The Longest Run

Day Three

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 03:38:00 +0000

Down the hill from Blacksmith.

Seriously. This is what this is now.

1.05 in 15ish.

Day Two

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 03:37:00 +0000

Nielsen, ran the first mile, walk/ran the second.

2.0 in 28:36

https://runsignup.com/Race/CO/ColoradoSprings/NielsonChallenge

Day One

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Sat, 07 Sep 2024 03:36:00 +0000

Yo. I would have been disqualified from a race walk. Maybe.

1.0 in 17:15

Grim

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 03:54:00 +0000

It was a dark and stormy night. And then the wind started to blow.

I stared into the grim lipped maw of blackness. And then I spoke loudly, saying nothing.

Another day of running and another Ultra finish for Ulli

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 03:51:00 +0000

Nothing big today from me of course, but I did notice this profile on irunfar.com.

The profile is of the legendary Ullrich Kamm. Of course some readers may remember that I have had a few encounters with Mr. Kamm and they have been great.

Here is a link to an old post about a race and one of the run-ins with the ever-inspiring Ulli.

http://www.streakrun.com/2011/04/top-ten-things-i-learned-from-dfl-at.html

Running and repeat.

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 02:36:00 +0000

Nothing fancy is coming here so don't hold your breath. I am just practicing the practice of writing something.

Co-champions at Hardrock this year. They crossed the finish line together holding hands. I wonder if that has ever happened in the 100m final? I wonder if one of them was tempted to sprint ahead at the last second? Questions.

Hardrock 2016 Results.

Day Two.

Hard Rock Day

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 23:37:00 +0000

Hello.

Today is Hard Rock Day. The running of the 2016 HardRock Endurance Run began today. Check out the coverage here.

I suppose if I ever really want to have a chance of doing something other than hitting refresh on a twitter feed on this day. I had better get busy.

One continuous mile of running. On a trail.

Running

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 04:50:00 +0000

onewaystock.com

Here we go. Running again. I think I need to write and run at the same time. Running and writing seem to go together. At least if there was a graph plotting the frequency of the two activities, they would both share the same precipitous drop. However previous results, or lack there of, do not guarantee future success or complete failure. And thus there is writing. And there is running. We shall see how long they last.

Wandering

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 05:31:00 +0000

Strolling along singing a song.
What song is it?
It sounds like...noise.

(Photo credit: jimmywayne)

It sounds like inhuman humming.
It sounds mechanical.
The ledge is there.
The drop is there.
The post is there.

So are you running?
Are you limping?
Are you meandering?
Are you making progress?

Are you looking around?
What do you see?
What do you hear?
What do you think?

I suppose it's time to start.
The blathering on has become monotonous.
It's time to burn the farm down.
It's time to head to the cantina.

Nothing grandiose.
It isn't noteworthy.
It just is.
Right now.
Can't see around the corner anyway.

Time for a run.

Steamboat Anniversary Runs

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 04:48:00 +0000

So this here is one of those catch up posts.

Outside of the glee of DNFs in every ultra I started this year, there were some actual "fun" runs. As I have mentioned many times, the most fun I have running is almost always with "teh wifey". Teh wifey loves to run, she is good at running, and could be really quite accomplished at running if those silly things like teaching our four children, living life, loving our church members, and all the other parts of her many jobs didn't get in the way.

That being said, we got to celebrate fifteen years of marital bliss this July. As part of the celebration we went up to one of our new favorite places to go, Steamboat Springs, CO. Last year I futilely attempted the Run Rabbit Run 100 and other than the running result, we really enjoyed the area. Thus it worked for our summer plans to leave our kids with family and head up together for a few days of relaxation and non-stop smiling at each other.

I really like spending time with my best friend. This trip was no different. Of course one of the highlights was running parts of the course on fish creek trail and up to Mt. Werner. We couldn't take the direct ski run route up to Mt. Werner due to construction but we got to see a lot of the mountain. Here are some highlights on the trip up Fish Creek.

The trail is beautiful though it does get a bit rocky at times...

My beautiful bride...

There are waterfalls these are some of them.

This picture is one of my favorites. I took a similar picture (below) that was taken during last year's race. Now I need to get up here every year to take the same picture...

and other assorted views....

and finally perhaps the most interesting picture...

Why would I be showing a blurry picture of the trail and claiming it is the most interesting? Well as we were bombing down the trail, the sun was quickly descending over the horizon. Teh wifey had stopped to retie her shoe and so I stopped as well. At that moment I looked down the trail and saw a bear walking up the trail towards us. This was invigorating. I was slow in getting the camera out, and we had started making a lot of noise to encourage him to take a detour so the only glimpse of him is a hind foot that shows up as a dark blob right in the middle of the photo. Really it's there! At any rate we were glad he decided to head off the trail, as there was really thick underbrush on either side and we really didn't feel like bushwhacking through and finding the rest of the bear clan (hello mama bear?) waiting for us.

