 degrees out at 7am, and by time I'd finished the run, it was...6 degrees. Yeah, nice and balmy. The Pumas were awesome on this run. They are beautifully low-profile but still have solid snow/ice-gripping lugs, too.

Anyways, I started out feeling awesome and cruised down to the nice Story Hills area. It's a shame that all of this is kept private land so that a few zillionaires can just erect mansions up there---hopefully more trails can be created in the future. I continued (illegally) on up to Beacon Hill and then descended cross-country (it felt like I was just floating through the deep powder on the northern slope) down to the Fish Hatchery by the M Trailhead parking lot. Running the 15 minutes up to the college M was totally worth the majestic scenery of Bozeman in the valley and the Spanish Peaks, Bitter Root (or is it Tobacco Root) Range, and the Gallatin Group off to the west and south.

After cruising back down to the highway my legs were starting to feel a little wobbly, but I figured, hey, it's all downhill back to town. By time I arrived back at the Story Mill Spur trail (about 3 miles from home) though, I was complete toast. I'd been running for about 2:10, but I wasn't experiencing the typical dead-legs, grunt-groan sensations. Instead, my vision was swimming, I was seeing colors, my entire body was weak, and I was having a hard time even staying on my feet. All I wanted to do was just sit down in the snow. So, I did.

Then, I got up and started walking, which was barely better than running. Once I made it into town I tried to thumb a ride, but to no avail. Finally, about a mile and a half from home I started feeling a tiny bit better and broke into a stumbling jog the rest of the way back to my house. After a huge mug of tea and a little food I was feeling back to normal, but I'm still not sure what happened---lack of calories? That seems the most likely culprit, but man, was that rough.

All in all, though, this run was HUGE. I'm a runner again, and it's great. My ankle/foot was barely sore for the run and is still fine this evening--very positive progress. From here on out, it will be more a matter of me being smart and not ramping up the training too quickly in preparation for Rocky Raccoon. But, now I feel strongly that I can go into that race in top condition. Let's hope so.

Thursday November 29, 2007

15 miles 2:05 East Gallatin Recreation Area-Peet's Hill-Kagy-Gallagator (july Slingshots)
This was a great run. I actually felt pretty tired physically most of the run, but my left ankle/foot was in good shape. The foot itself actually never hurt, which is a big improvement from yesterday, and the ankle was very cooperative too, although I could still feel some pain in there now and again.

I woke up this morning to an inch or so of new powder with it still dumping out of the sky. I love runs in new powder. All sounds are muffled, the air is usually very still (and not too cold--lower 20s this morning), and the snow provides a wonderfully cushiony surface. This time, it even added a little traction to all the ice that's around here (even though it hid the ice, I was able to stay on my feet for the whole run).

Running down in the Gallatin Rec Area is great. There's a nice trail loop that winds through some really dense trees, and then there's another loop around a small lake (home to the Bozeman Beach in the warmer months). The trails there also connect to the Cherry Creek River Access area which has a nice big loop (1.5 miles or so) through a wetlands area.

Even though I've definitely made my peace with wintertime now, I'm still excited to be getting back to Colorado Springs in a couple of weeks.

Wednesday November 28, 2007

10 miles 1:24 Painted Hills Trail out and back (July Slingshots)
I felt pretty decent on this run--I'm betting that tomorrow will be the first run that I feel like a "real runner" again. Wearing the Slingshots seemed to help a lot with gripping the snow and ice that is everywhere, mostly because the tread on the bottom is fairly fresh and the forefoot has a broader base than the Inov-8's so there is more contact with the ground. My ankle/foot was sore a little bit again. It's hard to say whether it was worse than yesterday or not. It was very comforting to see that the foot didn't get any worse in the course of the run. I iced my whole foot/ankle in a cooler of ice again, and wow, is that rough; sometimes I wonder if maybe I'm risking frostbite, but it seems to really help with keeping the foot happy.

