LooseCrew-JeffO

Elijah Lovejoy's Printing Press

2011-04-24T10:42:00.003-06:00

Elijah Lovejoy was an abolitionist who was killed before the Civil War. He ran an abolitionist newspaper. This was his 4th newspaper, as he kept getting run-out of other states and towns. In Alton, Illinois, a mob came to burn down his house and shop, so he went out with a gun. Several shots were fired and one of them killed Elijah instantly. The mob dumped his printing press into the Mississippi river.

To give you some insight into my ADD brain, I'm a very slow reader. One reason is I can't read past stuff like this. I get "stuck" in constant diversions.

The dumped his printing press into the Mississippi. Did they really? Was it dumped underwater? Or in a thicket near the water? Did it sink into mud?
DID ANYONE EVER RECOVER IT?!

Wouldn't it be cool to find Elijah Lovejoy's printing press? If it was covered in ink, would that help preserve it from rust? Presses sure did get inky-dirty. Not to mention all the grease they had to slather on. And if it submerged into mud, that might have helped to preserve it. The Mississippi changes course as it meanders, and today it could be in the middle of someone's corn field. Or maybe it wasn't deep enough and someone found it, not knowing what it was, and hauled it off to another dump-site? Maybe a building is on top of it?

It's probably un-findable. But wouldn't it be cool? To find it and fix it up as best it's rusty remains might allow, and put into a museum?

I Googled this and can't find any info on anyone looking for or finding his press. They know where his house was, and you can't easily cart-off a heavy printing press, so it's bound to be close to the shortest distance from his house site to the river's bank, at that time.

See, this is why I have a stack of un-read books so high it keeps falling over. I can't seem to get through any of them. Everything i read sends me on constant diversions that are more interesting to me than the original text.

Auto show 2011

2011-04-03T18:51:00.003-06:00

I just went to the auto show in Denver. Shocked that automakers are still cranking out low-MPG cars. I'm not talking about sports cars or SUVs, either. Basic sedans getting 16mpg. They really didn't seem to get the memo - gas has been expensive, and it isn't going to get cheaper. My very old Honda CRX got 49/54, but I once pegged 60-61mpg fully loaded with backpacking gear and two people going generally uphill from Wichita, KS to Colorado. No hybrid, just regular carburetor.
It was odd that most makes of vehicle, the smaller sedans got the same or only 1mpg better than the big honkin' SUVs. Just what exactly are they doing to destroy sedan economy?

I've been dismayed at my Subaru Forester XT's mileage of only 22mpg, but after looking at all the ratings for new cars, I'm glad to have my XT. It is WAY faster than most of the vehicles at the auto-show, and better economy.

Front Range Pix

2011-02-28T21:32:00.009-07:00

Here are photos of Red Rocks Open Space Park...

In the photo above, you can see Green Mountain, which is really just a hill, on the other side of Dakota Ridge. Green looks tame from a distance, but the trails can be very rugged.

North and South Table Mountains are created by a cap of ancient lava. The main castle rock is on South Table Mountian overlooking Golden. The main Coors Brewing facility is between the two mesas. (They certainly are mesas, but no one ever calls them that.)

The National Renewable Energy Labs is at the base of the hill above.

White Ranch Open Space Park is north of Golden, and affords good vistas of the metro-area...

Further north is the Mesa Trailhead. This is the southern trailhead to access the Boulder Flatirons.

Dense, Wet Snow!

2010-03-24T18:21:00.003-06:00

You know I love running in snow. Well it was coming down hard and fast, with a bit of wind added for extra credit.
Over the clouds rolled thunder. It was an erie sound, and I eventually figured it was wind, but then the news confirmed that the storm produced lots of thunder.

When I got back to my car, I started clearing it off. There had to have been at least 200lbs of snow on my car, in just the time I'd been parked there to go running 5.2 miles. How's that for "heavy"? By the time I got back into my car, it needed clearing off again!

I figured I'd better get photos, or no one would believe me.
John Crowther was the only other person brave enough to join me.

At the restaurant afterward, I'd mentioned to the waitress that I only eat at restaurants after running. She said, "You went running?" "Yeah." "You mean like outside running?" We were standing by the window and the blizzard was billowing under the street lights. I just thought, what other kind of running is there?
It was definitely a fun run.

Cccccold!!!!

2009-12-08T09:36:00.003-07:00

I can't go to Canada, but no worries - Canada has come to me! It's only 5F! Oh, wait, since Canada came here, that means it's -15C. At least it came with snow. I love snow!

Humpty-Dumpty

2009-10-31T12:00:00.006-06:00

When I was about 20, I shattered my right fibula and ripped all the ligaments and cartilage that held my ankle together. After surgery, with a cast up to my hip, I was pretty well bed-ridden.
I had never been a patient in a hospital before. No one bothered to inform me that I was expected to use a bedpan. Hell, I'd heard of bedpans but didn't know what they looked like!
A bit more than a day after surgery, I had to crap. Lying in bed gave me all the time in the world - too much time. I was used to expeditions in the Colorado mountains, so I looked at going to the bathroom as an expedition. There wasn't anything else to do, right?
Looking around the room, there was a chair next to the bed, and the usual nightstand next to the bed. I carefully, slowly inched my way out of bed, onto the chair, down onto the floor, using the chair to elevate my leg. I rested often. I inched my way across the room, chair in-tow, did my business, and returned to bed.

Over the next couple of days, I did this each day. Finally, a nurse came in and tried to give me some Milk-of-magnesia. I didn't know what that was. She said it was to "help me void".
"What?"
"You haven't voided."
"What?"
"You've been here three days and haven't voided. We can't release you until you void."
"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you saying 'void'?"
"Yes."
"Well what does that mean? That doesn't make any sense to me. It's like you're speaking a different language."
"You're constipated. This will help move your bowels."
"Oh, you mean I haven't crapped! Why didn't you just say that? No one's going to know what you're talking about if you're afraid to say it!"

So I told her about my expeditions, and she told me how that was against the rules. Well no one had told me the "rules", or told me to use a bedpan, or showed me what a bedpan looked like, or what the word "void" was supposed to mean, and that I couldn't go home until I'd crapped. I swear, hospitals can be so retarded sometimes. They think we all graduated from Hospital Patient 101? Get real!

Looking back, I laugh at the experience. I also am real thankful for my mobility. At the time, I had readjusted my horizons so that a successful trip across the room was epic. I've since gone on many more adventures in the mountains, in winter storms, done tons of remote ultra-races, etc. I'm a lucky guy. Not sure how sick everyone is of hearing me say that. I've just been repeatedly reminded of it throughout my life. My luck keeps staring me in the face.

Trail Adventures Blog Move

2009-10-25T23:02:00.005-06:00

I'm officially moving my outdoors adventures to my newer blog, Trail Bum.
My plantar faciitis has my ultra-running passion sidelined indefinitely, so it makes more sense for me to blog about my general outdoors adventures, than almost exclusively about training for the Leadville Trail 100.

This blog will switch to my more miscellaneous ramblings, but each blog may sometimes refer to the other. Who knows, maybe this one will become extinct?

Regina Kelly Story

2009-10-14T00:01:00.006-06:00

Since I'm injured, and haven't raced or trained in two months, and this blog isn't named after trail running (like my new blog is), I feel compelled to mention this story...

I saw the movie, American Violet. They had this GORGEOUS woman playing the leading role. You know how Hollywood does things. You see the real-life person and it just isn't the same.
So I Googled. In the movie, it's Dee Roberts (played by Nicole Beharie, who is only slightly totally freakin' HOT) is the woman in the Hollywood version. In real life, the woman's name is Regina Kelly.
So I Googled Regina Kelly. Wow, the real-life woman is also totally hot.
Also, I've seen druggies. I've seen a lot of druggies. In high school, most of my friends were druggies. In later years, riding with my friend who was a cop, I got to see worse druggies. And here in Denver, I got to see more. How anyone could think for one minute that this civilized, articulate woman could be involved in drugs is beyond me. I've seen beautiful people who sell drugs, and they lose their beauty and they don't act civilized. I've even known rich druggies in so-called hi-society. They also act like druggies. You can doll it up but it still smells and looks the same.
Watch this and tell me if you could suspect this woman for very long of hanging with the wrong crowd doing the wrong things.

One reason I "fled" the Mid-west is that racism is rampant. Seriously, not to blow things out of proportion, most people don't hate. So I'm talking about a large enough percentage of the population to poison the pond. The Midwest sucks when it comes to racial harmony. In fact, it's not just race. There was a narrowness of mind/attitude that appalled me my whole life... from all races - not just whites.

I have lots of stories of racism, mostly white-on-Hispanic, in Texas, but also blacks against whites, blacks against blacks, and every race against every other race.
Aren't humans a swell bunch of folks, Wally?
I love Denver. It isn't the best melting pot, but there isn't one narrow-minded mainstream that overrides all the others. Like it or not, Denver is diverse. And I take refuge in it.

Nocturnal Running

2009-10-11T11:17:00.028-06:00

This article about lighting for trail-runners has been worked on for years, and distributed to the Denver Trail Runners for several years, edited each year. The first copy was a 50/50 effort between Adam Feerst and myself.

Whether you’re running an ultra-event that goes through the night, or you just want to keep running through the short days of winter, you may be shopping for good lighting. Maybe you’re a gear-hog that already has plenty of different lights, but you may not be utilizing your gear optimally. During a race, there is no substitute for good lighting. If you’re running with insufficient light, you’ll probably either slow down for safety, or you’ll risk injury. If worried about weight, err on the side of too much weight/light than not enough. I've overheard too many elite runners complain that they had to slow down because they couldn't see. For these, a few more ounces of lighting would have more than paid for itself.

Some things to consider:
- Contrast gives you depth-perception
- Peripheral vision avoids vertigo and tunnel-vision
- Brightness gives you speed and confidence.
- Colored lenses
- Weight/bulk
- Battery life
- Cost

Contrast is created by having light away from your eyes where you can see some shadow to create depth perception. The more sources of light you have, from different angles, the better the contrasts will stand out. This is basic knowledge to any photographer wanting to make the subject stand-out.

Peripheral vision is aided by stray light. Reflectors try to block stray light and direct it forward for greater range. Since runners need the most effective light about 6 feet in front of them, reflectors are usually counter-productive. What's good for a camp light is not good for running a trail.
That is, unless you’re trying to follow reflective trail markers. In those cases, you’re not just trying to see for foot-placement, but also route-finding. Some headlamps have selective beams from long-range reflective to short-range dispersed.
Head lights leave your hands free and shine where you are looking. However, the light directly over your eyes can create glare, reducing contrast.
Hand lights can be easily directed and reduce glare. However, it takes practice to keep the light's direction from swinging while still using your arms.
Multiple lights can add depth-perception by countering shadows caused by a single light.

Brightness is determined by a combination of wattage, reflector, and the type of bulb you’re using. Incandescent bulbs are last century’s technology. They eat batteries and burn out, especially when dropped.
LEDs usually last forever. There are regular LEDs (less than 1 watt) and “super-bright” LEDs (more than 1 watt). The brighter LEDs are much better but use batteries faster.
There are, however, lights that utilize both LEDs and xenon or halogen. The battery-eating xenon/halogen is usually surrounded by a reflector that gives you a very bright projecting light. This gives you the best of both worlds. Depending on the unit model, you may have several switch settings that allow you to choose the brightness of light and longevity of your batteries. These hybrid gas/incandescent bulbs, used sparingly, are a luxury during moonless ultra-races through the night, especially races like the Hard Rock 100 where you’re above treeline looking for reflective markers a mile away.
Another option is to bring one Xenon or halogen flashlight with a button that can be depressed half-way for several seconds of reflector-controlled beam. This saves batteries and still allows superb long-distance lighting to pick out reflectors far away.

It’s better to have too much light than to have too little. Find the right level of brightness and weight, for the speeds and trails you want to run, and your own relative vision at night. Smooth paths may require no lights, while jagged, rocky trails with jutting tree roots require the max.
The closer your lighting is to your eyes – like a headlamp – the less the contrasts. This is because of the dancing shadows that give you a clue about how deep a hole is or how big a rock is. If the light is right next to your eyes, you’ll see no shadow. If the shadows are too dark, this may erode your confidence, making you slow down. Crisscrossing shadows give your eyes better perspectives.
Most headlamps can be converted to a waist or chest light.
If you’re only going to have one light, use it lower down for depth-perception. If you have a headlamp and a lower light, your headlamp should be the dimmer one to fill – but not obliterate – shadows created from your lower light(s).

Colored lenses severely diminish a bulb’s efficiency, but very bright-white light reduces the light-efficiency of your eyes (what’s called “night-vision”). Yellow, brown, and amber block blue light, which reduce haze and glare, and increase contrast making things clearer during speed sports. Red light is well-known for retaining night-vision.
Also consider weight and bulk. Some headlamps have the batteries integrated into the light, which is smaller and lighter with no wires, but tend to be front-heavy. Headlamps with separate battery packs are balanced, but are heavier overall and have wires which may end up getting mangled or worn-out.

Safety is another factor, mostly during training. Unfortunately many trail-runners do much of their training on roads. There are times you may not think you need any lighting, but consider there are times you want to be more visible to bikers and cars. Reflective clothing and a flashing tail-light can also be helpful. There's also the chance of meeting lions or bears on the trail. A flash of light in their eyes can blind them long enough to avoid an attack.

For short runs, rechargeable NiMH is great and saves plenty of money over the years.
Lithium is the other extreme, and is not rechargeable. It costs far more than any other battery but it runs longer too, and it’s immune to cold or going bad from sitting on the shelf. This may be a better choice for frigid winter runs. Lithium batteries have recently been found to damage LEDs from overheating. They are not recommended in moderate-to-hot weather. If you only have one LED bulb, only use them in the coldest environments where LEDs can’t reach critical temperatures, and you need the resilience of lithium. Overheated LEDs will become dimmer over time and will have to be replaced in order to return a flashlight to original brightness. However, if your light has multiple LEDs, then adding a little extra wattage won’t be able to damage them, even on warm nights. The more LEDs, the safer lithiums become.

Many lights are made from “aircraft-grade aluminum”, but this isn’t a good thing for runners. It’s heavier than plastic and far more durable than runners need. Some ads brag that you can drive over them with a tank or Humvee and they still work. I don’t anticipate any of my flashlights getting run over by anything, much less a military vehicle. Especially with regards ultra-running, every ounce counts.

Costs range from about $15 - $60. Headlamps tend to cost more than generic flashlights. The fancier features (LEDs+halogen reflector+4 switch settings) can send the price over $50.

When shopping, you’ll see ratings for candlepower and/or lumens. The term “watts” refers to power usage and doesn’t translate directly into brightness. Candlepower is a linear measurement equal to a birthday candle one foot away. A lumen is a square foot of light one foot away from the same candle.

Some packaging shows a silhouette of the beam. This can help you decide. Is the design for long range (better for hiking/camping) or for shorter range (better for runners)?

The most popular brands are Petzl, Black Diamond, Princeton Tec, Gerber, and Brinkman, but you may find others that are also very good.
One of my favorite flashlights is a 9-bulb Garrity that fits in the palm of my hand and runs lithium batteries without fear of degrading the bulbs. A lanyard is also a great feature on a hand-held light. The price is low enough to buy a couple for different drop-bags, while having an ideal weight/brightness ratio.
If I have to go with just one light, though, I'd choose a Tikka Plus. It probably has the best weight/brightness ratio available. I can wear it around my waist, or my head, or I can wrap the headband around my wrist and use it like a hand-held.

A partial list of stores and online dealers...
REI.com
REI Outlet
Sierra Trading Post
Campmor
Wilderness Exchange
Back Country
Adventure Racing Gear
Gear Zone
EMS
EMS Outlet
Bent Gate
Army/Navy Surplus, Kmart, Wal-Mart, Target, and at garage sales or Goodwill, ebay, amazon.

If you have any favorite places to shop, add a comment.

Lighting technology is taking leaps and bounds. Don't fixate on any specific model of light mentioned in this post. New models are coming out all the time, and new manufacturers, and old makes get new management (which overhaul the company). I think Petzl is clearly the best right now, but I reserve my loyalties because things are always changing.

Denver Magazine Article

2009-10-08T00:36:00.005-06:00

This is woefully late, because I have a habit of not reading about running, or biking, or climbing, etc. Previously, I went to the Denver Magazine website and didn't see this article. Not knowing where to get a hard-copy, I never read it.
Until today. I plugged in "Denver Magazine", and my name, and voila!
I get all of one paragraph because the article was more about John Marini, and about ultra-running in general.
John Marini died during the Collegiate Peaks 50 in 2008.
Christian Toto wrote the piece. He has quite a few years at various newspapers and magazines across the country.
It's nice how it highlights our camaraderie and cooperation. One day I was at a bar watching Cyclo-cross racers, and they were talking about all the visceral hatred they have for each other. I couldn't help but think, "Those guys just don't get it."

Anyways, here it is.

SR71 Jocks

2009-10-06T12:30:00.010-06:00

I was cleaning out old files on my computer when I found this awesome old story about two guys in an SR71 Blackbird hypersonic recon jet...

There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe
flying this plane. Intense, maybe even cerebral.
But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment.

It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie.
We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status.
Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plan in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet.

I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat. There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn't match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him. The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace.

We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot asked Center for a readout of his ground speed. Center replied: "November Charlie 175, I'm showing you at ninety knots on the ground."

Now the thing to understand about Center controllers, was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna, or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional, tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the "Houston Center Voice." I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country's space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the Houston Center Controllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that... and that they basically did. And it didn't matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios.
Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed.

"Ah, Twin Beach: I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed."
Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren.
Then out of the blue, a Navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios.
"Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check."

Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a readout? Then I got it -- ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion:
"Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground."

And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done -- in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now.

I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet.

Then, I heard it: the click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: "Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?"

There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request:
"Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground."

I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling.. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: "Ah, Center, much thanks. We're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money."

For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center Voice, when L.A. came back with, "Roger that Aspen, Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one."

It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's work.

We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.

State of the Runner Address - again

2009-10-01T19:48:00.005-06:00

I've been running about seven times since May. Yeah, I know, some of those runs were 50 miles or more, but still... Seven times in four months.

My plantar doesn't hurt as much as it used to. As far as I can tell, that's only because I haven't aggravated it much. It still hasn't healed at all.

The good news is I don't need ibuprofen to keep the swelling down, generally.