All in all about eleven miles total, a few thousand feet of elevation gain, a beautiful sunset, a visit from a blond bear, and a great way to celebrate an anniversary!

Leadville 100 Trail Run Race Report 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 03:34:00 +0000

Hi All.

Welcome to another episode of Ace toes the line at Leadville.

For those who like to read ahead, here is the short-short version:
DNF. Cut at Half-Pipe Outbound in 8:19 elapsed.

For who like more than a tweet, the short version:
DNF.Right on pace for the first 13.5 miles to MayQueen. Complete and utter implosion (and many explosions) on the way to fish hatchery. Never recovered. Cut at Half-Pipe Outbound.

For those who like gory details, bear stories (no live bears involved,) and my witticisms, read on. The long version ensues...

Someone asked me how my preparation for this race had went. Since I've posted twice in the last six months or so, let me sum it up. Blart. On the one hand, I had not lost nearly enough weight to even consider being in this race. It was worse than it has been previous years and obviously represents one of the biggest challenges. On the other hand I had some good running (Best June mileage total ever,) some good results (North Fork-agonizingly close,) and had done a fair amount of strength and core cross training. Someday I may tell you about the time(s) I checked my man card at the door and did some "fitness classes" at unhealthily early times in the morning a dozens of times...but I digress.

The routine was the norm, we stayed at a lovely place in Twin Lakes this year which had great views of Hope Pass, just to remind you of the "little" mountains that you have to climb over. We made our preparations and got to the starting line at 3:35 A.M. on 6th and Harrison.

As has happened at every race thus far we had some great friends with us and those ready to jet in and pace if necessary. Thank you so much for being a part. I so appreciate your friendship and support it means the world to me!

And since I'm throwing out thanks you's, I must say thank you to teh wifey and to my family for all their support. I wouldn't have made it one step without them. Thanks. You guys are the best crew ever! (As adjudicated by countless random observers who say exactly that.)

One of the funny parts about being at the start line of Leadville is that when I turn on my Garmin GPS watch I get the unique message of "Multiple HR rate monitors detected." Too funny. Another funny thing was at the start in the giant herd of 800+ people? I wound up standing right next to the same guy I sat next to in the pre-race meeting. Go figure. We enjoyed a few quick jokes and the shotgun fired. Asking if this is the 50 m fun run is still my go to favorite.

I took off. I was pretty stressed to be honest. I was trying to relax but thinking about the cutoffs had me geared up. The first four-five miles I took off and while trying to take it "easy" I was motoring down the boulevard.

A couple observations about the trip to MayQueen. First of all there were a lot of people running. A LOT. In addition there were a lot of people dropping dukey. And many did not bother to get off the trail very far. It was a nasty smell. I mean NASTY. I about puked from the smell. Please people take care of your dukey, don't share with the rest of us.

Second of all on a much funnier note I was just past Tabor boat ramp when someone started tapping me on the shoulder. Thinking someone wanted to pass, I moved over and looked back. There was a short, skinny fellow who, judging from his accent, was from Brazil or somewhere else in South America. He was staring at me with a wide-eyed look and finally said, "YOU ARE A BEAR!" I assumed this was in reference to the gross disproportion of our two physical sizes, and I looked down at him with a menacing look and responded with "I just ATE a bear." We both laughed and then I added a remark indicating that I thought you were supposed to be burning fat in this race so I had a lot of extra. Before taking off in the darkness of the morning he responded by saying that in that case he would be back to eat my arm later. A hilarious conversation to have in the middle of the dark around Turquoise Lake...

I started to slow a bit at this point, but generally just kept my place in the conga line. I pulled out of Mayqueen feeling relatively good. I was still running decently, I felt somewhat tired because I had pushed it somewhat but generally felt good to be right where I wanted to be. 2:38 or so into Mayqueen. I saw the crew, made a body glide addition and took off. No puking before MayQueen a new record. Unfortunately it didn't last.

I started up the Colorado Trail off of the trailhead and I was instantly gassed. My heart rate shot up, I couldn't control my breathing I was a mess. I started puking and couldn't stop. I came up empty and still was dry heaving. Awful. Slowed to a crawl and still was feeling awful. I just couldn't understand it. I had felt good and was doing so well and then here we go again. It felt like defeat.

I got up to Hagerman road and now my ambitious goals for improving my time for this segment were not going to happen. My mental perspective was shot. I will admit it, I let myself be defeated. Instead of just recognizing I was having a tough time and wait for it to be done I succumbed to the wretchedness of it. I did try to push through a few more times, but again there was something whether it was acclimation or just not being in good enough condition but physically I couldn't push without pegging out the heart rate and losing control of my breathing. The trip to Fish was the slowest of any time I've run this race by a lot. I honestly thought I would be cut at Fish for the first time ever and many times that sounded like a really good idea. That's not easy to admit but it is the truth.