This particular trail is a real gem as far as urban trails go. Within four minutes of my front doorstep I can be running virtually exclusively on dirt (well, I would be able to if there wasn't snow and ice on everything) for basically five miles south out of town. The Painted Hills Trail itself is only about 1.5 miles long or so, but it's all tiny, winding singletrack along a drainage that goes through the Painted Hills subdivision. The Gallatin Valley Land Trust deserves big kudos for getting trails like this established. Right now there is about 600 meters of private land that is preventing the Painted Hills Trail from connecting all the way to the Gallatin Mountains south of town (via the equally nice, singletrack Triple Tree Trail)---hopefully whoever will wake up and realize that a couple yard swath of right-of-way to allow the trail to connect across their pasture really isn't a big deal.

Tuesday November 27, 2007

9 miles 1:13 Gallagator-Sourdough Trail out and back sz11 250s
Another solid comeback run. It was a real winter run today; lots of wind and blowing snow and the temp was no higher than 20 degrees. This run is ever-so-slightly uphill on the way back and thus, ever-s0-slightly downhill on the way back, which makes for typically feeling a lot better the second half.

I didn't feel great physically today, but my ankle was mostly fine. Yesterday it was completely pain-free, but today I could feel just the tiniest little murmurings of acheing in there. However, it never got any worse over the course of the run, so I was happy with how things went. I iced my entire foot/ankle in a cooler full of snow/ice water for 20 minutes right after the run, and my ankle never gave me any trouble the rest of the day. Hopefully I can keep it manageable and keep getting in solid runs.

Today in the lab I was finally able to cut a couple of my rock core samples so that hopefully we can get them all sent off to be cut into thin-sections by the end of the semester. Figuring out how to cut a "horizontal" slice out of each of these 1-inch cores of quartz has been the problem-solving lesson of the semester for me. When each core was drilled, the drill wasn't necessarily directly perpendicular to the surface of the rock face it was drilling into, so, for the thin-sections (a 30 micron slice of rock glued to a glass plate and looked at under a petrographic microscope. For reference, a human hair is about 70 microns thick) we want a slice of the core that would be in a plane parallel to the surface of the rock that it was taken from.

This has proven to be a much more "tinkering-intensive" procedure than we'd planned. After having to engineer (and construct, in the machine shop) a new attachment for the slow-speed rock-saw arm, extend the samples with several different epoxy molds, make my own molds out of PVC pipe, etc., etc., etc. it finally seems that I'm getting close to getting them all cut. As my advisor, Colin, said today: "Geez, I guess it would've been a lot easier if we'd just drilled the samples vertically this summer..." I guess so.

Monday November 26, 2007

7 miles 1:00 Out and Back on Painted Hills Connector Trail size 11 250s
Good god, I might finally be healthy. This run was the first real run I've had since August that was completely pain-free injury-wise. It was pretty cold (20s) but sunny, and I was tired and ready to be done by the end. Added-on a few minutes on the Gallagator trail to make it the full hour. After taking the past week+ completely off, I'm really really happy that the rest seems to have helped.

It is straight-up wintertime here in Bozeman. The trails here--along with everything else--are completely covered in snow and ice. A week ago I drove to Colorado Springs to visit Jocelyn for Thanksgiving, and the first four hours of driving on the interstate over to Billings were horrendous. It was dumping snow and I never went faster than 40mph the entire way. Other than a run-in with the fuzz in Castle Rock, CO at 2am (speeding; then proceeded to have my entire car searched for drugs...I'm a suspicious-looking suspect, I know, but geez, give me a break) the rest of the drive to CO Springs was clear sailing. So, that means that the snow/ice in Bozeman has been here the entire past week and I'd be willing t0 bet it doesn't disappear until April.

I'm making a big switch in jobs/locations after the first of the year, and the weather here in Bozeman might be just enough to make me move back to the Springs and work for the Colorado Running Company...but that's a whole 'nother issue. But, it can't be denied that, even though it was chilly for most of the week in Colorado, there was only a light dusting of snow and yesterday I could've been running shirtless. Not to mention the fact that even the trails in the mountains up to 14,000' are, for all intents and purposes, still snow-free. Call me a wuss, but at a time in my life when I have little to no responsibilities and a high amount of mobility I'm really not willing to suffer through Montana winters when there are other obvious, more favorable options...