My CR-V is really decrepit. It has over 209,000 miles on it. The keyless locks don't work, the radiator leaks, there's a huge ding in the windshield from the Bandera drive, and other minor problems. After this last trip, the 4th cylinder stopped working. It sounded like an old Volkswagen Beetle. I started trying to find a shop to work on it late Friday, but apparently service centers stopped working on weekends because of the bad economy. (Seems odd to me because wouldn't more people want to repair old cars rather than buy new ones?) So I worked on my CR-V all weekend long and it is now fixed. It runs extremely well, but some time in the next year, I should replace it.

I have the money saved to plop down cash on another, but I also want lasik surgery. My astigmatism is so bad that I will probably still have to wear glasses, but it will be optional. I am SOOOO sick of bifocal glasses!! Not sure I can afford a car and lasik.
And I still have to save for my son's college. I need a money tree. I'm just glad I still have a job. Real glad.

Aspen and Capitol Peak

2009-10-01T18:05:00.021-06:00

Since I'm injured, I obviously couldn't run the Vasque Golden Leaf Half Marathon. What an awesome race! I did get to party with friends, lounge in the hot tub and pool, and generally chill-out.

We met at Bentley's for beer and burgers. The poor waiter - we just kept coming! A dozen, 18, 22, 26! Yikes! He said we were like a virus! But he got 20-21% tip, so he was fine with that.

We totally took over the hotel! There was, like, 29 of us, all together.

Race day was gloriously fine. No wind and much warmer than the forecast. In fact, if anything was wrong, some people may have over-dressed a tad and cooked during the race.
I played taxi driver and gear-hauler. Since it's a point-to-point, taking the shuttle would be a hassle.

Lance kicked butt. Many years ago, he was FAT!!! He was the fastest one in the group on raceday. What a stud!

We ate dinner at an Italian place, and then the livelier ones went dancing afterward. I put this tired old man to bed. How pathetic, huh?

The next day, I had coffee with Kelly and Leah, then left town for Capitol Peak.

Again, the weather was awesome. I loaded up with full gear for the first time since I took my son backpacking below Holy Cross Peak last year. This time I wore my Montrail trail running shoes. I don't see how anyone can make a habit our of running in these - they really are boots. Several times, i stepped right on the point of some sharp rocks and nothing poked through. Protection is one thing, but with 50lbs or so of gear, and still can't tell I'm stepping on a rock, that's a bit excessive. But perfect for backpacking!! I will certainly be able to wear these shoes out.

I met six people on the trail, always in pairs. Two of them, in separate groups, proclaimed the peak "unclimbable".

I got up to the upper camp sites just before the sun dipped below the ridges. Being a Sunday night, there were only two other people in the valley, and they were out of sight and sound.

With such dismal reviews from the other climbers, I didn't take the next day's climb that seriously. I got out of bed late, had a luxurious breakfast, and finally left camp at 9:10am.

I wasn't sure what the route was, except that I was supposed to climb up Daly Pass. So I did. Then I was surprised to see that I had to climb down a very steep gully into a serious rock-pile. The snow made figuring out safe places to step really hard. Add to that, I had to figure out what the proper route was. It was slow.

It was okay - it's what I came for, I guess. Beautiful scenery above treeline. I just took it easy - no rush - be careful.

The weather was just unreal, how comfortable it was. The only concern was the scalding high-altitude sun.

When I got to K2, I saw there was snow, and I wasn't certain ab out which way to continue, but it looked completely climbable to me. Except for two important things... I'm chicken, and I left way too late. It was 12:30pm and still hours worth of Knife Edge ridge between me and the summit.

Every time I looked at Capitol from a near distance, I kept thinking, what a chunk of ROCK! It is such a huge, jutting ridge of almost solid rock.

I got out in the nick of time. The wind began to blow before I got over Daly Pass coming back. It never let up, either. It just got worse over night. I had half considered climbing the next day, but there was NO WAY I was going to go over the Knife Edge in gusting winds, rain, and snow.

I drove over Independence Pass to eat dinner in Leadville, slept east of town in my CR-V, then drove in the rain to do breakfast at the Provin' Grounds.
It was wind and rain most of the way home. Glad I was a day ahead of schedule, because I wouldn't have gotten as far on Capitol otherwise.

This is the first real vacation I've had in a couple of years. It was nice.

Steamboat Springs 50 - aid station

2009-09-25T13:07:00.007-06:00

I volunteered at the Steamboat 50 instead of running it. It was lots of fun and i have a few new friends in Steamboat, now.

I got to see Tim Hoppin and Meghan Burch finish their first 50M race! Tim totally killed it too. Can you believe this? He kills his first 50M? Someone forgot to give him the memo that says you have to build up to elite status.

Oh yea! I almost forgot! That curly-haired guy next to Mrs. Burch trashed the old course record. This years course is harder and slower, so the new record certainly overshadows any older record. Great job, Ryan!
7hr, 26min
That's crazy, I'm tellin' ya!

I still got to eat all the pizza and drink all the beer I wanted. I had four pieces and two beers. Great pizza!!!

I got some good mountain biking in too.

My plantar isn't hurting as bad. Too early to tell if it's starting to heal, or more probably simply been a long time since I've aggravated it. Whatever, I walked two miles on Tuesday, and again on Thursday.

Now I'm off to Aspen with friends, followed by some solo climbing in the area.

Obesity Studies

2009-09-11T23:40:00.005-06:00

Check out these Obesity studies...
Low self-esteem leads to obesity

The "OB" or "FTO" fat genes lead to obesity

Over-eating leads to obesity

Obesity raises fertility!!!! (Reason #9)

Obesity can damage fertility!!!

What a circus! Can you understand my cynicism?

On the first topic, "low self-esteem causes obesity" - get real! Your typical type-A personality is said to be driven by an insatiable low self-esteem. No matter how great their accomplishments, there's always something wrong with what they've done, and it's never enough. When's the last time you ever saw an obese type-A? They're always either built like a tank, or skinny. Often a triathlete, but usually an elite athlete of some sort.

Genes. I just don't believe genes have much affect. They certainly could have some small affect on where on your body fat tends to get stored, and some slight affect on appetite, but no one ever got fat from being hungry.

Over-eating leads to obesity. Since food doesn't leap into your mouth and gag its way down your throat, people must be shoving too much down, and burning too little off. I admit it - I eat too much. Anyone who eats too much needs to admit it or they'll NEVER get a handle on the problem!

Fertility - I'm flabbergasted. How do obese people find their organs? I think some of them haven't seen their own knees in years, much less their organs. How can obese people manage to get, er-hum, "attached" down there? Sorry for the visuals.

Well, the "studies" aren't helping out.

Ultra-shorts

2009-09-05T13:12:00.006-06:00

I ran all of my races longer than marathon, and some of the tougher mountain marathons in my beloved EMS shorts. I've owned these shorts for about a decade. Right after crossing the river at Leadville, I squatted down to wet my bandanna and suffered a catastrophic crotch failure. I was "free and lovin' it", but almost running in a running-skirt.
These shorts were showing signs of wear, and maybe I should have put them out of their misery a year ago, but this time there was no choice left.

Here's what I love about these shorts...
1 - Cargo pockets on the front of the thighs. If they're on the sides, filled cargo pockets flop and sway and impede running.

2 - A nylon belt. If you put anything into cargo pockets, they're going to pull your shorts down. A cord cuts in, but a 3/4" nylon web belt doesn't.
Besides, when I wear my hydration pack, I clicp the pack belt through my pants belt and nothing flops anywhere! Can't do that with a cord.
Hydration packs tend to cause plain elastic shorts to fall down, even with empty pockets. That's me - the buttless-wonder. Narrow hips and no ass. All it takes is a hint, and elastic shorts have to be pulled back up constantly. Not fun in long races.

3 - Six inch inseam. Nearly all shorts these days have an 8"-12" inseam. Again, this leads to flopping shorts when cargo pockets are used. If I wanted long pants, I wouldn't be wearing shorts, so why do today's shorts come down to the knees? (Eoow - that sounded like an old grumpy guy.)

4 - 100% nylon. Obviously, cotton is not allowed, but there are other synthetic materials. My shorts weren't at all elastic. I don't mind some elastic (to avoid binding and chaffing), but as I've said twice already, flopping cargo is bad, and elastic allows flopping.

My old EMS shorts were just the right amount of slack, and just the right amount of looseness. This is kind of critical, over 100 miles.
EMS doesn't sell shorts like these anymore. Close, but no cigar.
Luckily, I bought two other pairs at the same time! Unfortunately, the thread on these others are falling apart. The pockets all need mending.

The most critical thing, though, is the colors of these other shorts don't match my other stuff!!!! Light gray and light olive don't color-coordinate with my gear. When you suck on the trail as bad as me, you have to have at least some semblance of fashion, right?

Phases

2009-08-29T09:44:00.011-06:00

My life has been a series of phases. This might be the end of my ultra-runner phase - or maybe not.

Phases I've had...
1) Writing. I always got A's in my English classes in school. I wrote poetry (twisted stuff), short stories, and longer, but never a novel. I pretty much don't write anymore.

2) Rocketry. I bought the rocket motors, but I made everything else from scratch. My rocket tubes were made from old-fashioned packing tape - the kind you had to use a sponge on the adhesive. I would wrap the tape around a dowel rod as a form. Nose cones and fins were made from balsa wood. parachutes were Saran Wrap and thread. I made some very fancy rockets.

3) Guns. I do my own reloading. I have more guns than I need. Come to think of it, I don't need one gun. I also don't need an iPod, but I own four.

4) Mountain climbing. I loved standing on summits and seeing a long ways. You can see farther on the higher peaks, so I began climbing 14ers.

5) Winter mountaineering. The previous phase obviously led into winter trekking and camping. I actually would target the most severe storms. Quite a few times I would meet people leaving as I was heading out and their attitudes were that I was a dead man - no way you're heading out into that and surviving.

6) Speed climbing. Running short on time, I began doing more in less time. On 2nd shift, I'd have to drive to a trailhead in the morning, and see how far up I could get before hitting my turn-around time and have to go to work. I usually never reached a summit.

7) Career change. This brought all physical recreation to a sudden halt. I met a Kenyan who was making over $100,000/yr as a database administrator. He grew up in a grass and mud hut in a huge family. They pooled all their wealth and sent the brightest to America to go to college.
As a machinist, all we did was stand around complaining about work conditions, wages, and some would claim that Mexicans were stealing our jobs, etc. It was quite a daily pity-party.
After meeting Kimayo, though, I couldn't help but get really mad - at myself and anyone who wastes energy in negative ways. I was born in this country, grew up with both the language and knowing the culture, and had only made myself a lowly blue-collar worker.
No offense, if you like being a blue-collar, power to you! The point is, whatever you are, if you're complaining about it, it's up to you to change it.
Some say never complain. I say that complaining is valid - only if it's thinking out-loud and precursor to action. What don't I like? What would I like? How do I get from here to there?
If Kimayo can do it, I can do it. I had no money and no time. No excuses!

I used every spare second of my life for a couple of years dumpster-diving for computers and software, built a lab in my basement, taught myself computers and networking, quizzed-out on my certification exams, and changed careers.

8) Ultra running. The previous phase, and then becoming a work-aholic because I felt insecure not having a formal education (ha! my self-teaching was BETTER!), I had no social life and no exercise. I couldn't even participate in a normal conversation. I had no connection with normal people. So I figured I needed to join some groups. Not just any group, but people like myself. What do I like? Running. Mountains. Trails. So I joined the Denver Trail Runners.

So what's my next phase? I'm working on it. It should involve my son. He loves camping and hiking in the Rockies, cars, and music. Since I don't have a garage, it would have to involve mountains or music.

This blog is out-living its usefulness. I created a newer blog, which is more appropriately named. In spite of my city life, and white-collar technology job, I live like a bum. I'm at home outside and moving at high altitude. For the past several years, I've been averaging about 1 out of every 10 nights spent either in the back of my CR-V, or on the bare ground, or in a snow-cave, or in my tent. I'm hardly ever home. I'm a trail-bum. My city life and job are currently necessities, but some day that might change. In spite of my more organic inclinations (my yin), I am quite a geek, so I love my job (my yang). So my new blog will be Trail Bum, but it'll be awhile before it goes live.
I love running, but I love other things too. I won't restrict myslef to just running the rest of my life. When I'm healed-up, I'll just drift into the next thing.

Leadville 100 2009

2009-08-29T08:58:00.008-06:00

Results were predictable. I had hoped, and there are people who have finished in similar situations, so I totally went-for-it.
For naught.
Twin Lakes return, cutoff, 60.5 miles.

The plan: 29hr pace. If you shoot for a 30hr pace, you'll miss some of the cutoffs, so you don't dare aim for 30.

What went right...
1) Hydration. I didn't overhydrate at any point. It was a clear sky which led to a scalding day. New studies have come out telling us not to drink unless we feel thirsty. That is stupid advice. They extolled that study during the pre-race meeting. I ignored it. Experience has taught me the hard way that on days like we had, there is no way to keep up with the rate of dehydration. Your best bet is to drink as much as you can. My dehydration was slight.

2) Pace. I was nailing my slow pace. Never did I try particularly hard.

3) Gear & drops. I nailed the logistics. I hadn't brought enough e-caps in my pockets, but then I packed extras in my dropbags.

4) Eating. I ate less. The theory was I have previously been eating too much. Evidence was (sorry for the graphics) farting a lot. Eating too much causes undigested carbs to reach the lower intestine. That leads to fermentation and the unavoidable gases. I didn't bonk, so I obviously got this right, but what a narrow balance!

5) Ibuterol. I sucked it down - maybe more than the advisable medical limits. It didn't keep my lungs from filling, but it still helped. It stopped the gu in my lungs from turning into a frothing foam. That is very significant, really, because foam reaches higher, faster, and blocks my alveoli easier. I still suffered some suffocation, but ibuterol now has concrete, classified benefits.

6) I ended up needing the bottles of Gatorade I packed in my dropbags because...

What went wrong...
1) My collection of hydration bladders was well-used. Some had slight leaks. I bought a brand-new MSR hydration bladder a few days before to guarantee no leaks. Race morning, I'm soaked at the start-line. My bladder came new with a sizable leak. And that was my only hydration container.
I tried duct tape, but that didn't work.
Finally, around 50k, I figured out that I could hang the little filler-cap flange on the side of the hydration bladder pocket to keep the top from sagging down. Since the leak was 2/3 of the way up, leaking became minimal. Improvise.

2) In order to keep from hammering my plantar, I had to put on the brakes. This trashed my quads. Not a little. My quads eventually became useless meat.

3) My plantar got hammered anyway.

4) Sharp pains proliferated. Limping on my right foot put more stress there, and so the right side started to disintegrate.

I sucked! I'm so out of shape.
As of now, I have logged 1150 miles this year, and nearly all of that was before three months ago. The past three months have been not-quite-sedentary. I hear so much bullshit about running hundreds. "It's all mental." If that were true, then a 300lbs slob could get off the couch and mentally force themselves through 100 miles of climbing and descents to cross the finish under 30 hours. We all know that can't happen. So several things have to happen, and you can't cheat on any of them. You have to get your body weight down, you have to get your VO2Max up, you have to get your logistics right, and you have to learn your body's needs and signals so you know what to give it under a variety of circumstances. I've got most of that, but my conditioning sucks.

I've been spending more time with my son, which is a good thing.

Lance Armstrong at the LT100 Mtn Bike Race

2009-08-18T18:35:00.003-06:00

I was just trying to grab some more altitude a week before the LT100 Run and spend some time with friends. I took my son and we went camping with a handful of Denver Trail Runners.
They were way more into seeing Lance and other famous bikers than I. Not my thing, but my son really thought it was uber-kool to see him.

My lense decided to fog up just in time for him to ride by. I had the camera mounted on a very steady log, so there was no shaking and it should have been crystal-clear. But it wasn't, so there.
At the finishline, I totally forgot my camera in the car a half mile away. A friend gave me his 7 megapixel camera while he used his 3 megapixel camera. The leader trucks were blocking our view completely. We didn't even know Lance was hidden beyond the far corner of the trailing truck. Neither of us saw him until he was almost past. Both of us shot while looking over the top of the cameras and moving them like a machinegun. Somehow, we both managed to get him perfectly centered and no shaking.
Now if only he would email the photos to me, I could share them.
It was fun doing photography, for a change. I won't quit my day-job, even if I get a good camera.

A few more days until the LT100 Run. I'm obviously not "ready", when you consider I haven't trained in months. Last year, I didn't even try at the 50-miler, and did it under 10 hours. This year I actually tried the whole way, and it still took me 48 minutes longer! So that doesn't bode well.
It's convenient having tons of notes. I've been packing since Sunday night, and I think my dropbags are ready. My pace charts have been modified from last year to allow me to have a smoother (for my legs) pace.
So I'm in lousy condition. I'm getting really fat. Anything could happen, though. I could break a foot before I reach the first aid station. Or I might finish in 28 hours. I'm just going to enjoy the running. I'm so tired of not running.

Last year, the weather was rainy and snowy. This year's forecast is for clear weather and heat. I'm not sure which is harder.

My Son's First 14er!

2009-08-01T21:27:00.006-06:00

My son climbed his first 14er Saturday!

And I got some altitude.
I ran into Luke T. as he was coming down. We met at the Leadville 50 a week ago.
There was light snow on the upper thousand feet of the mountain, but otherwise the weather was fantastic.

Still not running. I guess my one-day stint in the Leadville 50 started a rumor that I was healed. No such luck.
But still looking forward to the LT100.
Getting some VO2Max workouts on my rowing machine and riding my bike at least once a week.

Roman City Altinum on Google Earth

2009-07-31T13:31:00.003-06:00

This is cool! I read that Altinum had been found under fields. There was even a comment that, being near the Venice airport, it's wonder it wasn't found sooner.
So I opened GE and looked for a match to the trees and roads. It didn't take long.
Try it! There are even the faint ghosts of a couple of ancient highways, straight as an arrow, leading right to Antinum - but you have to zoom way out from the area they have in all the news stories.
45deg 33' N, 12deg 23.5' E
The other odd thing why it took them so long is, duh, modern Altino is next to it. Altino is like a 2-farm town sorrounded by fields.
One of the ancient highways can be seen leading right towards the main terminal of Marco Polo airport. The other road heads straight from the northern Altinum city gate (reference the archeological map) and heads northeast.
There is quite a lot of ghostly stuff you can see through the fields that aren't mentioned in the news articles but are pretty obvious.
Heck, you might even find Jimmy Hoffa's body!

Leadville Silver Rush 50M

2009-07-26T21:43:00.006-06:00

I know I'm not supposed to run - but I did.
So there.

I don't have photos, because it rained a lot. Kind of a whole lot. There were hours of perfect weather, though, and the rain wasn't so cold.