I got to the aid station past the normal cutoff and was told they were giving fifteen extra minutes. I honestly don't remember much of that aid station as I had not been able to drink or eat anything for the last two hours. I staggered through and was mostly thinking about how there was no way I would make the half-pipe cutoff. More silly defeat thoughts. My crew got me through, they were awesome as usual. Then I struggled out onto the road and puked some more.

Upon getting to tree line with no physical chance of making the cutoff I figured I would just stop and catch a ride there. Teh wifey had other ideas. She was not going to let me give up on myself even if it was only a symbolic gesture. We had a discussion and eventually I relented. There would be no voluntary DNF only a missed cut off. At the time I didn't like the idea much but sitting here now I am of course very thankful for her insistent support. I suppose some may have thought of her as being a bit rough, but it was exactly the kind of love I needed at the moment.

As I pushed up the last few miles to half-pipe I ran into a lady I had met during my first attempt. She was the one who saw me go off course and had been futilely yelling at me to come the other way (I had my headphones in at the time.) We reminisced about that and pushed through the hot dusty trail. We saw some folks who had been ahead of us walking back towards Tree Line and were told they had been directed to walk that way after being cutoff. That was a bit concerning as I didn't really feel like running all that way only to have to walk back. Eventually I got the scissors applied to my band after missing the cutoff and got a ride from my lovely crew.

I suppose there is not much to say at this point other than a big thank you to everyone who helped me along the way. I'm sorry I didn't produce a better result. I wouldn't say I feel this race is impossible or that I will never try again, but I do know it will take a significantly more comprehensive and thorough preparation effort before I will consider signing up again.

Party on Garth.

ESPN coverage of PBville

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 17:42:00 +0000

A neat article on the Leadville 100 from ESPN no less.

http://espn.go.com/sports/endurance/story/_/id/9616038/endurance-sports-leadville-100-ultimate-test-runners-crews-host-city

I'd be lying if I said it didn't get me fired up.

Here is the corresponding photo gallery...

http://espn.go.com/sports/endurance/photos/gallery/_/id/9609353/image/1/ready-run-leadville-100-ultramarathon

Hi. 'member me? An unnecessarily long account of my fourth consecutive DNF at the North Fork 50 miler.

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 03:50:00 +0000

So I have been putting this off. Of course that fits with the routine.

I have run every instance of the North Fork 50 mile race, starting in 2010.

You can go back and look at race reports here, here, and here. Though most of them are rather depressing. They are all DNF's.

In typical fashion, I will give you various versions of this year's race report to adapt to your level of interest.

First off, the SHORT SHORT version.

DNF

Secondly, the SHORT version.

I made it to mile 46.4, the last cutoff and was 14 minutes past the cut off.

To be honest I didn't have much left at that point.

Thirdly, the Ridiculously, Unnecessarily Long version.

Ahhh good old North Fork. Site of numerous spectacular failures on my part. I went into this race with my usual absence of any level of confidence. I had failed at Cheyenne Mountain 50k due to a weird injury. My training has been sporadic, and my weight is this side of pianotastic. That being said I had enough hope/sense of duty/ignorance in the face of facts to show up.

My good friend "FlyByNight" had signed up and had told me he would be doing the early start with me and running with me throughout the race. This was a good thing. He has finished the race in the past and it would be nice to have company during the miser-- err fun.

Got up at 3ish and made the drive up, got the sweet parking spot right next to the park (Early Start has some distinct advantages!) and got my stuff ready. I saw Janice the uber awesome RD and gave her a hug. She gave me the awesome smile and said "This is going to be your year!" I agreed and I actually even almost believed her. I really wanted to finish this thing so I wasn't forced to do it again.

I toed the line with the rest of the early starters and took off. A few of us bunched up towards the back, I was following Ace's Back of the Pack Ultrarunning rule #3 - NEVER PASS ANYONE. (There really is no point.) and SuperFly and I were chatting with some folks from Texas. They were nice folks and it was neat to see there reaction to the beautiful country we were running to which I take it was a wee bit different than what they were used to. In a way it was a good reminder of how amazing God's Colorado creation is, when you've been through it several times you take it for granted, but seeing it through someone's eyes who is taking it in for the first time helps you appreciate it.

So the first climb was slow but probably not slow enough. When I am with people I sometimes let that goad me into going too fast. I was sweating and grunting up the hill and probably pushing too hard into the aerobic zone. When we hit the top of the first climb and started the descent I let gravity do it's thing and bombed down the hill. We passed a few folks and were moving well. The first ten miles went quickly, I don't remember the split but it was probably just over two hours. The jump down to the second aid station also went quickly and we were in and out in just a minute or two.