11/12-11/18 Week Log

Mon-0
Tue-0
Wed-0
Thu-9mi (1:10)
Fri-10mi (1:23)
Sat-0
Sun-0
Total: 19mi (2:33)

I don't even want to talk about how frustrated I am after this week. My left ankle/foot/what-the-hell-ever is sure being stubborn. (Of course, when I look at the past week in such stark numbers as this, I sure feel stupid---why would I go on such long runs when I'm hurt?)

I'm probably going to take the entire next week off, though, because I'm traveling back to Colorado for Thanksgiving (and completely neglecting schoolwork) and spending time with Jocelyn is a good distractionary tactic to take my mind off my foot and general injury woes.

Sorry Paul, no CRUD for me this Thursday, but I really miss the view of the city at 6:30am from High Drive; it's REALLY tough to beat the running in the Pikes Peak area.

Recent Results.

Wow, there's been a ton of action in the ultra running scene over the past three weeks or so. In my opinion, some interesting shufflings have occurred in how people might rank in the Ultrarunner of the Year standings, so let's take a look.

Mountain Masochist 50 mile
This was the Masochist's 25th running and (ostensibly) the last one with Mr. Horton at its helm. This is a race that I would love to run some day, but it's swiftly filling ways make it hard for me to plan for---I hate signing up for a race and then having to back out because of an injury. This year, while certainly still full of great runners, seemed to lack some of the depth it's attracted in the past with several "West Coast" (and, by West Coast, I really mean any ultrarunners living between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Coast) runners conspicuously absent. Zach Miller and Eric Grossman looked to have waged an epic duel with both posting quick times, but failing to breach the sub-7hr threshold. Rumor is that Miller was able to gain entry from Horton as late as October by promising that he would finish in the top two---that takes balls, especially since he delivered by improving on his former best finish at the Masochist (2nd). I must also mention that Nikki continued to run brilliantly even though she was significantly off her game because of a recent freak injury.

Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim
Dave Mackey threw down a huge time while traversing the Big Ditch a week ago: 6:59:57. Getting under 7hr is especially notable, but even more impressive is that he was a full 37 minutes under Kyle's year-old record of 7:36:59. However, it must be noted that Kyle's record was set while having to cross the Colorado River on the Bright Angel Bridge (probably a solid mile out-of-the-way each direction) because the South Kaibab Bridge was under construction. Even so, it's reported that Dave was slowed by a mule train more than once (losing an estimated 12 minutes?), so it's obvious the record can go even lower. I'm really looking forward to taking a crack at this sometime next year, preferably with the Brothers Skaggs along for company.

JFK 50 mile
There was an absolutely stacked field for JFK this year (also, the biggest ultra in the country at over 1300 runners!). Ubiquitous marathoner Michael Wardian was back for another shot after blowing up at this race a couple of years ago, but he was running on tired legs with the Olympic Marathon Trials (2:30:xx) and the Outer Banks Marathon (2:24:xx) on the two previous weekends. Well, Michael got it right this time around and cruised an impressive 5:50:34--only 4 minutes off of Eric Clifton's venerable 5:46:24 course record (that has withstood assaults by such luminaries as Dave Mackey, Chad Ricklefs, Howard Nippert, and now, Greg Crowther.) Zach Miller notched another impressive result with a 6:04 in second place, Mark Lundblad continued to show impressive form (after his Tussey mOUnTaiN BACK 50 victory earlier in the fall) with a 6:09 in 4th place, and Eric Grossman ran 6:20 for 5th, completing the same double as Miller. Defending champ Pete Breckinridge was relegated to 7th, and Crowther struggled home in 10th, only a minute ahead of women's champ Ann Lundblad--Mark's wife. I've heard murmurings that Wardian is thinking of doing a 100 miler (although, I think he's already competed in a 24hr race and maybe the Old Dominion 100...), and I hope he does; he's exactly the kind of talent that ultra running needs.