The rain started at 3am. I was sleeping in the back of my CR-V, and the air was extremely fresh. Sure beats sleeping in a motel.
Got up at 4:30 - still raining.
When the race started, it had let up mostly, but it was still sprinkling.
Lots of puddles. Hell - there were pools of water in the road.

My plantar was hurting before the race, so it was hurting during the race. But it was tolerable.
First aid station on-time for a PR. No rain.
Printer Boy aid station a few minutes late. That's actually a lot that early in the race. Wasn't feeling good, nor did I feel bad.
And that's the way it stayed, with me falling further and further behind last year's pace. I got to the turn-around way too late.
I decided to just take it easy on the return. If I'm not going to PR, why cause extra trauma to my plantar? I was obviously in terrible condition from months of sedentary living, albiet with a few, er, ultras thrown in here-and-there.

The first climb coming back, I took three puffs from my albuterol asthma inhaler. Came over the top, dropped down to see Ken Klouber on an ATV and low-5'd him on the way by. Then started up Ball Mtn again from the south. As I was breaking treeline again, thunder and lightening started. As I crested the side of Ball Mtn, it started hailing. I put my 4oz rain jacket on, but the hail stung right through it. The lightening was scaring me so I pretty much put the hammer down and ran for my life. It felt very good. At Venir aid station, I only filled one of my 20oz bottles, took no food, and kept racing down the mountain. And it still felt good. My plantar pain was subsiding. I didn't know where all this energy came from, but I sure did appreciate it. I wasn't exactly running like I used to, but not far off.

At the same time, I noticed my quads were loaded with painful lactic acid. I just ignored it and thought, "I'll pay for it tomorrow. Right now I'm busy."

This surge kept going, and it made no sense. How does a guy who is very out-of-shape suddenly shake off fatigue and start running like a maniac after 30 miles?
Coming out of Printer Boy aid station, at about mile 36, I thought of the albuterol. I became pretty sure there was no coincidence. I've experimented with albuterol in the past, but hadn't noticed much benefit. This time around, there was a very big difference! Probably because I was out of shape, it was more dramatic.
So I took a couple more puffs, my last of 3 fish oil capsules, and a caffiene pill. I did NOT want this surge to end!
And it didn't. My plantar hurt less and less. Certainly from an endorpin flood, and ibuprofen and aspirin.
But part of the surge was also caused by a tendon behind my left knee that hurt any time I walked. The only way to make it stop was to run. Kind of a convenient pain, huh?
The last 10 miles, it started raining again. All I had on was a sleeveless UnderArmour shirt. The rain was cold but my body was cranking heat in overdrive. I'll bet if I had stood still, visible steam would have been rising off my body. I didn't bother to put my rain jacket on. I just kept running.
A benefit of the rain was that it didn't make any difference if I ran through a puddle or around it. That made things easier.

Near the end, someone came knocking on my back door. I never found out who it was. I was less than a mile from the finish and wasn't going to get passed. I crossed the finish smiling big.
My 10:47 finish sucks, but those last 20 miles were awesome fun.

Ryan Burch crossed the finish in 7:00:01, missing his sub-7hr finish by a second. I feel guilty. I was returning to the trail from a #2 nature-experience when he ran by. I yelled that he was doing an awesome job. He almost stopped, losing more than a second, I'm sure. Granted, when you stop that briefly, it's a bit of rest, and you tend to go faster right afterwards such that it makes no difference. Pretty much. Probably. But it kind of eats at me. Even as I yelled, in the back of my mind I regretted it.
Can you imagine running the Leadville Silver Rush 50 in 7 hours?

No more running for me.
Until the Leadville 100 four weeks from now.

Hardrock 2009: spectator-ing

2009-07-16T17:57:00.014-06:00

What do ya do when you can't run? Help others to run!

I know, I know, this is late. But that's what you can expect of me these days. Hardrock began at 6am.

I left work at 2:30pm. First stop was Leadville where I picked up my packet for the Leadville Marathon. I already paid for the shirt and fancy bag, so I wasn't going to forfeit that.
In line behind me was Nick Clark. He seemed to be having some doubts, but I was pretty sure he could possibly win. It's too bad it wasn't his day, but when you run with the elites, anyone could best the others depending on the slightest things. Great job, Nick! The Hardrockers were talking about you and the Marathon, even as they ran (walked) the HR100.

After grabbing my bag, I drove to Ouray. It had just gotten dark when I pulled into town. Knowing that once I got started at the aid station, I'd probably not leave, I grabbed a beer at a random brewery. It was an "amber bitter", as the brewmeister called it, and extremely good. One of the best beers I've ever had, in fact.

Then I parked near the Ouray aid station and helped out as much as I could, while also staying out of the way of crews.
I was hoping to see Olga and Larry, so I looked at the Hardrock Live web site, saw that Olga was at about a 48hr+ pace, and decided to get some shut-eye. I slept for several hours in the back of my CR-V.
At 2:30, people in the car next-door woke me up. I dozed for 20 minutes and finally got up at 2:50. Unfortunately for me - but great for Olga - she blazed down from Engineer Pass in amazing time and went from a 48hr pace to a 43hr+ pace. So she was about to leave Ouray with Larry about the time I woke up.
Oh, well, I knew so many others, and kept helping as much as I could.

Jon M. asked me if I could pace Ricki R. I told him I was injured and my foot was hurting unusually much. Too bad, because that stretch of Hardrock is the only stretch I haven't done. I now regret it, even with my injury. Ricki ended up getting paced by someone else. Good for Ricki and good for my plantar, though.

After helping half the night, I drove to Telluride. I barely got there in time to keep the sun from actually touching my car.

Even the coffee shops don't open in Telluride until 7am! Heck, why would I need coffee that late?! 6am is LATE! 7am is... well, THERE OUGHT TO BE A LAW!! I didn't want to steal any coffee meant for runners, crew, pacers, and official volunteers, so I waited. Then I had to wait yet another hour for the breakfast places to open! Here I was complaining while eating hot breakfast and drinking coffee, and I hadn't even gone one mile, much less 71 miles through the night in rugged terrain.

I watched one friend after another march through. It was fantastic, and I actually got to take a shift with clipboard and walkie-talkie helping to log runners in and out. That earned me a slice of pizza later.

Olga and Larry came in looking strong. No doubt, having Larry as a pacer had to have been way better than going solo. Outstanding performance.
They survived a vicious freak thunderstorm that exploded between midnight and 1am. Lightening was cracking. One runner was blown off his feet and knocked several feet away, but not directly hit - he finished.
Olga and Larry told me they saw a course marker that had obviously been struck. The reflective medallion that hangs from the wire "looked like a Tootsie-roll"!
Along with the lightening came tons of small hail. This sort of weather practically never brews at night, so this was all very weird, and thankfully it was brief. These later finishers could have finished faster if they hadn't been held up for so long by weather. And maybe a few who missed the final cut-off could have finished. Oh well, that's the "Hard"rock 100.

I wish I could have gotten some good video of Olga finishing, but my camera was worthless in the dark, and the buttons were engineered by a retard (didn't help that the operator was also a retard).

The best story I got to be part of was Patty B...
She came into Telluride looking bad. That's not unusual after 71 miles. After eating and drinking, though, most get up and get out. Patty just sat there. And sat there. And she was still there after about 40 minutes.
In fact, for quite a disturbingly long time, no one left! I complained to one of the station volunteers that it was getting to be like the Hotel California. So I announced that we like everyone, but they're not welcome to stay.
At some point, I turned around and saw one of the officials standing over Patty with a pair of siccors about to cut off her wrist band. Yikes! So I went over.
Patty seemed very near tears. Her husband was trying to talk her out of it. A friend was trying. I tried, but her mind was made up - she was through! Done! DEAD! So then someone said she didn't have to get her band cut off immediately. Yeah, we all chimed in. I told her she ought to wait until the cut-off. If she just quits, then it hurts more than if an aid station official stops her and says, "You missed the cut-off - you're not allowed to leave." Her husband jumped on that and said, "Yeah, that's still a few hours away. Why don't you lay down and get some sleep?"
Patty liked that set of ideas, so she went to sleep with her wrist-band intact.
About 75 minutes later, Patty woke up, saddled-up, and left for Chapman, with time to spare before the cut-off. At 5:15am the next morning, she crossed the finish in Silverton in 47:15 race-time.
Absolutely awesome to see someone that had mentally/emotionally DNF'd, but managed to come back from the dead for the finish.

I guess the moral of the story is, it ain't over 'til it's over. Unless you have a true medical situation - like your lungs are topped-off with fluid, or a metatarsal broke, or a tendon or ligament is ripping off, etc. - never DNF until you miss the cut-off.

And finally, here's Fred Ecks great finish.

Plantar Faciitis

2009-07-05T20:26:00.010-06:00

I have two injuries...
One started with a knot next to my Achilles where the Achilles attaches to the calf. It rubbed the Achilles until the Achilles became inflamed. This started after the Salida Marathon. This is the primary injury that dropped me from the Moab 100, but my heel started hurting during the same race. I thought it was bruising from all the slickrock.
I didn't realize my heel was a legit injury until about a month later. It took a while, but finally it became obvious this was plantar faciitis.

The Achilles injury was more dangerous, but being hobbled by my plantar, the Achilles was not aggravated. What I've done for this is massage, with lots of hard, sustained pressure inwards, and sideways. It might be healed by now, for all I know, but I still massage it just to be sure.

Most of my efforts have been on my plantar, because it is what I feel all the time. It also is the one that doesn't want to get better.

Massage - I was told to massage in a "spreading fashion", using my thumbs to dig in and pull opposite directions.
I was also warned never to massage the sore part of my plantar with a solid object. A tennis ball, towel, or washcloth is what was suggested to me.
I also use my thumbs to massage my calf. That part is very painful because it has to be a deep-tissue massage.

Icing - Never ice and stretch at the same time. Only warm tissues should be stretched. Icing is used only when swelling is a problem. The sole purpose is to stop and reverse swelling.

Insoles - I had stopped using insoles. Big mistake. I accidentally wore the wrong shoes at the Steamboat Springs Marathon and had no insoles!
I haven't had $450 orthotics made for me, and I don't see the use. It won't get me back to where I was. I need to stay off it - not splint it and keep trying. Also, I think most of my problems started from an imbalanced stride. Orthotics won't fix the stride problem. I need to address the problem, not the symptoms.

Stretching - I've been told by one person that only one thing will heel plantar faciitis - stretching. Nearly everyone tells me the cause is a plantar that is so tight it's ripping right off the heel. So I try to stretch everything from heel to the back of the knee.

Analgesics - Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen, aspirin will eat your gut if you live on them.
I take 81mg aspirin, which is supposed to be good for your heart as you get older. One a day.
Acetaminophen doesn't work as well for me as ibuprofen, but I'll take it as an alternative to shift the destruction from my kidneys to my liver.
I only take one or two ibuprofen a day. Usually one. Only with food.
Analgesics can keep down swelling. Swelling is bad for circulation. Good circulation will help you to heal faster. So when swelling is down, I improve healing by using heat and massage.

I bought a Strassburg sock, but it did nothing for me! It even cut off circulation in my toes and made me lose lots of sleep. The directions said that if it was uncomfortable, it was too tight, but I kept backing off the pressure and it never got comfortable, and it didn't seem to be stretching my plantar much. Then a guy at a race told me that he stuck a stiff insole inside his Strassburg sock to make if more effective and much more comfortable.
Then I saw these boots. They all have a solid footbed.
So I bought a stiff insole, and sawed-out a foot-shaped piece of Plexiglas and stuck it in. All of a sudden, my Starssburg sock was comfortable enough to wear all night and my plantar started healing. This was only half a month ago, though, so I'm not out of the woods.
As far as cost goes, I wasted my money on the Strassburg sock. The splints or boots cost less than the stinkin' sock! And they don't need modifications and are WAY more comfortable.

So there you have it. I've done nearly everything to get this healed.

If none of the above works, I can still try cortisone injections or surgery.

Here's the toll on my training.
The Weekly mileage is very erratic. You can see the Bandera 100K, then a couple of restful weeks. Then several weeks in a row where I gradually cranked the mileage. Then a week of rest. Then a couple more moderate-mileage weeks. Then the Moab 100. It's hard to see a pattern after that.

But one glance at the monthly graph shows the pattern.

Nose-dive.

I'm not only no longer a trail-runner - I'm not even a runner. I don't like biking, but I do force myself to bike once or twice a week. That's the only training I get. The few times I let myself run, I can't even run hard, so running isn't training.
I edited my schedule on the right to reflect what's left of my year.

I don't know if this post will help anyone or not. Seems like everyone I meet these days either has, or had, plantar faciitis or an injured Achilles.

Leadville 100 Training Camp

2009-07-01T22:27:00.015-06:00

Blogger gave me a work-around to whatever broke my blog, so I can keep posting.

So, Friday I left for Leadville and slept at about 10,600 feet in the trees east of Leadville.

The training camp starts with breakfast, socializing, and a 26-mile run. My plantar was feeling okay, but I wasn't feeling like pushing my luck, so I dragged butt. Like last year, since it's not a race, I hung-out at the aid stations and ate. Inbetween, I ran slow and steady. The weather was fairly clear so I took advantage of my new OR cap with full sunshade that wraps around the neck.

It was a nice day and a nice run. Easy. I decsended very carefully down into Twin Lakes. My plantar felt the pounding but wasn't too bad.

After 26 miles, even Coors tastes good.

That night, I drove way up on Ball Mountain and spent the night nearly 12,000 feet high. It was a very calm night and not too cold. I had the windows open and didn't worry about bears so high up.

In the morning, I listened to a radio station from San Isidro, California. My iPhone had picked up a signal that reset the time to Central instead of Mountain, so my iPhone woke me up an hour too early. My watch battery had died, so I had no convenient way of verifying the time.

Day two had us meeting for breakfast again, and then boarding the buses for Twin Lakes. We parked a mile up-river of where the LT100 will cross the river.
Again, I took it easy, but this was the first time in very many months that I had gone running two days in a row.

Because of the pulmonary edema I'd had just a week before, I didn't push the uphills, and because I didn't want to put the brakes on much, I let myself fly down the south side of Hope. After being injured for three months, and barely running at all in the past two months, it was exhilerating to blow down that mountain passing everyone in sight. But my plantar was feeling the strain at the bottom. After hanging out at the aid station, I turned around and ran back - skipping the 5-mile round-trip to Winfield and back.

Hope Pass!

I kept dipping my left foot in the water every chance I got. The cold kept he swelling down on my heel. When I got back, I stood in the river for a while.
More beer.

I slept again up high, but this time only at 11,600 feet.

In the morning, I ate breakfast at the Provin' Grounds. It's definitely the place to go to run into every athletic person in the valley.

By lunch, I had decided that my plantar would suffer badly if I did the night run. I bailed and drove back to Denver.

San Juan Solstice 50 - 2009

2009-06-28T16:59:00.006-06:00

I love this race more than any other!
My plantar faciitis and Achilles have not been super, but they we tolerable. My plan was to DNF whenever necessary, but my injuries are apparently mending, finally. My plantar actually felt better after the race than the day before. Finally a ray of hope.

Unfortunately, with virtually no training the past couple of months, the trigger-point for my chronic and incurable respiratory stress syndrome had lowered. It took me by surprise. For 31 miles, I kept right on-pace for a PR. Last year I finished in 13:50. This year, I wasn't doing so hot - just barely hanging onto that same pace. But if you're a few miles from the finish and doing the same pace, what could stop you from a small PR?
At mile 32, my lungs started filling up alarmingly fast. Actually, my left lung started filling way back at about 26 miles, but at 32, it happened so fast it scared the manure outa me. Even going downhill was hard. I'd inhale as much as possible, but it was as if I had no space inside for air. I honestly don't know how I was able to converse normally - except that I think my brain died years ago and so you can't tell the difference anymore.

Back to this...

It was a glorious morning in the San Juans. The birds were singing and the butterflies were... Okay, I'll make it shorter...

It was warmer than last year, and the rivers weren't so swollen. I started out slightly faster than I would have, to get ahead of the traffic jams. A couple of the jams, I just ran past down-stream. I'll never understand slowing down so much to cross water. You can't avoid getting wet. Getting wet carefully isn't gonna get you any less wet.

I let my injuries decide how fast I could go - not plans for a PR. Still, I hoped. I was feeling like anything was possible, and to keep a level head, not get my hopes too high, and run smart. I knew that by Williams Creek aid, I'd know whether I was going to DNF or have a race in front of me.

Williams Creek - feeling awesome! Carol Gerber was there and helped me out. I was outa there.
Marcus Mueller and I were pretty much always in sight of each other without intentionally pacing off each other. We headed up Carson Road and the weather started to close in. As we left Carson, it started raining. We kept climbing to the Pass and the rain turned to snow right about then. It snowed pretty hard, but not so hard you couldn't see. But we did joke. I proclaimed that I could almost see New Mexico. "Is that Santa Fe?" A woman answered, "I can see my hand in front of my face." But really we could usually see half a mile. The wind wasn't blowing so hard, and as we turned north, it became a tailwind. Awesome - if you get cold, just speed up.

It was amazing to some of us how many people didn't have basics, like gloves or a jacket. DNF's abounded. I figured that even if I didn't get a PR, my placement might be better than ever. Since I train and race in anything and everything, weather has almost no affect on me. Traction is over-rated. Just go.
That's about when I felt this funny left lung start to fill. My lungs have never started filling at different rates. But it seemed minor. I just kept going. Not like you can stop. We were all above treeline running the rocky Divide - the most awesome part of the course. Even robbed of the views, stuck in clouds and snow, it was nirvana.
Marcus and I got to the Divide Aid Station (mile 31) about the same time, and left at the same time. This is when I started thinking about how I was just going to try to hold steady through Slumgullion Aid, do the last climb, and then drop the hammer down and do what I'm famous for... running like a banshee downhill, hell-bent-fer-leather-pilgrim, and take that PR.
But soon after leaving Divide Aid, my lungs really started filling. The snow stopped, then I started downhill towards Slumgullion Aid and the sun actually started shining. But my lungs were gushing. I just thought, "WTF?! WTF is going on?" And the closer I got to Slum', the worse it got, until one mile away i realized my race was over, and not from my injuries like I would have predicted, but from my nemesis, pulmonary edema.
My injuries were indirectly responsible. Without training, my VO2Max had dropped precipitously. With it, the trigger-point for my edema dropped, and blind-sided me.
At Slum', I was hacking on the verge of barfing. But in between, I was helping runners who were coming into the aid station. The paramedics then descended upon me. They put their stethoscopes on me, but the clincher was when one of them said, "Open your mouth and exhale." You could hear obvious bubbles coming up my esophagus. And then I'd cough up a lung. So she shoved me into a chair and said she wasn't giving me any choice and was going to stick me on oxygen and send me to the clinic. This was pretty embarrassing, but i suppose that even if I had postponed it, oxygen would have been inevitable. This was the worst case for edema I had ever had, and the suddenness meant I questioned how valid past experience was this time around. Non-humidified oxygen is scaldingly dry, but exactly what I needed, both for the oxygen and the drying.