BTW a quick note on the first aid station. The crew at this aid station has reached legendary status. The first time I ran the race, they had bacon. 'Nuff said. First time I ever had bacon at an ultra. All other aid stations are second. Forever. The second year they just had an amazing level of encouragement and positivity and I actually looked forward to getting there just so I could feed off it and chat with them. And they had giant pickles. Then last year they had bacon wraps. Is it possible to improve on bacon? Maybe. Then this year. Now I will forgive them for not having bacon. However they had another really great idea of...meatballs. OK meatballs might sound strange, but I think they may be a perfect ultra food. They were soft and easy to eat, gave some protein and salt. Very nice. High marks for Ryan K. and his crew.

So up to this point happy, fun, giggles, fluffy sun-filled meadows, and bunny rabbits sliding down rainbows. Then it started to warm up. The heat was rising and it was supposed to get to around 90 degrees. It was at this point that SuperFly and I started joking around that instantaneous cloud cover would be really nice. Then we tried to top that, by saying that an afternoon rain shower would be even better (wasn't a cloud in the sky at the time.) Though that request was changed quickly to a why wait for it, mid-morning rain shower. Our needs are straight forward.

What wasn't straight forward was my gastro intestinal health. It was about four-five hours in and I was starting to not feel so good. From about mile 16-20 things got worse. Then krakatoa came and my shoe shouting was magnificent. In fact it was so good, that my puking actually caused my friend to throw up a little. Now that is some serious vomitting. I caused a Barf-o-rama. So I didn't accomplish nothing.

After the puking I started to have major problems with the plantar fascitis in my right foot. I had told my partner that I needed to make sure I didn't walk for too long in any one stretch because I knew the foot would tighten up to the point that running would become almost impossible. However the extended walking during the vomit sessions caused my foot to knot up in a very gnarly way.

I really did not want to go any farther. Twenty miles in, ready to stop. Our pace slowed and slowed, repeated knife-like pains in the back of my foot. Eventually I told SuperFly to get on going because I knew he still had a chance to finish. I stopped completely and started stretching my point in the hopes I could walk to the next aid station.

After stretching a good ten minutes I started walking again, and then I started jogging. Then my foot started to feel no pain. I don't really understand it but at this point I felt good. And then it started to rain. No really. The mid-morning rain shower request? Done. For the next twenty miles I actually felt great. I was singing some hymns at the top of my lungs while running in the rain in an amazing forest cruising along some sweet trails. No really. It was actually fun. I was making up time on some folks and staying ahead of the cut offs. I met up with SuperFly at mile 38 and unfortunately he was dropping. I had no intetnion of dropping at that point (funny the way things can change) and took off again.

At mile 38 I was about 1 hour and 20 minutes in front of the cut off. I knew that mile 42-46 would be the last major climb and I would need as much time as possible. I was running. It was rather strange to be running sections of the course at far different times than previous instances. The mile 38-42 section I had done all three times before but usually much earlier. I felt good for the first couple of miles and then my stomach started sending signals again.

I pulled in to mile 42 aid station and was REALLY not feeling well. I had gained some time and was about 1 hour and 40 minutes ahead of the cutoff. 100 minutes to go approximately 4 miles. Albeit it is four uphill miles with about 1200'+ of elevation gain/ It's hard to imagine that anyone could not cover that distance in that amount of time. But I could not. I tried to sit down at the aid station and almost immediately felt like throwing up. I took a few gels and just left knowing it wasn't going to get any better. I made it about 100 yards and the mega Krakatoa eruptions started. And kept going and going. Pretty much uncontrollable. Usually you feel somewhat better after such things but in this case I did not. I would just walk a bit more and throw up some more. I was done. No energy, no motivation, no mental capacity to move forward. At one point the serious thought crossed my mind of wondering how long it might take for the search and rescue to get to me. I did not want to take one more step. However knowing that I was in the middle of nowhere and really had no choice but to move to get out of there I kept moving. I reached the last aid station about fourteen minutes past the cutoff. I think there was some consideration to letting me continue. However I honestly had nothing left to give. I had given everything I had to get to that point.

Part of me looks back and feels good about the nice stretch I had in the middle and making it that far when I really thought I was done at mile twenty. Part of me agonizes over a few minutes and those last 3.6 downhill miles to a finish...

Mostly I am thankful for the opportunity to get out in God's creation for the day and give it my best shot. Thanks to "teh fam" for making it possible. Thanks for mid-morning rain showers on request. Thanks for the aid station crew and RD. Thanks for SuperFly and your entertaining banter (sorry I wasn't much of a conversationalist in return.) Thanks for many blessings.