Ultracentric 24 Hour Championships
I think Akos Konya is the most overlooked contender in this year's UROTY rankings (at least on the men's side). He just won this race this weekend with146.25 miles, which was only 1 mile ahead of women's winner Connie Gardner (who also won the Javelina Jundred less than a month ago...very impressive). However, Akos' results this year, off the top of my head, have been very very good:
--2nd to Jorge Pacheco (losing by only 4 minutes) at the Avalon 50 in 6:27 on Catalina Island back in January
--2nd to myself at the Rocky Raccoon 100 in Febuary in 14:51 (only 6 minutes ahead of Jenn Shelton)
--2nd at Badwater in a very fast sub-24 hrs (beaten only by the venerable Valmir Nunes' new course record.)
--1st at the Lean Horse 100 in a course record 15:34
--and now, 146 miles in the 24hr National Championships.
I'm sure I'm missing some of his other performances, but I think these alone are impressive enough to make my point.

Now, the only major events that I can think of are the The North Face 50 showdown (highly anticipated with Uli Steidl and Matt Carpenter going head to head), the Sunmart 5o mile, and the Across The Years races (where, even though Scott Jurek has now withdrawn, Paul Dewitt should be taking a very solid shot (see his recent 14:26 CR at the Heartland 100) at the 24hr American Record). Should be exciting!

Friday November 16, 2007

10 miles 1:23 Story Hills size 11 250s
It was raining when I started this morning at 7:00am, but it stopped after a while and the rest of the run was balmy and in the 40s. The Story Hills are a great place close to town for up to 2 hour runs or so. From my house I have to run about a mile and a half on pavement through town to get to a trail that then leads up into the Stories, which are kind of the foothills for the north end of the Bridger Mountains. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the Stories are private land, but there are some public trails which are basically cowpaths (it is a pasture, afterall), but there's lots of good exploring to be had out there. The trail was really sloppy today...melting snow and mud.

My foot was about the same as yesterday--not really better, not really worse. I wish I didn't have to run so much pavement to get to the trails; I'm thinking about getting a pair of nice cushioned road flats for that reason. I just wish Sportiva would make some of the Skylite's already (their new-for-'08 lightweight shoe)! I was really tired by the end of the run, though. I'm just out of shape.

Thursday November 15, 2007

9 miles 1:10 Gallagator-Sourdough Trail out and back size 11 250s
This is the best run I've had since I broke my foot. I took the last 3 days off because my ankle was pretty upset about not being in a boot anymore, but it seems to slowly be getting better and adapting to the running again. I did take some ibuprofen before this run, which is extremely rare for me, but I had this exact kind of pain a couple of years ago and was able to run through it in less than a month with a little ibuprofen. We'll see how everything feels once the pills wear off. But, on the run itself, the ankle felt pretty darn good. It didn't get worse throughout the run, but there was definitely some pain in there every now and then. Just gotta keep up the strengthening exercises.

The Sourdough Trail is pretty great. I can get on Gallagator within 4 minutes of my front door and then take that south up to Sourdough which goes all the way south to Goldstein Rd (where I turned around this morning). From there it's still about another 2.5-3 miles (on roads, unfortunately) to the mountains (i.e. Bozeman Creek Canyon), which is one of the few mountain trails that's relatively packed down in the wintertime here. I just hate driving to trailheads, so I'm always looking for the best ways to run to them. In Colorado Springs, if you live near CC or the downtown area you can take trails all the way to the mountains or Garden of the Gods---that's such a privelege, especially in a city of that size.

Speaking of winter, it's already here in Bozeman, which is pretty disappointing for me, but what I expected. This morning, every trail was very slick packed snow and ice; the trails don't get like that in Colorado Springs until January/February usually, and when they do it's only for a couple days, maybe a couple of weeks, at a time. It just seems like now that's it's cold here (lows in the upper teens), the trails are going to stay like this until April. I probably could've gone running shirtless in the Springs today.

I still am not quite sure what I'm going to be doing or where I'm going to be after the first of the year, but seeing the early season condition of the trails here is a pretty big motivator to be elsewhere for the winter...

Sunday November 11, 2007

6 miles 50min Sundance to Sourdough from MSU grass fields+barefoot
This is the first run I've actually felt like a runner. In the past two months I knew there was going to be a day when I would wake up and just know that the foot was healed...well, it was finally that day. I did about 10min of barefoot at the end and that even felt good. The Sundance and Sourdough trails are some really nice urban trails on the south side of town; they kind of wind through some nice wooded areas in between the suburban sprawl south of Kagy Blvd.