It wasn't all bad. New EMT, Sara, was really nice, and really hot-looking, not that I noticed, of course! (My usual disclaimer.) [If she were older, she'd be old enough to be my daughter!]

At the awards breakfast the next morning, I was, again, humiliated in the ugly-feet contest. Maybe I could have come in 3rd. Even my old blood-blisters weren't sufficient. I'll have to train for this better next year.

But even the DNF'ers are honored at the SJS50. I was given a bottle of wine, which didn't begin to cover my insurance co-pay at the clinic, but what the hey? It was more pain-killer, right?

I met new people, made new friends, and drove home somehow not feeling defeated. Ultras give so much back. IT'S THE PEOPLE!! They're great.

I have photos, really, but you'll have to check back.
Sorry this is a week late. I've actually been diverting most of my energies towards yard-work, working on my son's computer, building myself a new Cray computer (okay, it's not a Cray - just an obnoxious beast of a machine that only a hopeless geek would own.)

And finally...
Blogger.com has broken my blog. No new posts. Doesn't matter what computer I use to try to post, it won't let me create anymore.
If this lasts long, I'm going to switch to my new blog sooner.

Thursday DTR run

2009-06-13T01:45:00.007-06:00

The Denver Trail Runners ran at White Ranch. I tried to ride my bike, but ended up carrying or pushing it half way.

There were deer. As I took a photo of the deer, I heard a black bear down in the valley. It sounded like something had either startled it or pissed it off.

Steamboat Springs Marathon 2009

2009-06-07T21:15:00.007-06:00

The plan: Volunteer at an aid station, shuttle friends, and drink margaritas.
Yes, my injuries are really cramping my style.
Thursday, I ran/walked with the Denver Trail Runners and we had a giant potluck afterward. Lots of fun. I ran because it's been weeks and I needed a status report - something more informative than walking around can tell me. The next day, I was fine. In fact, better than fine. I got the impression that maybe, just maybe I've been too cautious.

The marathon was on Sunday, this year, so I left on Saturday. I got there with less than an hour to go before they closed the packet-pick-up office. Then I grabbed dinner and a margarita, met some friends, and then headed for the Hot Springs. I stretched and massages my feet and legs while in the hottest pool.
There were LOTS of REALLY HOT BABES, but I didn't notice any of them. Really.
I slept in my usual place out of town. As usual, in the back of my comfy CR-V, with a DVD to watch. The margarita was enough for me, so I drank water instead of beer while I watched. The temps and weather were great, so I left the back window open so the fresh breeze could get in. Luxury in the back of my car.

It was 15 minutes from the shuttles that take us to the marathon start near Hahn Peak.
Wait. Uh, I'm not running this, right? RIGHT? Then why did I suit-up and get on the bus? Something wasn't going as planned. It was drizzling cold rain. Why would someone with a great excuse not to run (injuries) get on a bus to run when it's raining and 45 degrees?
So we got there with 50 minutes to stand around and get cold. I did some warm-up running and felt fantastic. PR? Don't even think it! Come-on! I wasn't supposed to even be there!
So the race starts two minutes early and most of us weren't expecting it. I took off at an easy 8-min pace. Everyone went out too fast, as usual.
I sped up, but I still wasn't pushing it.
The most dangerous injury was my Achilles, but I couldn't feel any problem there. Only my plantar faciitis could be felt, and it wasn't that bad. Yet.

My gut gurgled. In fact, at about mile 3, it felt like my stomach almost hurled, but that can happen from air. I tried to belch but all I managed was a fart. It got worse.
So did my plantar. By mile 9.5, my "race" was over, and my gut was developing Weapons of Mass Destruction. Honestly, I hoped the U.N. wouldn't find out, because it was getting serious. I didn't want them imposing sanctions against me. So I stopped for 5 minutes at a porta-potty. Oh, yeah, WMD#1. It didn't feel complete, but I wasn't going to stay in there all day, so I went onward.
At the 13.1 mile mark, there were tons of porta-potties at the half-marathon start, so I spent another 10+ minutes of quality time with WMD#2. I was hoping that was enough to keep Israel from sending a bombing mission after my reactor.

My plantar got much worse, so I walked some. That seemed to take too long, so I kept experimenting with different types of running limps. I didn't want to do the same old limp because I would end up with a bad muscular imbalance that could screw up my back. The strange thing is, I found out that if I led with my bad leg, it reversed the imbalance and still kept from aggravating my plantar. So it didn't care which leg was dominant, as long as I ran lop-sided. What a retarded injury. Whatever works.

By this time, things were bad... A fat, jiggly girl-butt passed me. That hurt more than my plantar! But Quasimodo limped right on by her again when she walked. Then she passed me again. And I passed her. But then WMD#3 took place just 2 miles from the finish, and fat, jiggly girl-butt ran away. Another 5 minutes or so in the porta-potty.

It was a really cool finish. Someone yelled, "Hurry up and beat the rain!" It started to rain again. I yelled back, "I don't care - I'm amphibious!" And the rain started coming down in little frozen pellets. But I was smiling ear-to-ear.

4:30 - exactly one hour longer than last year.

My plantar kept me from racing, so I wasn't at all tired. Both of my last two Steamboat finishes, I had been dizzy and shaky, but this time was just limpy.

I changed shirts and got another margarita. Yeah!
Then back to the hot springs - were there were even MORE really-hot-babes-that-I-didn't-notice-really.

Next week, I'm not even leaving town for the Estes Park Marathon. I'm TOTALLY skipping it!
You don't believe me, do you?

Blast From The Past

2009-06-05T22:43:00.008-06:00

My first memories were when I was about as old as this photo. I was able to stand, but not walk.

And here you can see I had a beard and mustache before I'd even become a teenager!
That's my big brother on my left. We'd made beards from corn fuzz.

I was just so irresistible. Man... what the hell happened to me?

This one is 30 years ago (19y). I was in a secretive Chinese boxing club and the members would go jogging. I ran for a couple of years. Then I busted my ankle. A year later, I shattered my fibula and quit running. It took many years for the pain to stop from that 2nd break. I still have two screws in my fibula. The 2nd cast was painted to match my hiking boots.
And yes, that is JEEEEEZUSS in the background. There was lots of that stuff around the house.

I was 21 when this was taken.

Cool Website!

2009-05-30T10:33:00.007-06:00

I'm going camping with my 15y.o. son in the Winfield area, where the out-and-back LT100 course turns around at 50 miles.

Waiting for his lazy teenage ass to get out of bed so we can leave, I've been cruising the Internet. I found several really cool websites. I read somewhere some guy's idea of the best websites, and he chose the Drudge Report as #1. Very plain. Why the best? Because it loads instantly and is a no-nonsense informative site that lets you decide for yourself what is more interresting, instead of trying to guide you into believing that the current stupid thing Brittany Spears or some other idiot has done is newsworthy. The Drudge Report just tosses headlines out there with very little to differentiate them. And the Drudge Report doesn't actually write any of the content, nor host any content. All it does is link.
In that theme, Neatorama does a blurb-and-link. Not as plain as the Drudge Report, plus they add a little photo and blurb, plus they do have their own content sometimes. Neatorama links to many other unique and educational sites like EnvironmentalGraffiti,
and this funny blog
and HealthAssist
and NASA's Earth Observatory.

Sage Burner 50K 2009

2009-05-25T19:17:00.009-06:00

No, I didn't run this. And I didn't walk it either.
Gunnison. I like this town. I think the friendliest athletes come from there.
Paul G wanted to trade-up to the 50K, and I wanted to either walk the 25K or DNS, depending on how exactly my injuries felt raceday morning. So Paul got my 50K bib. I decided just one minute before the race that I would DNS, and ride my bike around instead.
My injuries are virtually painless, but the tissues are still weak. It'll take some weeks off to let them strengthen. The next race I care a lot about it the San Juan Solstice 50M four weeks away. Okay, I REALLY care about the Steamboat Marathon, but that's forbidden. That kind of speed will absolutely put me on an operating table. I plan to really take it easy on the injuries the next month.

Here we are raceday morning before heading to the start/finish area.

And they're off!

Tim Parr won the 50K

Mike Selig came in 2nd

Keri Nelson came in 1st female

My Denver Trail Runner camping friends Gayle, Julia, and Becca. This was Julia's first ultra and she did GREAT!

Anita Fromm on the left and... I don't know the woman on the right. I've seen her for years and I still don't know her name. My bad.

Under the Kelty sunshade with light rain coming down. These are not fair-weather women. No one complained about the rain at all.

OMG! Did Chris just fart?!

I got several miles of biking in and still got to meet the usual suspects.
It's great hanging out with people who don't care about the weather. Nothing stops us from drinking libations and acting silly until late into the evening. Yes, I said evening, not night or morning. We're athletes, okay. No 3am bedtimes. We're down and out by about 10pm.

On the way back, we all stopped at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs. Then we stopped at the Coyote Cantina for lunch. It was a rolling vacation. But yes, we finally all went our seperate ways eventually.

Taking a Break

2009-05-21T20:05:00.005-06:00

My plantar faciitis and Achilles injury are both simmering. I needed crutches after Jemez, not the next morning. Haven't been limping at all, but I can feel my injuries down there. I don't think I should run at all until I can walk without feeling my injuries. Then some easy, short intervals. I'm starting over again from scratch, biking some but mostly doing yard work and catching up on chores that has piled up on my list.

Sage Burner 50K this weekend - but I can only go camp with my friends and ride my bike. Maybe I'll hijack an aid station. Whatever, I paid, I'm going, I want my tshirt-or-whatever, and then I want to hang out with my friends and camp Saturday night.

With Jemez, I forgot to post the photos from the Greenland 50K.

Here are the 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-place women.
Bronwyn Morrissey on the left won, Elizabeth Campagna in the middle came in 3rd, and Caitlin Jones came in 2nd. Elizabeth ran an incredible race, almost perfectly steady until close to the end. She almost won.
Bronwyn did an awesome job taking and keeping the lead, but I think Elizabeth led most of the race. And Caitlin was going so fast at the end, if the race had been .2 longer, she woulda-coulda won.
It was very cool to see them all finish consecutively, with no guys between them. Very impressive competition to witness.

Here's Elizabeth and some ugly guy - wait, that's me! What a handsome cripple, don't you think? Pikes Peak is in the background, but the contrast made it invisible, so take my word for it, okay?

Jemez 50 Part II

2009-05-17T23:33:00.003-06:00

Leaving Pipeline aid, you plummet off the rim of the Caldera. It's almost a cliff. No doubt, this is a dangerous drop-off. It is possible to "lose it" and tumble to a broken and bloody heap at the bottom. The footing is extremely loose, and everything you try to grab is also loose. And you're also trying not to cause anyone else to fall.

Usually the Caldera is a great place to make some time. It's several miles of easy-going and extremely runnable on the road sections. Once you pass the aid station, though, there's a huge expanse of grassland. The grass grows in frustrating clumps that defy attempts to run, but it is possible to run very ungracefully through this, with a few wipe-outs. But no running for me this year.
There's a small pond at the low point, and the frogs were croaking extremely loud. There were lots of birds. Some Mountain Blue Birds, owls, finches, and some birds I don't think I've ever seen before with jet-black bodies and bright-yellow heads.

Then up through the boulder-field. I attacked each uphill with all my frustrations. People who kept passing me on the flats and downhills saw me blaze up, even through the jutting boulders and fallen trees. No stopping, no slowing, and yelling, "Yeehah! Downhill all the way up!" and crap like that the whole way. What a knucklehead.
I wasn't alone. "John" looked and acted like a gung-ho sergeant straight back from the Middle-East. He was lots of fun and was also very vocal and good-humored. A really good guy to "run" with.
First-timers to this race struggle up this bouldering and deadfall-hopping and get to the top of the ridge and... they're crushed to see the flagging continue to climb up the ridge to the left, steep, and through the same clumps of grass found in the Caldera.
Finally up, over, and many miles of gentle descent. This descent was hard on me. Last year, this a was deliriously fine spree through beautiful meadows and forest. This year it was a walk, but still beautiful - without the exhilarating speed.
Then cross the barbed-wire fence.
Then miles of fairly boring stuff where I let my mind wander to my injuries and did a moving reassessment. Things seemed to be right on-track.
Up Pajarito mountain. A guy was lost - first-timer. I showed him the way. He had mis-read the map but wasn't far off.
Then down the expert ski-slope. This year was easier. Last year had been slushy snow. It was nearly impossible to keep your feet under you. But this year was just STEEP.
The only cut-off for this race is the ski lodge - 5pm. I made it in 4:30. Not great, compared to last year, but still right on-plan.
On towards Pipeline aid the second time. I like this figure-8 course. Had my picture taken kissing the inflatable sheep mascot - "Show the sheep some lovin'!"

I figured that with walking, I wouldn't fade, but I did. It wasn't the energy, but the swelling. When you don't use your feet, you flop down on them all day. You get no "spring". Even though I hadn't stressed my injuries in the wrong ways, everything from the ankles down swelled. The swelling put pressure on my injuries. So the pain in my injuries made it difficult to assess was the pain from furthering damage, or just side-affect of swelling? Wasn't sure. With 8 miles to go, I started slowing down. With 5 miles to go, I started slowing down a lot.
It was now dark. The race started in the dark and I was finishing in the dark. I had carried my flashlight the whole way, using no drop-bags, and planning for a night-finish.
As the pain below the knees intensified, and I kept slowing, it was still a very enjoyable experience. I didn't let myself mope. This was such a beautiful course. How very lucky that I was there. My life is so much richer with every experience, with all the people. Nature is something I like to experience face-to-face. I want to feel the wind, the rain, the snow, sleet, sun, the heat and cold (hopefully not too much heat). I want to feel the trees, bushes, and grass - and if they leave me bleeding some, that's okay! I kept telling myself, if I end up DFL, I'd still rather be there than sitting in Denver feeling sorry for myself.
I wasn't DFL, but not far ahead.
Last year: 12:20
This year: 16:30
Ouch.
I grabbed my crutches. J.T. got me some ice. Oh, my feet hurt and were swelling. I had another very nasty blister on my right heel. I need to return to my Injinji's and Vaseline. I never had blisters with that system. I had to poke about 30 holes in the blister to get all the layers and pockets of fluid emptied. Then I wrapped Ace bandages around both feet and ankles.

Paul Grimm is always telling me, "You'd be surprised how good you feel after one night of sleep." He is so right. I wasn't even limping the next morning. Moving slow, but still not limping.

Jemez 50 2009 Part I

2009-05-17T23:31:00.003-06:00

This could be the most boring race report yet.
With tweaks blowing into injuries during the Greenland 50K, I was left in a tough dilemma. I could either sit at home and feel sorry for myself, or I could walk Jemez for 50 miles.
I walked.

The pre-race dinner was the same spaghetti, and great crowds. Actually, there were more people than ever. It was fun meeting people, laughing, talking, etc. Good for the soul.
After the pre-race meeting, I won an Ultimate Direction 24oz bottle and fanny pack holder. Retails for $36. With tax, that paid for my gas for the whole trip.
Last year, I took my camera and took plenty of photos, so this year I left my camera.

The night before the race, the weather was unbelievable. I slept in the back of my CR-V with the windows open and didn't get cold. The air was so nice and I slept like a baby. Good thing I brought three alarm-clocks - the first two didn't wake me.

4am - breakfast was all the trailbars I got at the Greenland 50K race. Coffee - I had thought ahead and pre-heated my thermos withf boiling water. Then I had driven to Kaladi's for a 20oz cup. I poured out the hot water, poured in the hot coffee, and left it sealed until race-day morning. Awe yes!

Check-in. More meeting of friends and sharing stories and wishing luck. As we headed out, I hooked up with Uli Kamm and he told me how he walks EVERY race.
As usual, We're all talking and suddenly everyone starts moving, so I guess the race is on. Funny how low-key ultras are.
So I started with a nice little walk - but I couldn't keep up with Uli. Yikes! I HAVE to walk this one! If I can't keep up with Uli, this isn't going to happen.

Well, the plan was, no running - not a step. And if I can't keep up, then DNF at Pipeline aid and volunteer until the race is over. That would give me ring-side seat at an aid station that everyone in the 50M and 50K would pass through twice. And because the 50K started an hour later than the 50M, the flow would be constant all day long.
I took a fanny pack that held two 20oz bottles. In the pack was my ultra-skimpy Salomon Fastwing Hoodie jacket, a cotton bandanna, and toilet paper. I always wear hiking shorts during ultras because I like the big pockets. One pocket was stuffed with 5 gel-paks, and a baggie full of 500mg vitamin C, 200mg ibuprofen, 81mg aspirin, Tylenol, calcium, lots of Hammer Race caps and Endurolytes, and omega 3 capsules. See all the pills I pop during races?
When the sun hits your skin, it converts vitamin C into vitamin D. Natural process. Run out of vitamin C and you burn. Lots of sun = lots of vitamin C lost. In intense sun, you have to gulp about 500mg every hour. You can overdose on vitamin C. It's an acid. It's all about balance. You wouldn't guzzle salt capsules during regular life. Taking over 2000mg of vitamin in a day in pill-form is not normally a good idea. Better to feed yourself smaller doses regularly as-needed, with food.

Oh yeah, the race...
So we started out and I could barely stay within conversational distance with Uli. But there's always a traffic jam about a quarter-mile into the race as we get funneled down into a double-track trail. So it didn't do any good to hurry. After the jam, Uli and I were walking together with ease.
Then I got in a conversation with some other friendly guy. The trail is a mixture of light-gray powdery dirt and the rock it came from. The rock seems to be from a pyroclastic flow. For you non-geologist types, that's like a Mount Saint Helens volcanic ash and mud flow that settles and turns to rock. It's a somewhat soft rock. There are ruts a couple feet apart in the trail. I commented to this guy that they look like very old Conestoga wagon ruts. He said he thought they had to be also. The width is so very uniform to have been carved by hand, and sometimes the ruts get too deep for any vehicle to have made, except for a large-wheeled wagon.

The weather was almost uniform all day, and almost the same temps as the night. I started with a short-sleeve shirt and a long-sleeve shirt. After the first couple of miles, I tied the long-sleeve around my waist.