Where everybody knows your name... Cheyenne Mountain 50k preview

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 03:29:00 +0000

So.

There's a trail race coming up.

It's on Saturday, April 27th, 2013 at Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Colorado.

There are several variants including a 50k.

I am signed up. Again.

This will be the third year I have attempted it; it is the third year of the race.

As has been well, chronicled in previous blog entries, I am the two time defending D.F.L. My goal? Give someone else the crown.

The D.F.L. crown. In my own mind.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Finishing a race, and finishing as the D.F.L. is kind of neat. The first time. Even struggling through and suffering through a long day and finish ( twenty minutes faster!) and still winding up D.F.L. a second time? No shame in that. But finishing a race for a third straight time, and winding up D.F.L. again? I'm afraid they might rename the award after me.

THIS CANNOT HAPPEN.

Now of course in order to reach this goal I have made thorough preparations. The workouts, the plan? Well essentially, ~~my training has been impeccable.~~ my training has consisted of numerous skipped workouts, lazy pacing, and generally apathetic running
I've done the physical preparations and ~~trimmed down and lost the piano in preparation for the numerous hills.~~ Baldwin is still my sponsor.
And I'm ~~mentally confident and ready to attack the course.~~ ready to give up many days in advance?

Right. Should be a long day. (I think the newly implemented cutoff was created just for me. :)

All that being said it is a great race to do. I stopped by Colorado Running Company and picked up my packet. It speaks volume of the race and the management that they recognize me and are still willing to hand me a race bib when they know that means they have to stay on the course for many extra hours. Andrea and her crew are great and so encouraging. If you need a trail race on your calendar you really should be out there for this one! I offered to carry a flag and lead the nine hour pace group. Though they didn't take me up on it.

I'd love to finish in about eight hours, though considering I'm gassed after about fifteen minutes, that may be a bit of a challenge.

But don't we all need a challenge? I have mine. The D.F.L. is going down!

No time.

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 03:31:00 +0000

Spongeriffic. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I don't have anything philosophical today.

Today was a blessing of life.

I chose to run some. It didn't feel great. In fact it felt quite awful for most of the time. Random assorted pains, stress about not being in very good shape, worry over a race that is a week away. These things are like sponges that suck away energy and life and initiative.

I really don't have the will to pay those debts.

So I'm not going to worry about how much I haven't run, all the things I failed to do perfectly, all the mistakes I made, the times I gave up, the slowness, the missed training plans, the goals that were never attained.

I'm just going to be thankful for being able to move around a bit today and be outside, and even get a bit sunburned.

There will be no worrying about tomorrow or yesterday or anything else.

Just savoring the blessing of today.

Quiet determination.

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:44:00 +0000

There will be no taunting today. There will be no blustering, puffed up, blowhard-ery (word? it is now.) There will be no Mr. T references, no inspirational youtube videos, no chest bumps. There will be no grunting, no screams, and I will not be performing the Haka for you today. (OK maybe one youtube video.) There will be no boasting, or trashtalking, or promises made in the heat of battle.

There is only quiet determination. The unstated, unnoticed, exhausting, gutwrenching, sweat-inducing, overwhelming, work will be done. There will be no red carpet at the end, no spotlight, no award ceremony. The work will not be broadcast on a regional public access TV channel, and there will be no interview. It won't generate hits on my facebook page and I won't list it on my annual performance review.

But oh dear friends, there will be a reward. There will be a reward. Not today. But it is coming.

Until then. I run. And I run and I run.

Wilma Rudolph at the finish line during a track meet in Madison Square Garden (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened." - Wilma Rudolph

How are you running the race today?

Keep Calm and Run On

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 03:26:00 +0000

Keep Calm and Run On.

I got a pretty nifty poster from my oldest sister the other day. There is an outline of a runner and the above words in white on a blue background. I think this is solid advice. In many situations it does apply.

I suppose there are a lot of distractions. From all of our goals. Sometimes even the prospect of thinking about them seems overwhelming and exhausting. I think the alternative is to just keep moving forward. Not too high, not too low, just keep running.

So that is what I will do. Don't ask me about tomorrow.

Risk

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:47:00 +0000

To Risk

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out is to risk involvement,
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas and
dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To live is to risk dying,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken because
the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing,
has nothing, is nothing.

– William Arthur Ward (1921-1994)

What deep, unsearchable pool will you dive into today?

Remember when

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 03:58:00 +0000

Run Rabbit Run 2012 (Hares)

Remember when you first started running?

Maybe you were a kid in elementary P.E. class. "Take a lap"

Maybe you were on an athletic team, first day of practice, three miles, out to the cemetery and back.

Maybe you were in college and realized the dorm buffet was taking it's toll, so you strapped on some Vans and hit the pavement.