The only negative about this run was that my left ankle is definitely kind of jacked up in some way. I guess it's just really not happy about having spent the past 2+ months in a boot. I'm just going to play it by ear, but this is one of those rare injuries that I'll probably take ibuprofen for and just keep running on it. I'm usually not a proponent of that at all (or, really, taking any kind of pills), but I had this same exact issue a couple years ago and after about a month of eating ibuprofen and continuing to run on it, it eventually went away all by itself.

There's really nothing that urgent to prepare for (last time I was in the middle of XC season), so I'll be a little kinder to it, but I'm not incredibly worried about it yet.

M-0
T-0
W- 2mi (16min)
Th-2.5mi (20min)
F-3mi (25min)
S-4mi (30min)
S-6mi (50min)
Total: 17.5miles (2h21)


CC XC--Nationals Bound!!
Speaking of XC: yesterday Colorado College's teams competed at the West Regional in Portland, OR and both the men's and women's teams finished 3rd, which earned them at-large bids to the National's Meet next weekend at St. Olaf College in Northfield Minnesota. On the men's side, Boggs, Alex, and Kiran went 2-3-6 w/ both Boggs and Alex sub-25 (last year they went 1-4-5). This was after sweeping 1-2-3 at the conference meet for the second year in a row (and winning the team title). We definitely have one of the strongest top 3 in the country, but our 4th and 5th men are over a minute back.

On the women's side, Jocelyn led the way with a 12th place finish in a PR 22:46--snatching the last individual qualifying spot--but luckily the girls also received an at-large bid today. I think the girls will actually do better at Nationals than the guys because they have a much tighter pack (about a minute, 1-5) than the men (a little over 2 minutes, 1-5), which will hurt the guys A LOT more at a big, deep race like nationals. Anyways, it's awesome to have both teams going--unfortunately it'll probably be the last time that happens for a LONG time as both teams are made up of basically all seniors.

Saturday November 10, 2007

4 miles 30min Peets Hill
This was a weird run. Ran over to Peets Hill and then took the nice little singletrack spur down to Church street and then back to the house. It's the first run I've done that wasn't exclusively grass, and I could tell. I'm pretty positive now that my stress fracture is healthy and ready to be really run on, but my left foot sure was protesting in other ways today. Just lots of general acheing in the outer metatarsals/ankle and even some sharp pains. By the end of the run I was definitely a little bit worried, but I think it's going to be OK.

This same exact sort of thing happened to me two years ago. I took five weeks or so off for a stress reaction in my left foot and when I started back up the reaction was fine but my ankle/plantar fascia ended up causing some problems for a while. I hope it's all just part of getting back into it.

After some breakfast I drove up to the M trailhead (felt guilty about that) and hiked to the top of the peak just south of Baldy and back in about 3 hours with plenty of view-gazing at the stunning Absarokas over in Paradise Valley, the Gallatins, and the Spanish Peaks. There are so many mountains around here---Bozeman would be a great place to be in the summer time. But, then I think, if I'm going to pick where I get to be in the summer I would absolutely pick the San Juans or Upper Arkansas River Valley in Colorado before Montana; mostly because of the higher altitude in Colorado. I'm such an altitude snob anymore when it comes to running. I remember commenting to Kyle this summer that it didn't seem like I was really training if I was under 5000' elevation. Obviously, that's not true.

Anyhow, the hike was very positive for the metatarsal, but not so positive for the ankle thing going on in that foot. I think the stress fracture is definitely healed. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out. Either way, I think I'm going to go back to the grass surface for tomorrow's run.

Friday November 9, 2007

3 miles 25min MSU grass fields
Boy, running is tough. It happens every time I come back from an injury, but geez, how can a measly 3 miles be so uncomfortable sometimes? The good news is that the foot still felt fine this morning; wore the size 11 Invo8s. There are some other pains in my left foot, but not the stress fracture pain---obviously just the usual getting back into it aches. It's so weird how I just sort of intuitively know what pain is a problem and what pain will just run its course and go away.