At the out-and-back section on Caballo mountain, I noticed Betsy Kalmeyer flying down rather earlier than I expected. Last year, we climbed together the whole way. Then before the descent, my downhill ability sent me way ahead for good. But this year, Betsy was WAY ahead of me!
The 50K runners were mixing it up with the 50-milers, by then, so it was impossible to figure out where I placed in the whole mess.
One young guy was giving it a good go. He looked very out of shape, but it was good to see him trying. Early on, we climbed a ladder after attacking a couple of ridges up and down. He asked me if it's all so crazy-difficult like "this". I just said, well, yeah, I guess - but you get to rest for several miles in the Caldera. I don't guess he finished, but I hope his spirits weren't crushed by the difficulty of this course. I last saw him going up the bottom of Caballero while I was finishing Caballero. That put him too far back to finish, but I hope he got to see the Caldera. It's my favorite part of the course.

At the Pipeline aid station, I had to sit down and probe my injuries. This was the final check-up. I decided it was a "go".
Basically, I was letting my feet flop around on the ends of my legs. I wasn't using any muscles below the knees, except minimal stability. No air-time, no rising up on toes, no stresses applied to the Achilles or plantar. While this took/wasted more energy, I had plenty of energy to spare. I had to stick to the plan, and the plan was working.

Psychobabble

2009-05-11T21:15:00.003-06:00

The ending of The Joy Luck Club still makes me cry. I know this is extremely un-guy-like, but I can't help it. This movie just gets me. Not just the watery eyes either, but having to dab the tears and the sniffly nose.

Now to some guy-stuff! Golly, I sure love pain! Hooyah!
I feel like myself again, now.

My Achilles is healing extremly fast, but I fear there's been too much damage to heal in time for the Jemez 50M this weekend. We'll see. Every week I put Humpty Dumpty back together again, and each weekend I hope not to fall off the wall again.
I was limping this morning, but by noon, I was not. My body wants to run. I feel 100% everywhere except my left ankle and heel. I'm like a caged wild animal. I want to RUN! I can't wait for this weekend. I have no idea what will happen - just doing the best I can.

Had a dental appointment this morning - no time for podiatrist.
Got training class Tuesday - no time for podiatrist.
Need to register my over-due car with emissions test Wednesday - no time for podiatrist.
I can't see out of my glasses, they're so scratched-up and old. I'm practically blind. I need to get a new prescription and glasses/contacts. Jury duty last week. I keep taking so much time off work they're giving me shit that I'm practically never at work anymore. Now I'm also supposed to go to a doctor about my injuries? This is totally not kosher, but I need to fit it in.

I'm officially no longer training. At all. All I do is race, and mend, race, and mend. Last year wasn't like this. Last year I kicked ass. Last year I had my High Priestess, Lucy, giving massages and doing her little prayer-thingy over me. But I started falling in love with her, which was creeping me out since you don't do that with your therapist. And I need to start saving for my son's college, so I had to stop going to Lucy.

This is another disjointed rambling psycho-post, I know. What can I say? It's how I am.

Greenland 2009

2009-05-09T17:19:00.004-06:00

I wasn't sure my plantar faciitis and my Achilles (or above the Achilles) were ready for this, but the past has shown me that you never know unless you try.
I didn't really develop goals, but there's always some soup of hopes I pull from at any time.
Elizibeth C. and I carpooled down with plenty of extra time to stand in porta-potty lines and get warmed-up. Neither of my injuries felt like they had 31 miles of speed in them, but I was going to try.
Like I said before, though, at the first sign of dangerous deterioration, I was going to either bail or walk it out.

Since I had warmed up, I was full-speed right from the gun. I wasn't running according to heart-rate or GPS pace. I run almost exclusively from effort these days. My pace was definitely faster than usual, but it was, afterall, just a 50K. My lungs don't fill up with foam fast enough and my lungs have been better this year, so I decided to ignore my lungs and just go-for-it. At the end of my first lap, I was on-pace for a 4:40 finish, even leaving a little room for fade.
But I wasn't fading. I was speeding up. I felt GREAT! My second lap promised to be a little faster than the first, which would only seal-the-deal with more time in the bank.

From the very first, I was limping, but man, I was limping FAST! It dawned on me that I was in the loco-zone - that I probably wasn't going to stick to my plan of stopping if my injuries got too bad. I was smokin' the course and wasn't about to let up.
There was a 12mph wind blowing up from the south that made outbound tougher, but of course you get a tailwind blowing you back home. I took full advantage of my downhill abilities coming back, and my bulldozer abilities going into the wind.

About mile 13, Elizabeth passed me, but we were basically going the same speed. I stuck within conversational distance for another couple of miles.

Then a sharp pain in my left Achilles, and another, and another. In spite of not having the discipline to stop if things got bad, things got very bad instantly. So bad, it took no discipline to stop. My race was DONE! It was a bit heart-breaking. It was very painful limping back with such a pathetic cringing hop. A couple of times, I had to stop and lay down and rub my Achilles.

Elizabeth, though, hung in there. She hammered-out the 3rd lap without fading, and on the 4th, she barely faded at all, but got passed by two women. After leading the entire race, Elizabeth had to put up with two women barely passing her the last few miles. She finished just 2.5 minutes behind 1st place female and 2 minutes behind 2nd.
Caitlin from the Denver Trail Runners was 2nd, and she was moving significantly faster than 1st or 3rd, so she would have won if the race had been another mile.

I am so proud of Elizabeth! She beat my 50K PR by a minute, and she came in 12th overall.
Another cool thing: First three women came in together 10th, 11th, 12th overall.
The photos are on Elizabeth's camera, so you'll all have to wait for them.
I think Elizabeth is built for speed. She has always had it in her. It was so cool to see her race today. She damn near won. Some day she will.

First place male was done in 3:50-something, and second barely under 4 hours.

My Week Has Been Murder

2009-05-07T22:23:00.004-06:00

I've been on jury duty all week. The last time I was on a jury, it sucked. This time lived up to the memory, plus much more.
Monday, it took them from 8:30 until 5:30 just to pick the frickin' jury!
So the trial actually began Tuesday.
They told us the trial would probably be over my Wednesday. Then when they were through presenting evidence and witnesses, it was late Wednesday and they said "we're actually ahead of schedule". How is that? We hadn't even begun deliberating and it was end-of-day Wednesday.
At least the deliberations didn't take long, but it still had us out late Thursday 5:30pm.
I think we made the right verdict, but there's so often gray areas. We were certain this guy is very dangerous. Witnesses were all scared to look his way. He'll appeal, because he has nothing to lose by appealing. If he gets out, I hope I see him before he sees me.

I hated the whole process, but I especially hated the gutless hypocrites that refused to serve. They're willing to live in this country where our laws, infrastructure, etc. allow them to live relatively safely and prosperously. Soldiers, cops, and firemen are willing to put their lives on the line. And these spineless people aren't willing to go the last few feet to close the link. I feel like shipping these people to Afghanistan or Somalia to see how they like the "freedom" of anarchy.

What's this have to do with running?
Nothing.
I didn't run all week long. I rode my bike Tuesday. Since the jury kept me late, and my son had a concert at school where he knocked-'em-dead, I didn't bother with the DTR Thursday run.

So that was kind of the plan. Before Collegiate Peaks, I ran hard Tuesday and Thursday and ruined any chance I had at a great 50-mile PR. My plantar faciitis blew up and is now significantly bad.
By not running all week, I've hoped it will be healed well enough for a good Greenland 50K Saturday. If the plantar faciitis starts to unravel, I might just back-of-pack this race - or quit. This race is a freebie for volunteering at others. It's not like I have $100 in registration down on it. Jemez 50M is in a week. I REALLY want to be in one piece for that.
So I hope to have a good time this weekend and not destroy myself.

Collegiate Peaks 2009

2009-05-03T12:29:00.007-06:00

I hadn't even had time to completely unpack from my Arizona vacation with Zane Gray. Mostly I'd sifted-out the dirty clothes washed them, and repacked so fast I only hoped I hadn't forgotten anything.
I drove down immediately after work and barely made it in before 7pm when they close the kitchen. I usually get 2nds and 3rds, but my body has not been the eater it historically has been. One go-through was enough to fill me to the brim.

I have to warn... I've been this way several times a year for the past 16 years, and never have I seen so many cops. In only 120 miles, I saw more cops than I saw the entire 2000+ mile Arizona trip. Not only that, they weren't even a tiny bit lenient. I thought a state cop was going to pull me over in South Park. He pulled onto the shoulder giving me the evil glare and turned his car around. I was only going 3mph over the limit. But he never chased me. Then in BV, cops were writing tickets for a ridiculous 15mph speed limit. As the race director said, "I know 15mph sounds absurd, because most of us in this room can run faster than that." No shit.
And as I was writing this, a BV cop pulled someone over across the street. Then a county sherrif pulled in to back them up. In all, I must've seen 9 different cop-cars on the prowl. I digress...

My plantar faciitis was not in good shape. I first felt it during the Moab 100. It bothered me slightly throughout the Zane Gray 50. Zane is a slow 50, so no wonder it never became a factor, but CP50 is a fast course. I feared it would be a factor, and it definitely was.
On Wednesday, I got tired of a blistered and itchy toenail, so I pulled it off. There was nothing but a crater, which is what I like. Toenails are stupid and just get in the way.
Also, on Thursday, I did a dumb thing. I ran with the Denver Trail Runners, including a crazy hell-bent-for-leather downhill through rocky single-track that left the rest of the group far behind. (Me and my crazy downhill!) So my legs were not fresh at the beginning of the race. If I'd been smart, I would have only ridden my bike during the week.

The forecast called for 50% rain, with a start temp of 34F. I packed too heavy. I took my running pack with hydration bladder, and I wore four layers, plus had an ultra-lite rain jacket.

In spite of my injury, and my pack weight, I hoped for a PR under 9:30. And in fact, above the ankles, I felt great.
Starting out, to stay on-pace, I noticed a woman with a most-amazing figure and graceful sway - and wearing tights to show it off. I tried to keep her in sight, but she got away from me, since she was a 25-miler. But I caught her at the first aid station. I kept passing her though, and then I passed her for good.
But then Gina Harcrow caught me. We had the same pace plans, so it would seem we would be good pacing each other, but she caught me about the time my plantar faciitis was at its worst. So we only ran together for about 10 minutes and then she left me on the summit climb. I kept her in sight all the way to the summit aid station, but then she was hopelessly ahead.
I picked up two other guys going the same pace. There's a section of trail where every year, the lead runner passes by. I let the guys know this was the spot. John Anderson was a little behind, but still passed us within that same section just two minutes after I predicted. Nick Clark was seconds behind.

My first lap was a good 35 minutes too slow for a PR.
If life has taught me anything, it's that it ain't over 'til it's over. I still felt good. I had peed 7 times in the first lap. In fact, the first time, in my usual style, I pee on-the-move. I waddle to keep from peeing on my shoes. I thought I had privacy, but five women passed me during my whiz. Oops.

At the turn-around, I dumped my pack, tied a long-sleeve shirt and rain jacket around my waist, and took off again.
I felt tired, but was still looking forward to the 2nd loop, which was a very good sign.
To be honest, I took more ibuprofen than advisable. Vitamin I is what kept me from slowing dramatically. And any time the build-up started to fade just a little, the pain in my heel slowed me down. There were two periods when this had happened. One started right before Gina had caught me, and the next started at about mile 26. The 2nd one wasn't as bad.
The whole 2nd lap was a mental battle that I mostly won, fighting the pain.
At mile 30, my gut started slight cramps and gurgles. At mile 40, my gut really felt bad. This is the sort of thing people blame on Heed. I've used Heed for years and have always preferred it, but this time it seemed to be the cause. And the result was that I stopped eating and drank less. But I battled on.
I had caught up to Marcus Mueller, from Eagle, CO, at the summit aid station at about mile 33, and we periodically ran together the rest of the way. We kept trading places. When my gut started bothering me, I stopped to do a #2 next to the road, and had barely gotten my shorts up before Marcus passed me. I managed to catch him again, and then passed him significantly far ahead. So I was very surprised to see him at about mile 46+. He passed me with ease and made it stick.
By that time, I had figured it out that I wasn't going to get my PR, but I could make it very close. With such a goal gone from my plate, and my Moab 100 Achilles injury flaring up, and my new plantar faciitis injury flared up, feeling such misery so close to the end, it was extremely tempting to just walk it in. But I stubbornly wanted to know where I could be at my PR of 9:32. I chugged on, albeit not quite on race-pace. At 9:32, I was across the last bridge on the paved road leading to Buena Vista.
At that point, the only incentive I had was to finish under 10 hours. I slacked-off like a complete woos. But sub-10 isn't a bad time, really, just nothing to brag about. I didn't care about the exact time, and don't know what it is. Nine:fifty-something.
Afterward, I was limping pretty significantly. I'm pretty buggered-up.

I had a great time. I got to meet all my usual friends, re-acquaint with less-frequented friends, and made some new ones.

In the aftermath, laying around the rec-center, feeling sore and tired, my friends John Wright, Naz, Ralph, and Scott asked if I wanted to go for beer and pizza. Man, I jumped right up! Trash me, thrash me, then BEER ME!
After dinner, we drove into the hills to camp and do irreverent guy-talk around the caveman-campfire. (What's said in the guy-camp stays in the guy-camp.)

Next week is the Greenland 50K. A measly 50K is like taking a week off.

Zane Gray 50 - Part III

2009-05-03T10:39:00.018-06:00

I'm having so much adventure, so close together, I can't keep my blog up-to-date. This weekend's Collegiate Peaks race is over, and I'm still following-up on last weekend.

I met Erin S. at the Leadville 100 Training Camp last year. From the start, she seemed like one of those people who just radiates positive energy. Non-stop inspiration and enthusiasm. Being around Erin is like standing around a big, roaring campfire. Everyone just wants to warm themselves by the fire.

Erin, and boyfriend Rafael, showed up at the finishline to pick me up. Larry King had sighted Angie B, but I couldn't find her.

The race crew gave us a really nice gray hoodie and a photo from mile 17, and a bowl of scorched soup.

After any 50+ race, I usually emanate a really profoundly horrible stench. This race was odd because I was just a bit stale and crusted in salt. A bottle of water was in my dropbag and I used it to rinse off and clean my legs. I'd even packed a towel.
I've never been so fresh after 50 miles. I wasn't at all hobbled. Which is strange. I sprained the same ankle twice during the race before I'd even reached the first aid station. And the course is so notoriously tough. But that is why I was okay - the obstacles kept me from running as much.

After retrieving my car from the start, I got a shower in Payson. We met up with Angie B from Tuscon, who just flew in from Canada to crew Olga. Small world - Angie knew Erin from a relay team from years earlier!
Then we headed for Scottsdale.
Erin had done a complete transformation in the drive down and was now looking ready to kill the town.
We stopped at Stingray's for sushi. (Okay, it has an obnoxious website.) I've eaten sushi at all of Denver's hottest-reviewed sushi restaurants from a few years ago. I know there's newer ones I need to check out, but after eating at Stingray's, I felt that Denver doesn't really have one single sushi place! Stingray's is THE BEST sushi EVER!!

The women in Scottsdale are all extremely beautiful, and (no doubt) the plastic surgeon industry must be BOOMING! Too bad those beautiful women are mostly not athletes, so as soon as their youth fades, they'll pudge and sag and end up spending a fortune getting perpetual nips and tucks until they look like a character in Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. (Trail women RULE!)

Erin put me up for the night, and it was so funny getting a stack of towels, with matching set of shampoo, lotion, and soap, like a real hotel!

Erin, Rafael, and their roomie Mohinder, and I all went hiking at Camelback Mountain on Sunday. It is a short 2.2 mile round-trip, thigh-burning hike to a great overlook to the Phoenix metro-area. Saguaro cacti are all over the place! Coming from the mid-west, this was a new treat for me.
While the Phoenix are in general isn't an athletic place the way the Denver area is, if you want to see athletes, Camelback is the place. One old guy must've climbed Camelback 10 times while we were there.

A news helicopter flew very close around the summit as we waved back. I think they were significantly closer than FAA reg's allow, but no harm done.
While there, we did a little rock-scrambling, too.

My legs felt fine, and I even ran down some of the descent.

Then we headed to a REAL Mexican restaurant. Even most Mexican restaurants have a habit of selling a generic Americanized version of Mexican food - because it sells well. I don't remember the name of the restaurant, but it was a really good one. We got seafood-based dishes. I ate octopus and squid for the first time. (It tasted mildly like fish, but had a gristly texture.)
As we were waiting for the main dishes, Erin got a phone call. They were supposed to be at a BBQ! So we got it to-go, and went over to Lee's apartment.
I'm probably mangling the spelling of all these names. Mohinder is Nigerian, but grew up all over mid to southern Africa. Lee (Li?) is Chinese. Her friend Iy (pronounced Eee) is a Chinese national. Rafael is from Mexico City.

Between sushi Saturday night, and seafood Mexican, and Chinese BBQ, I ended up eating either with my fingers or chopsticks all weekend long. We had quite an international conversation.

This was just about the funnest weekend I've ever had, with the best people I could ever meet. I've always felt like a hopelessly untamable, uncouth animal. I can pretend to be cultured and sophisticated, but in the end, it looks like I'm pretending. I've learned that if I don't pretend too hard, it's not as awkward, and the effort is appreciated. So I hope I balanced it out.

Finally it all ends, and goodbyes are hopefully until next time.

I had to pick up my dropbags from the race directors house before heading out of town. I spent the night 90 minutes from Flagstaff. Breakfast was in downtown old-town Flagstaff. Maybe I needed a guide - I was not very impressed, but it was nice to see it anyways, since it was on the way home.

Next stop: The Big Crater. This is private property. It's an incorrigible tourist-trap. I was hoping for a run around the crater, but they were short one employee, and I don't think they allow anyone out solo. Everyone was obese, or very frail-old, or a little kid, or a yapping fluffy dog. So there was no fast-moving human traffic. I just looked, took some photos, and left. In all, being from a geologist background, it was worth it to me. But for most people, read about it online and look at the pictures.

The view away from the rim was equally stunning!

There are some lava flows west of Albuquerque. They look very young, geologically. They've never been covered by dust. The source seems to be a volcano to the south.

All of this in six days!