Maybe you were in your mid-twenties living on your own, you decide that maybe there is something to that whole healthy living thing, or maybe you just want to make sure you're lookin' gooood...

Maybe you were in "mid-life" and realized some of those health conditions your parents had are starting to crop up in your own visits to the M.D.

Maybe you've "started" a dozen times already, and today was a new "start"

Maybe you had a serious health intervention and the doctor said, exercise or ELSE!

Maybe you're really young, something with grand and parent, maybe even great? and you say to yourself, you know self I always wanted to try that running thing....

All these things result in "starting"

Starting has some glamour to it. Something to share with friends, the energy of a starting line, the endorphins of actually DOing something. And of course it might be easy to get distracted by tomorrow and Day 2 and will I do it again? But for now, let's just savor the start. The origination, the initiation, the inception of a streak, a change, a habit, a passion. The beginning of something big?

Remember any good starts?

Run Rabbit Run Steamboat 100 - 2012 Race Report

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 04:17:00 +0000

Where are the rabbits?

Run Rabbit Run year one. I have a few attempts at first year ultras under my belt now. I hit the first running of the Cheyenne Mountain 50k and the North Fork 50, and now the Run Rabbit Run 100. There are always some interesting things that come with running a "first time" event. Run Rabbit Run has had a 50 mile race for several years so it wasn't totally new organization-wise, just the first time for a 100 mile event.

The Short-Short Version: DNF. Voluntary. 37 miles or so. 13:37:00.

The Short Version: I was intentionally slow to start. I got slower. The course was hard. Everything blew up. After being allowed to continue past an aid station for which I had missed the cut off, I went three miles and turned around and came back and dropped.

The Long Version:

I was initially attracted to trying this race for a couple of reasons. First of all, the last few years after missing cutoffs at Leadville, I always felt like I wanted to try again right away. I was after all in decent shape and felt like if I had more time I could have kept going. Secondly and in conjunction with that I wanted a 100 with a little more generous cut offs. Thus the Run Rabbit Run 100 fit the bill, a month after Leadville, 35 hours for the cutoffs, in Colorado, sign me up.

Turns out there were a few flaws with my reasoning. First off, this was the hardest course I have attempted. And I didn't even get to all of the really hard stuff. The way they had the course marked, it wound up being between 110 and 115 miles, depending on who you asked. I hit a couple of sections that were straight up Steamboat ski hills. No cutoffs, no trails, just get your rump up the hill. Then the whole injury/very little training did not help things. Bottom line however, was I was not in good enough condition for this kind of challenge. Yet.

General race impressions?

Steamboat is an awesome place to have a race like this. It is beautiful country. I like being in ski towns in the summer. Cheap lodging is relatively easy to find and very close.
This time of year was amazing (see above) with the changing of colors, and this year anyway, the great weather.
The prize money brought out great names, the race organizers had things put together well, gave great swag, had things set up fairly well. (Save for a few notable exceptions.)
I really like the Tortoise vs Hare idea. Basically slow, normal people (Tortoises) started five hours earlier than the elites (Hares). Hares couldn't use pacers, or poles, and a few other make-it-harder rules. The way this played out, made it so I as a Tortoise could see the elites, multiple times during the race. This is a keeper idea.

Here is a picture from the beginning.

First five miles, straight up the ski hill.

The first five miles were straight up a ski hill. To the tune of 3300' of elevation gain. It took two hours. I was pretty happy with that time. Mostly I was trying to not max out my heart rate and go at a slow steady pace. After reaching the top, it was a fairly easy rolling section over to Long Lake. I was going slowly, but not so slowly that I was off pace for the cutoffs. Everything was proceeding as planned up to this point.

I will mention that during the section from the top of the hill to Long Lake I performed a magic trick several times. The magic trick was teleportation. Namely, I kept jumping magically ahead of several different groups of runners. Now this was not due to me passing them with my superior speed (snicker.) However several groups of runners passed me repeatedly during this section. The reason behind the trick? Trail markings. Or rather the lack of them. Several groups of people of all types, tortoises and hares, kept getting lost. This became a noteworthy issue in the blogosphere and here is my take. YOU HAVE TO MARK TRAIL JUNCTIONS! When you get to a cross roads and there is no marking as to where to go, that is a problem. And that happened repeatedly. When I got to a couple of aid stations I politely suggested that there were several places that needed to be marked. To their credit the volunteers did their best to correct it. However many people including elites got lost repeatedly. The other problem with the marking was that they used yellow tape, and with the golden aspen leaves, some markings were hard to see. Additionally marking a trail turn 200 yards from the crossroads, around a corner isn't really helpful. I'm sure this is something they will address next year. It is a tough job to do course marking for a 100 mile event!

Need more hills?

Looking down is nice

Water, water, everywhere...