I'm hoping to do a couple of 30-40 min runs this weekend, but I also want to get in at least one nice long hike up in the mountains. I feel an urgency before the snow really gets thick around here. Hopefully I'll be heading up to Hyalite Reservoir and/0r Mt. Blackmore tomorrow...only about a 20-30min drive from Bozeman.

Thursday November 8, 2007

2.5 miles 20min MSU grass fields
This run was pretty encouraging. I wore my size 11 Inov-8 250s (('ve pretty much only worn the 11.5s for a couple of training runs and then the LT100...so I'm saving them up), but for some reason I thought to put the factory insoles in them this morning. I've been taking my insoles out of my shoes pretty much ever since I started wearing minimalist shoes, so I've forgotten that shoes are typically worn with an insole. Well, the shoe fit a whole lot more snug, but it also seemed to do a lot to protect my metatarsal, surprise, surprise. As a result, this morning's little jog went just fine. I still feel like the foot is mostly just weak; I'm almost certainly not feeling any pain in the metatarsal itself. I'm going to stick with the 250s and keep increasing in a reasonable manner.

This morning was a great reminder of the gloriousness of sunrises. I normally consider myself an early riser and often get to greet the sun on my morning run, but I haven't been getting up with the sun now since basically last May when I first hurt my meniscus and couldn't run. Then, when I was able to run again mid-summer, I didn't have a job so I would sleep in pretty late (8am or so), so of course the sun was already pretty high in the sky by time I'd hit the trail. And, this fall, I've been injured again so I haven't been getting up early at all. Anyways, the point is, sunrises are magical and are reason enough themselves to wake up a little earlier in the morning.

Wednesday November 7, 2007

2 miles 16min MSU grass fields
Biked to the fields and then did a couple of loops around, wearing the NB 152s. I think the foot felt fine this morning, it's just weak. I might start trying to do some strengthening exercises to help that along: towel crunches, ABCs, rock pick-ups, etc.

Right at the end of my "run" Scott Creel came up behind me and introduced himself and then was on his way. Maybe it's just because I feel so slow and awkward and out of shape, but he certainly cuts an intimidating figure. I'm pretty sure he's 40+ now, but he's definitely still running like a panther. Scott won the trail 50K National Championships a couple of times a few years ago and always wins the Bridger Ridge Run here in Bozeman. He's also a professor in the Ecology department at MSU.

I really look forward to getting out on the trails and integrating myself more into the local running scene. Of course Nikki Kimball lives here (congrats to her on Mt. Masochist this past weekend!), but beyond her there's quite the thriving ultrarunning group here in town even though Bozeman's population is only about 30,000. Erich Peitzch is in MSU's Earth Sciences program with me studying snow science and he was 3rd at the Cascade Crest Classic 100 this year along with a finish at Western States. Also, Mike Wolfe (White River 50 champ the last two years) used to live here, but I think he's since moved to Missoula for law school. Either way, I look forward to meeting some new running folk.

Sunday November 4, 2007

2 miles 17min--South out and back on the Gallagator Trail from MSU
Today's "run" wasn't super encouraging. I wore the new Puma Cortland IIs and felt really awkward running. I think I'm going to stick with the New Balances. I really wish that Sportiva hadn't run out of my size of the Slingshots---I could really use a fresh pair of real running shoes right now.

It's not like my foot hurt this morning, but there was some uncertainty. Although I can't really say what, something stopped me from going the full 20 minutes I was planning. This part of running is horribly frustrating and nerve-wracking (coming back from injuries). It's so hard to tell if I'm doing real damage and setting myself back or if it's all just part of getting back into it.

Finally, it's nice that the weather is staying pleasant for so long this fall--I'd expected Bozeman to experience winter a little earlier. This morning it was sunny and probably in the 40s. I'm really not a big fan of snow or ridiculously cold temperatures, so it's great; but, right about the time that I'm actually able to do some real running winter will probably be in full force.

Oct 29--Nov 4
M-0
T-0
W-0
Th-0
F-0
S-1.5mi (12min)
S-2mi (17min)
Total: 3.5mi (29min)