Zane Gray 50 - Part II

2009-04-29T21:04:00.021-06:00

Holbrook is not a good town to spend the night. Like the night before, trains sang me to sleep all night. The winds on the drive down were pretty bad for trying to go 75mph with mostly a head-wind. I don't think my CR-V was designed for 100mph+ sweeping across it. And the cargo topper didn't help. But it wasn't long before I dropped below the Mogollon Rim where the winds couldn't get to me.
I had never seen it before. It's not so impressive,but I've read several western novels where the Mogollon played a part.
The race finishes several miles from where highway 260 drops off. I stopped to check it out. I hiked down the trail about a kilometer and erected a stick to tell me the next day when I was almost done.
Then it was on to Payson to find Tiny's Italian Restaurant (packet pick-up). Once I pegged it, I drove to the start near Pine. There's plenty of places to park, and no fees or hassles about it. I then checked out about a kilometer of the beginning of the race.
I met Louie Telles from New Mexico. He's a really nice guy. Met him at Jemez and other races since then.
I went back to Payson for my packet and dinner. Got to meet Olga and Larry, and several other friends, but being so far from home, I didn't know as many people. I went to sleep around 9:30pm and had no trouble sleeping.
Wake-up was 4am. The race director was setting things up. I dropped off my dropbags and signed in. I noticed several DNS's on the list, but not sure how many starters. For a 50, there were quite a few DNF's at the Hatchery aid station.
The race started at 5am in the dark. Not much commotion. The RD simply said "go".

Here's some beta: Get warmed up before the race and get ahead. This race has some of the worst single-file traffic-jams of any race I've ever done. I had to have lost a good 20 minutes the first 8 miles until Geronimo aid station. But I was in good company, and I never do so well the first time on any course, so I just tried not to bump into the guys ahead.
After Geronimo, we climbed some more, and I got stuck one last time in another jam. But this time I think I only lost 4-5 minutes. We climbed pretty high, and the veiws began to really pay off.

Oh yes, there were lots of rocks. It was exaggerated, though. True, this is a very rocky course. The rockiest? That's what I heard. If you're a billy-goat like me, the rocks weren't such a bad thing. Even on the course, someone told me it was worse than Bandera. I'm not so sure. Probably, but so comparable.

There was the usual desert cacti, but they weren't the toughest vegetation - not even close. It was these bushes that grew especially thick in the burn areas. The branches on virtually any tree or bush are normally pliable, and you can brush past. Not so with this wicked-tough brush. You try to brush by a little branch and it grabs and almost stops your leg. As your leg powers through, it scratches little gouges in your shins. So we all had some pretty narly legs when done.
One guy was obviously a veteran. He had cut off some tube-socks and wore the tops above his regular socks all the way up to his knees. That way, if a branch grabbed the socks, the tube would only turn while protecting his skin.

Here's some clips to show you what the burn areas were like. In the first one, you can see some of the wicked brush, but with dead limbs. The dead branches were even worst; hardened and bleached by the sun.

It was tough, and it was FUN! This all made me feel like a kid again.

Here's Larry King right before he passed me the first time. We traded positions a couple of times, but ultimately he blew by me in the last few miles with enough speed to get 5 minutes ahead.

I got very dehydrated in the middle of the race. I tried to use two 20oz bottles. It wasn't enough. At Hatchery A.S., I had to use my hydration bladder. I left with 2 liters of water, plus 40 ounces of sport drink. I downed two e-caps, drank a V-8, and ate potato chips and banana. Three gels and nearly a gallon of water... I had to re-hydrate. My calories were good. My electrolytes were good. I was just dry. There's a couple of significant climbs after Hatchery. Climbing with nearly a gallon of water is a hike, but I had to reverse the damage. Somewhere around mile 40, my legs came back.
I DNF'd too many 100's to forget the lesson. You ain't "done". Just load up and keep going.

Here's the last aid station, See Canyon, as I left, I stopped for a photo. The aid stations were fantastic. They really did get us through fast. I love these people!!

The furthest I ever got lost was about 10 feet off-course. It was a hard course to mark, but they did it flawlessly. I've heard that this race wasn't well-organized, but that isn't true anymore, if it ever was. Since this is my first running, and the 20th year of the race, I have no experience with what it used to be. All I can say is the only hitch is getting away from the finishline. You're left to your own methods. There is an $18 shuttle available if you plan that much. I'm not sure how that can work, though. There's no cellphone coverage from the finish area. And who knows when they'll finish, for sure?

Lucky for me, I met Erin S last year at the Leadville 100 Training Camp. She showed up with her boyfriend, Rafael.

I was 34th out of 76 finishers, and I don't know how many DNF's. It was a lousy showing, but I think this year will be that way. I've had too many injuries to get any real training. So i had better get used to just enjoying running.

Just in case, I also somewhat hooked up with Larry, Olga, and Angie.
After reading Angie's blog for 2-3 years, I finally got to meet her. Let me tell ya, her blog doesn't do her justice. You have to meet her to get the "Angie-effect". Angie is the most "real" person I think I've ever met. Somehow, I have to meet her again, even if just moments at a time at aid stations during the Javelina Jundred.

I'm going to have a part three - my day wasn't over!

Zane Gray 50 - Part I

2009-04-28T20:35:00.007-06:00

What a Weekend!! I had SO much fun.
I had my ass handed to me during the race, but I still did okay, considering my inability to get any decent training this season.
...

I left straight from work Wednesday night and parked off I-25. The spot was not fenced, and was closer to some railroad tracks than a fence 80 feet away. Still, just as I was about to get comfy, a pickup rolled up in the moonless night and told me I was on private property. I apologized but said it looked like railroad land. He asked if I was camping. I told him I was sleeping in the back of my CR-V and hitting the road when the sun comes up. He abruptly told me it was okay and drove off. Three trains woke me during the night, 30 feet away, but I fell asleep instantly.

The next day, I headed down to old Fort Union. This fort is one of the more important ones that shaped the West, and played an important role in the Civil War.

I'm surprised that there's very little left of it.
Also, it is one of the few forts that was built three times. The first one was thrown up quickly, as most forts are. But so was the second one, with apparently even less skill. It was the third fort that was made "well", but since they used adobe, there's not much left.

Then I went on to see the Petrified Forest in Arizona. The last time I had seen the Petrified Forest was 31 years ago, when I was 8. I-40 didn't fully exist. My family took the original Route 66 for much of the way.
I'd forgotten the indian ruins and petroglyphs.

The trees were stunning. There were so many thousands of them, and that's only the few that errosion has uncovered so far.

This little rascal was hired by the Park Service to clean up any food dropped by tourists.

The colors are purely coicidental. Funny how they seem to match the colors of a typical Poderosa Pine, but the color of petrified organisms is determined more by the minerals in the surrounding sediments. But the apparent close match sure does have a spooky-eerie realism. I wonder how many pioneers and Native people threw a rock log in a fire, refusing to believe it couldn't burn?

I knew I wasn't going to get another chance to bathe before the race, and I stank already, so I splurged for a motel in Holbrook, AZ.

Race report next time.
Wow, what a contrast between these photos and my last post!

Red Rocks Slush "Run"

2009-04-18T18:32:00.004-06:00

Okay, so there wasn't much running, but it was a very good workout in some of the densest snow I've ever traveled in. There was often puddles hidden under the snow, too.

I sorely wish I'd remembered my camera. I know - I have a habit of forgetting. Guilty again. The best shots, in the densest snow were missed. Afterward, I went back with my iPhone and did my best, but the snow had turned to rain, and the snow in the trees was already significantly melted. I tell ya, there's a big difference an hour made!

I was a little late, but it didn't matter since Pete's 2-wheel-drive car couldn't handle the first parking lot. I met him driving out and followed him to a different lot, almost as bad.

We ran to the trailhead and then promptly switched to plow-hiking through 12-15" snow on the steep road up the hogback. On top, the snow was so heavy in the trees, several trees were split down the middle and limbs were broken off. At one point, there were several lumps that were actually 6-7' tall trees bowed down by hundreds of pounds of snow.
Want a drink? Just grab a little slush off a branch!
Ours were the only footprints.

This made 7 days in a row of running without injury. I'm running out of time to get training before the race season onslaught. Just about every weekend from now until the end of July.

There's Something Awesome...

2009-04-17T21:53:00.003-06:00

...about running in the snow, while great big giant blobs of snowflakes are falling.
Last night, it was freezing rain. The Denver Trail Runners doesn't run on muddy trails, as a group. Normally 30 or more people show up. Imagine the destruction. So we ran up Lookout Mountain Road, on pavement all the way. But only about 10 showed up.
I wore too many layers, and I wasn't very motivated. I overheated often, and kept walking. Finally, up high, as the rain was turning to snow, I ripped off two of my five layers. AWE!!! Then I started running much better.
My run down was very fast. A car full of college kids drove by as thunder and lightening struck higher on the mountain. They honked their horn and yelled out the windows as dope smoke drifted out.
Only English John and I went out to eat afterwards.

Tonight, I ran around Wash Park. Pete Link was there. What a coincidence, since we had exchanged emails this afternoon about running the 7-mile Red Rocks/Hogback route tomorrow morning. We're both hoping the snow is really deep and the going tough!
This is really good training for the Zane Gray 50. The slush and density of the snow causes us to really use all those little lateral-stability muscles.
I've been running every day. Next week, I run only Tuesday at Wash Park. Monday off. I have to start packing.
I'm driving out - two days of leisurely, safe driving. I'm supposed to meet up with Angie, Olga, Larry, and Erin, and maybe Erin's boyfriend.
I hope to get a hike in of the big meteor crater, if they'll let me in.
This could end up being a really great long weekend!

Health Kick

2009-04-14T22:09:00.003-06:00

My ankle has been getting better, and I've been getting better and more runs. Last week, I ran nearly every day, even if slowly and with stops to massage and stretch.
Sunday, I went 14 miles in 40f degree drizzle and 7-10mph north wind.
I've been eating well. My body has demanded certain things on certain days, and there was no refusing. One day, I strongly craved yoghurt and grapefruit - lots of it. Then I still craved lots of fruit the rest of the week. I've never been good about eating proper quantities of fruit. Fact is, too much of a good thing, like ultra-sweet fruit, can be a bad thing. I just figured if my body craved it that bad, there must be a reason, so I indulged. Pineapple, red, purple, and white grapes, apples, grapefruit, cantaloupe, strawberries. Yum.
Monday, I did a bad thing - Pizza Hut buffet. A salad and four plates of pizza. So after work, I did interval speed-work. Eight miles of intermittent anaerobic runs with aerobic recovery jogging between. Stretching, massage, and a 9th mile of walking.
And I didn't feel my injury. That's not a surprise, since I didn't feel it Sunday until I'd past 10 miles.
I ran the Steamboat marathon last year at 8min/mile. Where is my speed? Bodies have memory. It is easy to trigger your body to return to where it once was. It's much, much harder to go where you've never been before. So if I keep up the speed-work, I ought to be back to my 8min miles, and I can start whittling it down to 7:30's. If I could manage to run a marathon that fast, I'd be down to 3:17. I can dream. Gotta have a goal.

This will also increase my VO2Max. This will ease the stress on my lungs, and should reduce the lungs filling with foam during 100-mile races. It will also allow me to go uphill with less effort. Both are vital during long, high altitude, mountainous ultra-runs.

Not to break the string of misfortunes... Now my left heel hurts. Plantar fasciitis. So not all the pain during the Moab 100 was from bruising. So I've been more religious about icing, ibuprofen, massage, and stretching.

I'm still fat at 173lbs. I jiggle around the love-handles. Still 8 pounds over-weight.
They say you shouldn't weigh yourself very often. I disagree. No, what you should do is not trust the numbers. Weigh yourself often, at different times, to learn the natural fluctuations your weight does. This can sometimes let you know that you didn't drink enough fluids with a meal, because your weight should have shot up much more. Very important to hydrate well with meals so your food can digest properly.
Or it lets you know after a run just how severely dehydrated you are. You can figure out how many ounces of water to drink to get back on balance.
And in the long-run, it allows you to figure out whether you're a pig or if you're headed in the right direction overall.
Maybe if I can keep getting some mileage, I can burn the fat off, instead of staring at a stagnant number.

Tomorrow, I should get on the bike and give the pounding a rest.

Back On My Feet

2009-04-10T08:52:00.003-06:00

Tentatively, I'm a runner again. I haven't missed a day this week. I have 33 miles in four days. My runs have been mixed, with both fast running and plenty of walking. Have to stop periodically to massage and probe my ankle, and I'm not much good beyond 6 miles, but slowly-but-surely getting my legs back under me. I think I'll do fine at the Zane Gray 50.

Running Again

2009-04-08T17:32:00.007-06:00

My "injury" - or whatever it is - is finally melting away. I'm still not sure what it was. It felt, looked, and acted like a blunt-trauma. It felt like someone hit me with a baseball bat. Maybe I got clobbered by a rock coming down one of the chutes during the Salida Marathon and I was so busy with footing that I didn't notice? Then why did I not notice afterwards, including the entire next day? Still a mystery.

Therapy was wrapping with Ace bandage, icing, and staying off it.
Then lots of massage throughout every day, plus walking.
Thursday, I started with the 5:30 group, and was able to walk the entire 7-mile route in time to finish with the 6:15 group.
I only walked a mile or two the next few days after that.

Saturday, I was supposed to run the Salida Scramble fun-run and pot-luck. But instead, I waited for the plumber, who was supposed to show up between 10am - noon, but instead showed up at 4pm. It took him a couple hours.
Then I took my son to the annual auto-show downtown. We stayed until it closed at 10pm.

Monday, I went out for a shake-down cruise. I ran 4 miles slowly, stopping often to massage and probe to make sure I wasn't doing something stupid and putting too much stress on too soon. I walked the last 1.4 miles for a total 5.4 miles.
Tuesday, I ran! The usual 7.8 miles - three laps around Wash Park.
Today it doesn't hurt, so I'm heading out for what I hope ends up being 8 miles.

I can only hope this ridiculous string of misfortunes is finished and I can actually start getting some mileage in.

More Marathon de Sables

2009-04-03T20:14:00.004-06:00

The Marathon de Sables website is one of the most confusing hodge-podges of jibberish that I ever tried to decipher, but after five stages, Her Meghan-ness is at an astounding 42nd place - out of nearly 900 starters!
As far as I can tell, she is the 2nd-place female, with 3rd so far behind there's no chance, and first not to far ahead in 33rd.
And Bryon Powell, well, that guy is obviously not mortal. He's in 19th place!!!
I can't wait for the final tally. These two are a couple of the greatest athletes on this planet. I bow down and worship.

2009 Moab 100

2009-03-31T21:51:00.008-06:00

The injury I feared did indeed ruin my race. I tried hard. I so totally wanted to finish this. So it had been nearly two weeks since this mystery "injury" showed up one morning. I don't know the cause. My mileage has been low. I stayed off it with NO RUNNING for 10 days, but I could feel it only two miles into the race. By 7 miles, I could tell it was going to be a factor. By 40 miles, it was excruciating. I dragged on, limping until 80.55 miles. Sunday, I could virtually not put any weight on it. This was dumb. Now I'll lose training time. I should have stopped at 40-50 miles. I have way too much money riding on two-dozen race registrations to trash my whole season. I should have stopped, but it's not really part of the ultra-philosophy. Anyways, it wasn't part of my mind going into this.

It was SO MUCH FUN, though!!! Yeah!

Reid Delman and wife Michelle were there, of course, and Alec and Kathy Muthig from Laramie. These are some of my favoritest peoples.

The weather was almost perfect. It was so cold that I actually started the first lap with my down coat on, and tied it around my waist only after going a few miles.
Chris Gerber was there, and quite a few others who I know-but-don't-know but somehow they remember my name easier than I remember. I hate getting old. One couple informed me that I had met them at the 24 Hours of Frisco. I remembered meeting a couple, but for the life of me I can't remember the faces and names. I'm usually in sensory-overload during ultra events, so it's very hard for me. Suffice it to say it felt like a really big outdoor party celebrating what we like to do most.

Even though I didn't finish, this was not a waste of time. I was sure I had the whole hydration/nutrition thing worked out. I certainly consumed the right amount of calories. Hydration was perfect. I peed every hour, even through the 60-degree, cloudless sunny day with extremely low humidity. Last year was not the case. I stayed behind the curve all day and only caught up at night.

Maybe I need to back off on the calories a tiny bit? I'm not sure. I never got naseous, but my gut did a few cramps and I had to use the porta-potty twice. Maybe I'm exceeding the max? For some people that would mean a barf-fest, but for a professional eater like me, it means gastro entertainment.

I also did extremely well on wearing the right clothes. I was never too hot or too cold, even at night when the temps dropped below freezing and some breezes brought the comfort-levels down.
I did screw up forgetting my spare socks. I had two spare pairs of shoes, but I was wearing the only dual pair of socks I had.
I wore Drymax Maximum Protection inside with very thin socks outside for extra slip. I found this works pretty good during training. It doesn't seem like it matters what brand I use, as long as I double-up my socks.
I ended up with a hellacious blister on my right heel, but that, and some other pains, were caused by my "injury" and the over-compensation in other areas as I limped along.

Slickrock is brutal. The sand was luxurious. Every time my feet hit that sand, as fine as powder, my feet went "AAAAAHHHHH!!!YESSSS!!!!!"
This is one race where I believe the extra weight of gel inserts would be worth the weight in gold. Seriously.
My left ankle swelled. I couldn't rise on my toes. On slickrock, it's suicide to let your heels touch while running. But I couldn't stay up. The pain was mind-numbing. So my left heel got hammered. I was worried about my back, but my back seems fine.

My right leg got quite a workout as it tried to take most of the work. As I ended up walking, I had to point my left toes outward so my ankle wouldn't bend as much and pull my injured area. That's what caused the heel blister on the right foot.

This is how the race went for me. I nailed the clothing, hydration, and calories. I nailed the proper mindset. My left leg wasn't up to the task, even though I tried to work past it.

This is the only DNF I don't really feel emotionally bad about. I feel very confident that I did more than I should have. No tail between my legs. I had an exceptionally great time, learned a lot, failed because there was no physical way, and didn't wimp-out at all. Even in my agony I had a good time. I'm really lovin' this ultra stuff.

Zane Gray 50 in four weeks. It'll be a miracle if I can put Humpty-Dumpty back together again in time.

Meghan Of The Desert

2009-03-31T17:16:00.005-06:00

The race started March 27 and ends March 6.
They've already finished their 3rd day.
The website is so poorly updated that some of last year's 23rd race is still there. Very confusing when they say Avril 2 is the start, and then a couple days into it they anounce that it already started.
Sorry I'm not up on this very well.
To write a competitor, go here.
Use the drop-down to write anyone!

24th MdS Update

2009-03-30T19:12:00.005-06:00

The competitor list has been updated for the 24th Marathon de Sables. There are over 800 people!!