After Long Lake was a long six-seven mile (that turned out to be more like ten mile) section that I was planning on making up some time on and increasing the margin between the cutoffs. Yeah about that. They had mentioned in the pre-race briefing that going down fish creek trail was a bit "gnarly" and that you should "be careful". This sort of had escaped my notice at the time, but it came flashing back as I hit some really rocky terrain. There would be no bombing down the hill on this section. It really was difficult to even "run" in many places. I actually maintained my desired 35 hour finishing pace through this but due to miscalculation on the length of the leg (it was about 3 miles further than advertised,) I ran out of water about forty minutes before the cutoff and in the heat was suffering a bit.

The scenic view

Not conducive to me running fast. Just like doughnuts.

The fam' met me at the high school and gave me some great encouragement. Next there was a quick jaunt through town, and I do mean through town. I actually had to stop at a stop light! Imagine that, waiting for the light to change in the middle of a 100 mile trail race. It was pretty comical. Then it was on to Olympic hall. Once again there were some sections, even in town here that were not marked. I actually had to stop a car and ask which way to go to get to the next place. Crazy. After leaving the aid station, I walked outside (the aid station was inside a building) and didn't know which way to go. I looked back inside and the volunteer at the aid station pointed up. As in straight up.

Enter, ski hill #2.

Yeah about that. This I did not do well on. I REALLY struggled trying to get up this stinkin' hill. My heart rate was maxed, I had to keep stopping to try and catch my breath. At several points the grass was slick and I was on all fours grabbing on to tufts of grass to pull my sorry rump up. I strained my foot again pretty good on this section which didn't help much from this point on.

A view from half way up the hill. I wanted to just roll back down...

Once at the top the meltdown really went into high gear. After getting up the hill I was faced with another long uphill section. I really did not do well. I think I was probably extremely dehydrated at this point. There was puking. There was wooziness. There was despair and gnashing of teeth. There was just sitting on the side of the road wishing I was somewhere else. Ugly. I slowly ambled up the hills. At this point I started getting passed by the elites. I didn't care. I got passed by bikers having marital squabbles. I didn't care. They asked me for directions. I had no clue. On a related note, many of these trails had names and signs. The one we went up was called (no lie) "The Lane of Pain". Seriously. I really had nothing left at this point. Mentally beat. Physically beat. Loss and failure. But I kept moving forward. Not sure why.

I got to the point where I was finally hitting the descent into Cow Creek and was sort of feeling a bit better. At least the puking had subsided a bit. At this point I let the mental defeat linger. I probably could have picked up the pace but I didn't. I look back and wish I had pushed it a bit more.

Took a quick pick of getting passed by one of the Tarahumara Indians from "Born to Run" He was wearing traditional garb including sandals as he flew by me.

I knew I had lost a ton of time and would be past the cutoff. But I also knew they would be somewhat relaxed at this aid station, per the Race Director. Still, I had no intention of continuing. The knee and foot were very painful at this point and I was moving so slowly.

However, my awesome crew aka the fam' had other ideas. I came into the aid station and their encouragement was off the chart. I had to do some significant blister work at this point, but I got some food, put on a headlamp, wrapped multiple appendages in duct tape and with the help of some people who love me I headed out into the night.

One goal met, run into the night!

I ran down the road for a few miles, felt ok, and then my brain started working. I was looking at another ten mile section with another one of those Lane of Pain type five-six mile, 2000' climbs. I knew the last segment had taken 4.5 hours? and I was already only 1.5 hours from hitting the official cutoff. I also had far too little water to last that many hours. Too much thinking. This was a mistake on my part, I should have just plugged on, but I gave into the hopelessness, and the barking of my leg and turned around and tapped out. It's easy to look back after the fact and say that was a really dumb thing to do, and it probably was. However at the time, it always seems very sensible.

Thus my event was over. I covered about 37 miles in a very long time of 13 hours and change, over what I feel like was an extremely difficult course. Easily the hardest race I've tried. I also realized that I had not done sufficient preparation for something like this. I have a much better idea of what it would take, and know enough that I still have a long way to go.

Thanks to the fam and my amazing bride who enabled me to go a lot further than I would have all by myself. She put up with kids and waiting and a whiny runner. Talk about love.

Leadville 2012 Race Report

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 03:50:00 +0000

I suppose I should record this for posterity's sake. At the very least I will look back at this the next time I run a race or run Leadville and will have something to obsess over along with looking at splits for every aid station over and over.

Leadville 2012 has come and gone. The final, official result was a DNF at Half-Pipe outbound, missing the cut off by around twenty minutes.

The result was rather disappointing but going into it I knew there would be many struggles. I had injured my foot a few weeks back, some sort of plantar fasciitis issues as well as some runner's knee issues. I had been in physical therapy for the month before the race trying to deal with these minor annoyances to little avail. I had cut back my running as well trying to rest and recover prior going into the race.

Then there were the well publicized last minute changes to the course. The only change that affected me was the change from Fish Hatchery to Half-Pipe. They changed the layout and it wound up adding distance, by my GPS it was at least an additional mile. This wouldn't be a big deal except I was fighting cutoffs from the beginning.

From the start to Mayqueen I was pushing it. And yet I was slow. The first section to Tabor was covered in about 1:20 which was about five minutes slower than last year. The congo line around the lake was slow, but I was already struggling at that point feeling tired. The foot and knee had been hurting from the beginning. I came into Mayqueen at 2:42 which was three minutes slower than last year and still really too slow. Right as I hit the campground I started puking. I did manage to run while puking and earn the admiration and cheers of bystanders for my multitasking skills.

The section up Sugarloaf was terrible. I couldn't stop throwing up. I estimated that for the whole race I threw up in excess of fifty times. This is not normal. It is also not good. I was wasted. I was wasted going up hill. The time was terrible, I barely made the cutoff at Fish.

I ran/walked a bit from Fish to Powerline, but the pain was getting worse and the puking was staying consistent. Once again the crew was great, it was awesome to have teh wifey out and about with them, but it was disappointing throughout to have trained for so long and to put up a poor result.

I came into Half-Pipe and sat down with a bunch of other folks who were cut. Game over, race over, I had been limping for most of the last ten miles so my appendages were happy to have a break.

The most important thing to say about the whole experience was that we had great friends and family with us and they made it fun. I never would have made it to the starting line without teh wifey and the encouragement of my family. Thanks to all.

Another Post

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 00:51:00 +0000

A runner's commentary on the elevation profile.

It feels a bit odd to write something about running with all the craziness happening in the world today.

Nonetheless here we are. Despite my lack of a real race report for PBville 2012 I'm ready to embark on another running adventure. Run Rabbit Run 100 miler starts on Friday. You can follow me here. My bib number is #284.

20,000' + of elevation gain. First five miles, straight up a ski hill. The usual ludicrousness. This is winding up being my experiment of attempting an ultra with almost no training and a bum knee. I think I've run a half a dozen times in the last month. Thus the expectations are low, and I won't be pushing myself to lasting injury, but I will toe the line and wander around the woods for a bit.

It should be fun as a "tortoise" to watch the "hares" run around during the race. There will be some big names trying to nab a part of the $40,000 of prize money.

New day, new adventure. Goin' 'til they cut me.

Leadville 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:04:00 +0000

DNF.

Missed cutoff at Halfpipe outbound.

Lingering knee issues and the strange Leadville puking syndrome caused some extra challenges.

Thanks to all who helped crew and "pace" and gave support.

Cheers.

Eight hours to go

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 01:50:00 +0000

Well it all comes down to this.

Tomorrow I get to spend a day wandering in the woods.

It looks to be a good day.

My thoughts for the day are:

"I commit, not to quit."
and
"If the bone ain't showin', just keep goin'"

I'll let you know how it goes.

or you can follow here... http://www.leadvilleraceseries.com/page/show/311976-leadville-trail-100-run

Making this look good

noreply@blogger.com (Ace) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 02:18:00 +0000

This is called fun.

Hello cruel world. Recently I've been notified that certain crazy fools will soon be running a one hundred mile trail race in the mountains of Colorado. I've also been reminded that I am signed up for it. Again.
I've wondered whether there is a point at which signing up for something like this, training for this and then falling well short of success starts to border on psychosis. Nonetheless I am intending to toe the line and give everything I have to try.

The build up has been a wee but short of ideal. My mileage is down, the training consistency is erratic, and the plan has been long abandoned. I've had a couple injuries that took weeks away, a current knee injury I've been in physical therapy for during the last two weeks. Then just last week I pulled another brilliant move and hurt my foot while playing basketball. I haven't been able to walk without pain or run at all since that time. Did I mention they just added three miles and another 800' of climb to the course at the last minute?

All that is real cute. However at this point everything that happens is happening for the good. Foot injury? Plantar Fascitis gives shooting pain? Just means I won't fall asleep while running through the night. Knee giving fits, patellar tracking issues? Just means I'll get to apply repeated tape jobs that all my adoring fans can sign along the route. ('Cus I like to give back to the people.) Poor mileage? Inconsistent training? Grossly out of shape? Just gonna fine tune my mental determination. Add more miles and more elevation gain to the course? Psssht please. The thing was too easy to begin with. This just means I'll be in the first class of the "enhanced" course.

OK I almost went the whole way on the egregious optimism. Couldn't quite make it. But I will make it to the starting line...and when you go ahead and start something...you never know what might happen.

Buckle up.