I don't know the whole skinny on how Meghan got involved with this, but I kind of figured that Meghan met Lisa Smith-Batchen and hubby Jay Batchen during or before the Grand Teton Races a couple of years ago. Then, nearly a year ago, Meghan announced she had been accepted into the 24th MdS.
Lisa and Jay run Dreamchasers Outdoor Adventure Club, which specializes in helping individuals and groups with several international sporting endeavors.
I don't know Lisa and Jay. I corresponded a few times trying to get into the 2008 GTR and found them to be extremely friendly people.

I hope the links I give come through okay for everyone. If it comes through in French, and you don't speak French, you should be able to turn to English by clicking a little icon near the top-right corner (if present), that looks half USA flag and half British flag.

The following links (hopefully) will take you to the "Live" links for Meghan and friends. I'm not sure if they are all on the Dreamchasers team, or if Meghan is solo. Bryon's link says his team is Dreamchasers, but none of the others, so I'm a little confused if they're all teamed, or what. The 24th MdS site is still being edited, though, so things keep changing.

24th MdS Live for Lisa Smith-Batchen

24th MdS Live for Gerald Batchen

24th MdS Live for Bryon Powell

24th MdS Live for Meghan Hicks

A couple of days until the race starts.

Marathon De Sables

2009-03-25T21:03:00.005-06:00

I have a friend heading to Morocco for the Marathon De Sables. Meghan Hicks and her friend Bryon Powell will be running the 24th Marathon de Sables across the Sahara Desert starting in a few days. It's a 7-day stage-race that is 250km. Each person has to carry all their gear and food for the week on their backs as they navigate. Fluids get restocked each day, and a tent is waiting each evening.
This is one of the major world events, like an EcoChallenge or the Tour de France. This is the shit! And these folks are the pinnacle of human adventure. Wish them luck.

If you go to the weblink, hover the mouse over the Marathon de Sables tab and the drop-down will have a "Live" link. At the time of this writing, you'll still get last year's stats, so Meghan isn't listed yet - not until the race starts. Some of these pages are for this year's 24th running, some are still for the 23rd. You have to pay attention to whether it's still listing for the 23rd or 24th.
First race-day is April 2nd. They'll be quite busy in the days leading up to this start, but that's when the race begins.
We can actually leave messages for Meghan during the race via sat-link in the desert. through the "Live" link. Each evening, she will get her mail.

This is a very complicated process, getting accepted, getting prepared, getting registered, checked, getting yourself all the way there and getting all the official requirements right. There are many critical things each person must do and have. If any one of these things is amiss, they won't let you even start the race. I never did like red-tape. I'm nervous for Meghan and the race hasn't even started! But she's more of a pro with these sorts of things than I ever plan to be, so I probably worry for nothing.

Maybe some day when my son is graduated from High School I'll go galavanting myself. But until then, I just watch people like Meghan and Bryon in awe.

Prep for the Moab 100

2009-03-25T14:59:00.004-06:00

I actually have done some homework!
I'm so tired of being too busy to prepare for races, especially races I've never done before.
I did do the Moab 100 last year, and DNF'd at 86 miles. The next day, I ran 7 miles. I never forgave myself for that. Last year's Moab 100 could have (and should have) been my first complete 100.
This year, I plan to do better at consuming the max theoretical absorption quantities of fluids from the time the race starts until an hour after sundown. My theory is that I always get behind on fluids during the sunny hours, and even though I never get critically dehydrated, getting behind on anything during a 100 will make you pay for it later.
I won't be as totally prep'd the way I was at the Boulder 100, but I will be better prep'd than I was last year at the Moab 100.
Like I did at Boulder, I have my 1-gallon bags with my calories, fish-oil, calcium, vitamin C, electrolyte capsules, gelpaks, Dark Chocolate peanut M&M's, etc. It's just that I don't have enough bags for all the laps.
I can't remember how many laps there are.
I don't know exactly how far each lap is.
Last year, I used the info from the website, but the website hadn't been updated for the new course. There is WAY MORE climbing per lap than I had been mentally prepared for. Now I know. There's approximately 11,268ft of climbing. The LT100 has "roughly" 14,000ft of climbing, so the Moab 100 is significantly harder than Boulder, but the lower altitude means it's easier on some people.
Being used to high altitude, running at lower altitudes has not produced any benefits to me.
Overall, the Moab 100 ought to be approximately midway in difficulty between Boulder and Leadville. So I can extrapolate and insist that if I hope to finish Leadville this year, I need to finish Moab in under 27 hours.
So there's my goal. I've gotten extremely little training. I'm not in good shape. I have managed to take off a couple of those extra pounds I packed on after the Bandera 100K, so I'm not feeling "fat", but I still jiggle a little.

Discouraged

2009-03-21T09:43:00.003-06:00

This season has been more fits than starts. Every time I try to crank up my training, something goes wrong.
First, my left knee started hurting.
Then there was a minor pain in my right foot.
Then a significant pain in my left foot between my ankle and toes.
Then I hurt my back while sleeping, of all things.
Then I got a cold.
Now I have an injury on my left calf. It's minor, like all the others. All I have to do is walk it off. But that's not running - it's not training. Like so many other injuries, I have no idea what caused this. I ran the Salida marathon fine. The next day I walked two miles of errands - no issues. Heck, normally my feet hurt some after a hard race. Not this time. Then I woke up Monday with this pain between my calf and my Achilles that feels like a bruise. This is the second injury in a row that didn't exist when I went to bed Sunday night, but was there Monday morning.

One week to the Moab 100.

Salida Marathon PR

2009-03-15T22:39:00.012-06:00

Looking at my finishline photo, one thing comes to mind... Man, I'm FAT! It must really suck to get passed by a guy as big as me.
But I didn't pass anyone who hadn't already passed me at the beginning.

Planning was crazy. Starting out, I was just going to drive down, sleep in the back of my CR-V, race and go home - the usual thing.
Then Anita and Tim F said they wanted to split a room. That would be fun!
Then Paul G called and said he wanted to carpool. Okay.
Then his and my plans kept changing every couple of hours for two days.
Then I woke up Friday so sick with a cold that I almost called in sick from work. I told Paul I might not race, and that I should probably do the "wounded-animal thing" and drive off to sleep in the hills so I wouldn't spread it around. I even sent Anita an email she never got in time telling her that.
But then at 2pm Friday, I noticed my throat was okay. I didn't feel okay, but I could tell my body was kicking the cold.
Then suddenly Paul couldn't carpool because a friend was deathly ill with the flu. He was going to drive out the morning of the race.
Then he couldn't even do the race at all!
So I drove down to Salida after work, tried to eat in Salida at several decent restaurants, but someone forgot to mention the recession to Salida. It's not even tourist season and there was a 40-minute wait in my preferred restaurant, and shorter waits other places. I finally gave up and ate at Pizza Hut.

It was nice to be able to hang out with Tim and Anita, swapping stories.
We woke up at, I don't know - it was dark. Coffee. That was the only thing on our minds. I had some cherry pie and some great, dense bread from Anita.
The temperature was somewhere in the low teens, but the forecast was for the temps to shoot up to 58 degrees.

We got our packets, met all our friends that we only see at races, and walked out over the bridge and railroad tracks to the start line.

I wasn't sure how I felt. My cold was mostly gone, but I wasn't feeling very energetic. Immediately, everyone but a handful of people ran out ahead of me. Hardly anyone was behind me. I figured, so what? It's a great day to be running! Just run by effort - you know what your effort is. Put the needle on the mark and hold it.
Last year was the worst course conditions yet, and I PR'd. This year was the best conditions yet. So even though I was recovering from the last of my cold, I figured I still ought to be able to PR.
So I just kept pushing and hoping.
In spite of my cold, and the effort of the race, I continued to recover from the cold during the race. There were infrequent coughing fits that made me walk bent over while I coughed-up a lung, but otherwise it was okay.
So I thought, my PR was just under 5 hours, and a quarter of that is 1:15. Since most of the steepest climbing is the first quarter, if I can make it to the half-marathon turn-around in less than 1:15, then I've got it made.
I made it in 1:12, and the course levels-out after that. Sure there was plenty of climbing, but it was intermittent with lots of rest between. I made it to the halfway point in about 2:19. It was in-the-bag by then. My cold became less and less of a factor as the miles passed.
As usual, being used to ultras, I was still fresh and steady the last quarter of the race, so anyone who wasn't steady got passed.
There was this woman ahead of me. I don't know who she was. I never caught up and never fell behind. I wasn't really racing her, but most women don't blaze down the jagged stuff as well as me. I expected to pass her in the crags, but I never closed the gap on her through the worst of it. I was impressed.

I finished in 4:41:45, shaving about 16 minutes off of last year's time, and setting a new PR for myself at Salida.

Oh, wait, I don't seem so fat in this photo!

Lots of birthdays this week

2009-03-12T21:05:00.008-06:00

This seems like the week for birthdays. Sunday, Alene Nitzky ran 45K, which converts to 28 miles. So... is she 28 or 45? I'm not tellin'!

I should have posted Sunday evening, but I was really tired. I'm not a morning person, plus it was Daylight Savings Time and I got up at 6am, which used to be 5am. But I knew I would regret missing a golden opportunity to run 28 miles with company, plus get to meet several Ft. Collins runners. It was well worth it. I got to meet Ping, Felix, Nick, and several others.
Check out Alene's site - she has the mostest and bestest photos. I damaged my first one.

One reason I haven't posted until now is that I keep forgetting to bring my camera in from the car. So, yeah, I can drive all the way to Ft. Collins and run 28 miles and drive back, but I'm way too lazy to walk 40 feet to my car to retrieve my camera. I never said I make sense!

This whole Daylight Savings thing is so moronic. Time is supposed to be a standard. If you dink with the standard, it ceases to be "standard". Some countries do DST, some don't. Some compromise and only go 30 minutes. On top of that, we changed it to a few weeks earlier and later. Is it just me, or is this whole situation completely retarded? Hey, if it's such a good idea, then why don't we let it be voluntary. Instead of screwing up the clock, the government can simply "suggest" that all entities, commercial, governmental, academic, and otherwise, should start an hour earlier.

Anyways, I digress... Wednesday morning, my alarm didn't go off. Gee, maybe that was because I stepped on it the night before and broke it? Maybe? And the other one somehow still wasn't changed to the new time. So I woke up at 7:30am, exactly one hour after I was supposed to!!! The good news: I got 9.5 hours of sleep. Normally I'm only caught up on sleep on Saturdays. The bad news: I now have a cold. No wonder I couldn't wake up.

I still ran 7 miles with the Denver Trail Runners tonight, so I'm not THAT sick. Which is good because I have the Salida marathon Saturday. I'm sick enough that it will slow me down if I don't get over it. How long does a cold take? First symptoms on Tuesday. Am I screwed?

Anti-Climax

2009-03-03T19:39:00.003-07:00

This year is fizzling. I had an easy winter off-season, and now my body is not rising to the occasion. It's taking me 2-3 days to recover from my training runs. I keep ending up with injurious pains that can't be ignored. This was my first winter without a full-blown injury, but it might be even worse than the ones where I was hurt.

Sunday night, I woke up with a hurt back. It was almost nothing. Monday morning, at work, I was mostly okay until I stood up after a couple hours of sitting at my computer. My back was SOOO STIFF! Ouch! I was crippled. And it got worse through the day.
I wish I could remember the dream I must've had! Maybe I dreamed I had sex with a contortionist! That would have been worth it!
I logged a little more mileage in January than last year, but February was about 20 miles short. And that's with last year being a slow ramp-up!
So this year is looking very very bad. I have about 16 races planned, most of which I'm already registered for.

Tonight, at Wash Park, I arrived early like normal to get an extra lap in before the regular Tuesday run. It took me half a mile of repeated false-starts before I could get running and stay running. My back kept spasming. It's a muscle or ligament on my lower back, left side. Once I got going, I was moving okay. Still about a minute per mile slower, but able to pound out the miles with proper form. Except that I couldn't do fast-feet. After Monday, I feel fortunate that I was able to still get my miles.
Tomorrow ought to be better.

Less than two weeks to the Salida Marathon. Also known as the Turret Marathon. Aslo known as the Zeb Pike Marathon (his great-grandson is still alive and hosted the first running). Also known as the "Run Through Time Marathon". I don't think I've ever heard of a race with so many names, but I like them all. I especially like the way the race starts out on easy improved dirt road, then tends to get snowy and icy but still tame until you get 3/4 of the way. Then it starts to get wild - and wilder - and then really narly, and REALLY NARLY!! It is such an awesome end to a trail marathon. I just love it.
But I need a good back for it. There's lots of radical body twists on the jagged descents.

Moon & Venus

2009-02-27T21:23:00.004-07:00

It's really cool with a clear sky over Denver and the Rockies, with the Moon and Venus right next to each other.

Too bad I have such a crappy camera. This was taken with my best digital camera.

I want a really nice expensive camera with interchangable lenses, but I'm picky. I think proprietary batteris are retarded. So I want a camera that takes AA's. It's also retarded to have a prorietary cord/plug when USB works fine. Why reinvent the wheel? To trap you into using all their stuff! To reduce your choices and lock you into their brand. No thanks. Strong-arm tactics steer me elsewhere.

It's been nice getting to see the Moon and Venus so close for so long. I don't ever remember a period in my life so long with such a consistent show.

Recent Review

2009-02-25T21:32:00.004-07:00

My body is not responding this year like it has in past years. This year, my feet hurt.
The rest of my body is fine, now, but Sunday, I think I had the stomach flu. Had a headache most of the day. Went for a long run and it took three miles to get rid of the headache. Then around mile 10 my stomach got queezy and started cramping. I wasn't really nauseous, but it was the kind of feeling where I was afraid I'd suddenly, spontaneously hurl. But I didn't.
The whole run, I was very tired and lethargic. I told myself, "Look at it as an ultra - you're tired - okay - you don't have to go fast, just keep going."
I managed 20.5 miles and felt decent afterwards. Still, it wasn't until Tuesday that I was back to my energetic self.

Last Saturday, I volunteered at Colorado Runner Mag's Snowman Stampede 10-miler. It's a nice change of pace to stand there watching the pain on other people's faces instead of enduring it myself. Then afterwards I got the usual freebies.

More Moab Photos

2009-02-17T20:20:00.006-07:00

These are photos Blogger refused to upload yesterday. Every time I tried, it would simply duplicate the photo of the sandstone mound instead of the big panorama.

I visited the Dewey Bridge again. Those who remember my post in April 2008 taken only six days before it burned. The destriptions sounded like it was an insurmountable project to rebuild, but actually it didn't look so hard.

I think much of the problem is, the plaque near the bridge said it was refurbished in 2000. So lots of money and volunteer work went into a project, then the results only lasted eight years before it was ruined. That's got to make the same crew say, "Nope - never again - not me."
But someone will some day. Fresh hearts, fresh hands, fresh donations.
Hey! I know! A stimulus package could create jobs rebuilding the Dewey Bridge!

Moab's Red Hot 50K 2009

2009-02-15T22:28:00.007-07:00

At lunch, I headed straight from work towards Moab. Lunch was half a Chipotle chicken burrito. I nibbled on the second half of that burrito all the way.
I stopped at the BrewPub in Glenwood Springs to have one of my favorite beers, the Vapor Cave I.P.A. Then I hit the road again and arrived in Moab with plenty of time for another beer.
I parked my CR-V in my usual spot (top secret location - I could tell you but, of course, you'd all have to DIE!!!)
It wasn't very cold, in spite of some flurries.
The next morning, I grabbed a 20oz. coffee in Moab and was parked with plenty of time. More flurries. The forecast everyone looked up said cold, flurries, 60% clouds, 12-15mph winds. The RD's email said it would be 40-50 and mostly sunny. The RD was right! Okay, so the start was cold, but the rest of the day was great weather.
Joy R. parked next to me and we "caught up". Bill and Sandra from Leadville were there, Ryan Burch and fiance, Cindy Stone-Smith, and lots of very impressive elite runners, including Anita Ortiz and Dave Mackey.

All I brought on the run was one 20oz bottle and two gels. I should have brought four, but it wasn't that big of a deal. Apparently I'm fatter and in worse shape than I thought. I expected to shave 30-45 minutes off of last year's time because last year I gave up a pint of blood two days before the race. All I managed was 20 minutes.
Excuses: I didn't know what last year's time was. And I wasn't really watching the clock that closely.
I'd had so much stress from my job that I didn't feel like filling my lungs with foam and coughing up both lungs afterwards. So I kind of wimped.
It was still a very excellent time for me.

My only regret was, if I was going to wimp, then why didn't I bring my camera? These photos on the rocks are from the morning after the race. There's this one view that is STUNNING! You get way up and start dropping, and then you notice out to the west you can see the shimmering Colorado river miles away. There's the La Sal's to the east and spires, bumps, canyons, walls, arches, cracks, etc. It was heaven! And we got to run all over them!!! Yeehah!
This time I wore my road shoes, and I could tell the difference. My feet didn't get nearly as beat up as last year.

Dave Mackey was incredible! He broke 4 hours. Seems humanly impossible. New course record. He also won $100 for breaking the record. That guy is amazing.
I still don't know my finish time exactly. It was something like 6:04?? So, yeah, I sucked. I should be capable of 5:30/5:40. If I want it, I need to train, but I've have virtually no training since Thanksgiving.
On the good side, I kept very good running form all the way. I ran straight, relaxed, on my toes, feet, legs, arms aligned. I just need to warm up before the race with a mile or so of jogging, and then put the hammer down and keep it down.
So my mission for next year is, take my camera and get 5:30-ish.

The post race party was nice. I think I might have eaten as much as everyone else combined. They had beer and wine, too.

The Weird Post

2009-02-08T11:16:00.009-07:00

For Saturday, I went running with someone from out of town. She was training for her first ultra. We went for two hours. It was a good time - I always like meeting people from other states - people I've never met before and maybe never will again. Two ships passing...

Red Hot 50K in one more week.

I noticed something disturbing this morning. I was taking a shower and noticed that I have fat on my ass. This wouldn't be such an odd thing for most people, but first, I'm an ultra-runner who ran 2400 miles last year, and second, I'm the buttless-wonder. I thought, "So my real ass, the one made out of meat, is EVEN SMALLER?!?! OMG! If it wasn't for this fat, I'd totally have NO ASS AT ALL!! I'd have to get a prosthetic ass!"

Some women get their breasts "done". They sit around with close friends and say, "I had them done. How do they look?"
I can see myself now after having my ass done... "Dude, look at my ass. I just had it done. Does it look natural? No, you can't touch it - but your girlfriend can, and she can give you the report. It hurt a little at first, but it was worth it."

Yes, this is a weird post of random jibberishnesses. I'm not done...

My 40's have been the best decade of my life. It is so true that 40-something is the new 30-something. We are looking better and feeling better than ever before - !IF! we follow all the latest research on health, nutrition, exercise, etc. I'm now in the last year of the best decade of my life.
In spite of being a good year, my body still acts like it's truly 49 years old. I have to shave my ears (Eeeeoooooo!!!!!! TMI!). Maybe if I let it grow out I could braid little pony-tails? I could guru a new thing - like Goth for old people. Maybe we could all go around with little pony-tails from our ears, noses, and moles. Hey, it can't be worse than cutting into your earlobe and stretching a hole out so much you can fit a 2" diamter thingy into it. Or sticking 5 pieces of metal into your lip. Or, "I'm so ugly that I want to make it worse and draw attention to the fact at the same time!"
Maybe I could meet other old women with pony-tails in their armpits. We could go to Grateful Dead concerts and sit around complaining about young people.

Or not. It was just a thought.

My New Salad

2009-02-04T18:49:00.004-07:00

Okay, this is not a very "guy" post. It's about food. Girls talk about food. Guys only talk about burgers and BBQ... you know - manly foods. And there's nothing more girly than "salad". But I LIKE my new salad!

Full bunch of parsley
Three apples
12 oz of grapes, red or white
2 cups or 10oz pecans
8-12 oz low-fat yoghurt

Cut any thicker stems away from the parsley that you'll find too course for consumption.
I first used a knife the hard way, and the apples and grapes were cut nicely, giving the salad better texture, but that took FOREVER.
Using a food processor, try to cut the apples and grapes so that they are about 1/8" to 1/4" peices.
I tried vanilla yoghurt, but I think it clashed a little with the parsley. Next I used plain, low-fat yoghurt and it tasted better.

Thanks to JGirl for the inspiration!
Check out her other links. She's great for nutrition info.
And she somehow has become my defacto muse.

No salad photos - whataya think this is - a girly blog?
___________________________

I've finally been getting back into the swing of things. Work has been murder. Every day it's been like I've been chewed-up and spit out. This has helped me to get back into the training habit because nothing repairs stress like exercise.
This is also why I haven't been posting - had enough computer time, and just wanted to run or go to the gym.

The Lazy Blogger

2009-01-30T20:13:00.004-07:00

I have several blog-post projects that have sat terminally while I goof off watching DVDs and goofing off.
I never did do my 2-part chronicle of the Red Rocks trail.
My detailed post with photos of running in the dark, and all the lighting options and implimentations available never got done.
And last but not least, my report on high-tech socks and the things that make them work or fail.

But at least I've gotten myself back to regularly attending the Tuesday and Thursday runs. I think I'm firmly in that groove. Now I need to work on the week-end adventure part. Easy if it's an organized race, but I need to galavant.

We ran at Red Rocks on Thursday. You can really tell the days are getting longer. It wasn't even dark when we started at 5:34pm.

Livin' the (Hard) Dream

2009-01-22T15:25:00.003-07:00

I have been Living the Dream, these past few years.
Sometimes, though, I wish I'd choose lazier dreams.

I still have a painful scab on my ankle from wear during the Turquoise Lake race. My legs are covered with tiny scabs from all the micro-cuts from running through all the sotol at Bandera. My feet hurt - and they shouldn't hurt at all, after a cushy winter break. I have a big mystery scab on my right thigh. Who knows when or how that came about.
I know I'm not alone. Lots of little tweaks build up when you're over-active. It much more inherent in trail running and mountain climbing.
I'm lucky all my limbs work so well. The more things hurt, the luckier I feel, and the more I appreciate every day. At Bandera, one of the guys at an aid station asked me how I felt. I answered, "I feel like shit! But I'm one of those people whose not happy unless I'm miserable." So the woman said, "Then you must be ecstatic by now." I answered, "Gettin' there, but not yet."

Texas Home

2009-01-19T21:52:00.005-07:00

I was born in Norman, OK when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president.
Unlike most people, and in spite of my current bad memory, I actually have several memories from my first year.
I remember once being held by my mom in the living room.
I remember when I couldn't walk, and I crawled around following my big brother and sister. They were mad and carrying-on about my parents who wouldn't let them watch Mickey Mouse.
I remember the kiddie-gate that blocked-off the living room so we couldn't enter.
I remember crawling in the back yard and the family dog came up and put its whole mouth around my little skull. It didn't bite, but it scared the bejeez outa me and I started crying so hard. Yet even today I remember the facial expression on the dog's face and it did me no hard, nor did it mean any harm. It was merely the only way it had to hug me.
I remember standing in the front yard, back when I could stand but not walk, and my sister had a play-stove my dad made her out of plywood and painted black and white. The older bully from across the street came over and grabbed her prized dishes as she shreaked. Then he sat on the curb and broke each one, pausing between to relish my sister's hysteria.

When I was one-and-a-half, my parents moved to Kerrville, TX. I slept most of the way, but I remember that it was pooring down rain as we finished the journey in the night.

The house we originally moved into was scraped for a new Walmart, but today the Walmart isn't there anymore. That was a really cool house, but there were quite a few small scorpions that were found.
My favorite cartoon was Popeye.

They eventually bought a house. That house is still there, virtually like it was then, but much of the neighborhood has changed.
Below the house was a field. We used it to play in several ant piles. We got really good at picking them up without getting stung. We would make them dance by putting them in a mess-kit and heating them on a fire, we'd pour gasoline on the hills and light them on fire, and we'd pee on them. You know - normal stuff like that. There's a house built in that field now.
I loved horny-toads. They were like miniature dinosaurs.

I liked pretending I was either a soldier or an Apache. As a soldier, I was often in trees and would get shot and fall dead out of the tree. (That's why I turned out the way I did.) As an Apache, I'd sprint barefoot across sharp limestone gravel without flinching - because Apaches didn't react to pain. There's a house built on the gravel field I used to run on and build my tipees on.
We used to get sticks and play catch with water-mocasins. Those things get really pissed-off when you throw them around, for some reason.
The mud-hole where we used to find water-mocasins and play with crawdeads and tadpoles is gone - scraped and paved as a dead-end on a street.
But the fossil-bed remains. I grabbed some fossilized clams after the Bandera 100K.
The hill above our old house is still criss-crossed by game trails with fresh deer tracks. Kids are still using the dense tree clusters for "forts". You can still climb all the way up to the same blue-green water tank. Up by that tank was a tiny cave and the ceiling was always in motion as it was always covered with a swarm of grandaddy-long-leg spiders.

Bandera 100K 2009

2009-01-14T20:24:00.014-07:00

For a guy who hasn't trained since November, I've sure managed to put in a lot of hard miles.

I've been so busy, but I squeezed this long trip in. Took Th & Fr off work and drove south over Raton Pass, then over to Texas where I stopped and ate at the first BBQ place I found. Yeehah! Fried okra!

(Okay, Blogger insists on flipping this photo sideways, no matter what I do! This is a conspiracy, man!)

I love watching the land and vegetation change as I drive across the landscape. I love the vast oil fields near Lubbock, and the windmill farm of about 1,000 windmills, and south of there the land is chock-full of so much prickly-pear and mesquite it chokes the land.
I stopped at a grocery store for lunch. It's great to have one place to stock up on apples, V-8, and bullets. Yep, they have .22, .40S&W, .30-06, .30-30, .45, 12 gauge,...

So I picked up a box of fresh .40S&W from near the Fresh Produce isles and told the clerk they don't sell bullets in grocery stores in Denver. "What?" they said. "Then where do you buy them?" I told them you have to actually go to a gun store or sporting-goods store. I know, I know... I come from a strange place! Y'all have a good day!

I got to Bandera and found it to be a crowded tourist town. The speed limit was 30, but good luck getting up to 5mph. I got in with a little extra time to get my packet, meet some people, and eat dinner at the start/finish headquarters.
That night, I drank three beers and watched a movie on my laptop, then went to sleep in the back of my CR-V.

In the morning, I managed to get to the start line 5 seconds before the start.

We headed out fast. Very fast. I asked myself, if I was sure, but actually, yes, I felt like I was going faster than I was because it was an extremely crowded start. The first five miles are miserable bumper-to-bumper. Too many fast runners suck on the downhills. When I put on the brakes, it's hard not to slip and crash. I don't know how they can run races putting the brakes on that much.

Finally, I was in a fast pack of about 6 guys. We were good and strong steady. We blew through the second aid station and I felt the blisters coming on. By mile 16, the blisters had turned my feet into hamburger. I had to stop and change socks. I was stupid to experiment during a race. Neither of the blisters on either foot had popped. One had blood in it. Both hurt like hell. It was too painful to stay up on my toes, plus being up on the balls of my feet just rubbed them more, so to reduce the pressure, I let my heals drop down with a thud each step. I also slightly twisted my feet to try to use the outsides of my toes and less of the ball of my foot. This really tired me out faster. I lost my agility. I was more clumsy. I fell three times the first lap.

My goal had been 12 to 12.5 hours. That goal was now trashed. But surely I could still do it under 13, right? Nope. 13.5? Nope. I even missed that. I finished the first loop in 5:40, but most of that had been accomplished before the sock change. My second lap was very slow, and I allowed myself to just have fun. I spent more time at the aid stations, I drank more, ate more, talked to the volunteers more... but strangely, I wasn't very talkative to other runners.

I tried to keep pushing myself, even as I allowed some slacking.

Texas hill country is so cool. I grew up 20 miles north in Kerrville, and I've always felt sorry for people who didn't get to grow up in Texas hill country. It's a kid's paradise. In the race, we often ran through tunnels of oak and cedar/pinon. Then we'd climb up into sparcer hilltops covered in yucca and sotol with serrated edges and 15 foot stalks.

It got a little bit windy at night, and a little cold, but nothing worse than Colorado normally dishes out during summer.

I enjoyed the first 60 miles, in spite of my feet. The Last Chance aid station was my favorite, but not by a long ways - they were all so great. The pizza at Chapas was fantastic! Last Chance had beer and tequila. They made some great pancakes, too. Cross-Roads had lots of hot soup and a big, warm tent with lots of chairs (not something I'm used to using).
The last two miles sucked. I don't know why, but all of a sudden, I was tired of running and really pissy. The last 5 miles seemed like 7 to me. But crossing that finish was a glorious thing. It wasn't long before I had a beer and was sitting in front of a heater laughing and talking to the other runners and volunteers.

I've been so outrageously busy, to be honest, I still haven't looked at the results. Justin M. said I was 27th, and Olga said I was 13:39. All I know is, like my "worst-case scenario" I had LOTS of fun. I highly recommend this race. Beautiful course, fun, short climbs, fantastic volunteers,... There just wasn't anything missing. It's a perfect race. I wish it was closer to home - it's even further away than Death Valley!
Which makes me want to re-visit DV again, too.

I'm Home

2009-01-12T21:30:00.003-07:00

It's been a whirlwind trip to Bandera and back. I have tons of cleaning to do, starting with my body (Whew!).

The drive back was almost harrowing, but I somehow made it in one piece.

I didn't take many photos, and least of all on the course, but I'll try to put something together. First the race, then some fun reminiscing about Texas.

One More Thing

2009-01-04T09:50:00.004-07:00

I was reading Colorado Runner magazine and noticed I won 2nd-place Masters at the Rim Rock Run. I don't know if there was an award with that, but I was out west at Kokapelli for a post-race run and camping when the awards ceremony was going on. So one more reason for me to celebrate 2008.

Bandera 100K is next. Six days. I'm not sure I can properly recover from the snowshoeing. I wanted to do exceptionally well. Now a top-10 finish seems like a farce of an idea. But I'm not giving up hope. I've seen it go both ways - I aspire big and it fizzles badly, and I have little hope and end up with miraculous results. I know my pace/effort and will do my best and see what happens. Worse-case scenario: I'll have lots of fun.

Turquoise Lake 20M Snowshoe 2009

2009-01-03T22:19:00.006-07:00

This was my last race as a 48-year-old kid.

This is a HARD race!

Last Sunday, I took off the bindings on my snowshoes and attached a worn-out pair of Salomons.
I sprayed the undersides with Dupont "Performance" Teflon grease. I use this as chain lube on my Trek, but it worked great the entire race to keep snow and ice from clumping. I didn't have to stop even once to chip it off like I did constantly last year.

I wore Drymax Maximum Protection socks underneath, and Hyperlite Stormsocks GoreTex socks over them. Both were brand new.
This worked well as we ran towards the lake.
Unlike last year's white-out, this year was just a regular storm, with snow and high winds. We could see the shores, most of the time, and there was no chance of getting lost.
On the lake, there were a few "ponds" of slush that couldn't be avoided. The worst ones were over the tops of my GoreTex socks. So my great socks system simply filled up with water less than two miles into the race. The water was so extremely cold that my toes were instantly numb. Several seconds later, though, warmth crept back in.
Then there was the second pond - even worse. OMG. I was seriously wondering if I'd have to DNF to save my toes.
But eventually the water-filled GoreTex socks acted somewhat like a wet-suit that divers use. It felt cold, but not dangerous. As long as I kept moving, I'd be fine.

I started out too fast. I haven't been training or racing for most of the past three weeks, so I was out of shape. My pace was WAY too fast. It triggered the usual pulmonary edema and I was coughing before I was half way across the lake.

We were traveling straight into a strong face-wind. I don't know what the temps were, nor the wind-chill, but it was COLD! I'm guessing there were shaded pockets around 0F. Add wind and fatigue.

Wow, was it beautiful. The gusting snow made it more beautiful. The sun occasionally poked out, but mostly it was cold. Once we passed Mayqueen CG, it was several miles of deep-freeze that the winter sun never reaches on the shady side of Sugarloaf Mtn.
My shoes were severely frozen. I had ice inside them that kept rubbing my ankles uncomfortably. There was no way to adjust them or empty them on the course.

I was very sore before the race was even half over - and it just got worse.
We spread out a lot. I was surprised that I was still able to run intermittently and regularly. I was not making good time. I had trashed my race at the beginning going too fast. Problem has been, I've been too meek and started back with very slow people and then I have to inconvenience several runners as I pass. So I wanted to be, not at the front, but near the same percentage area that I tend to finish.
Well, they were too fast! There were so many amazing racers. Keri Nelson was there. She won the Leadville Marathon - ahead of the 1st-place male. So no surprise that she came in 2nd today. She and the 1st-place male actually ran most of the race together. Unfortunately, her snowshoes were 2" under regulation length. But everyone cheered her amazing performance anyways.

There were quite a few who had to quit, and some that didn't make the 7hr cut-off. This is such a very hard race. Racing 20 miles, with climbs, exposure to frigid winds and temps and water, you have to be an experienced outdoors person. There were even a few experienced people who flat-out said they'll never run it again. There were tears and moans. This is harsh.
Races like this draw a rare breed of creature that thrives on extremes. I think many passed their limits, while others managed to stay barely within them.

I had a great time.

It took me about 10 minutes to get my frozen snowshoes off my feet. it took another ten to get my frozen ankle zippers undone to take off my tights. Something needs to change, but I'm not sure what.
Many tried bicycle over-rubbers, but those add weight and don't keep the water out. So they ended up with ice underneath. None of the people who tried them liked it.
Some others also tried GoreTex socks, and like me theirs filled up but acted like wet-suits - cold but not dangerous.
Some used duct tape, some bags. I'm not sure what I'll do next year. Maybe I'll duct-tape bread bags over my shoes up to my calf - at least until I get across the lake.

Cottonwood Hot Springs

2009-01-02T17:05:00.004-07:00

I kept hearing how the bad economy means no crowds in the mountains. WRONG! December 30, Cottonwood Hot Springs said they had only the $160 cabin and a $50 dorm room bed. The back of my CR-V is WAY better than a dorm room bed. So I went looking for a desolate place to pull off.
I need to start a new business making signs that say, "No overnight camping," and, "Day use only". Municipal, County, State, and Federal are all in cahoots to force everyone to pay into the local economies.
In winter, with the roads only partially plowed, and 4' walls at each edge of the roads, I couldn't use my usual places.

New Years Eve, I bar-hopped Leadville. I was prepared to bail, because I didn't expect it to be much fun. Surprise - I had lots of fun.
I met a couple from the Denver Metro area, and we got along pretty good. However, after running 10 miles that day and eating only one meal, I was tired. I drove east to the end of a road and went to bed by 11:20pm.

I woke up at 3am, 2009, sweltering. The temps must've been 45-50F! How can anyone sleep in heat like that? The sky was split with half a featureless gray void, and the other crystal clear and starry. I was obviously in the cloudy side.
Jan. 1 was the highest winds I've ever seen in Colorado.

Not the best day to go to Cottonwood Hot Springs. Or maybe it was why they had a vacancy. I checked in at 4:30pm, soaked for nearly two hours, then got a "hot stone" massage for 90 minutes.
Either I was abducted by friendly aliens, or I was on cloud9. I kept falling asleep. I really was having a hard time not drooling - that would have been embarrassing.
Afterwards, I showered and went to bed.

This morning, I soaked for another 2+ hours. The water was hotter. I had to keep switching from the hot pool to the cool one. There were lots of cool old people (like me). I guess it's hard to be uptight at a spa.

This was the only pampering splurge I've had in a LONG time. I've been so stressed at work it's been hard not to snap at people when they start pulling corporate political BS, so this was more than just a luxury - it had become mandatory. I had hoped for three days of it, but I only got a day and a half. It'll have to do.
Tomorrow, my 2009 Race Season begins. Yup! That soon. Another in a week. Back to the Go, Go, Go.

Bye, 2008

2009-01-01T12:24:00.011-07:00

Overall, 2008 has been the best year of my life.
I still haven't completed my mission: the Leadville Trail 100
Giving me hope, I had a grueling schedule that was not all that grueling to accomplish. This totally surprised me. I had anticipated several DNFs and poor speed from too much mileage. The opposite happened. The extra mileage seemed to make me faster. Or maybe I would have been even faster if I had only eaten right and run half as many races?
Nah. The races gave me tons of experience. I think experience (aid station transition, equipment, what my body needs at mile 30, 50, 80) is just as important as physical conditioning. I lacked this experience badly.

Milestones...
A 3:30 marathon at Steamboat Springs that qualified me for the Boston Marathon.
Winning my first-ever race award, 3rd-place in my division at the Estes Park Marathon.
Finishing my first 100-miler, at Boulder, plus breaking 24-hours at the same time.

Now, leaving this behind in 2008, the skinny on what really happened at the Leadville 100 that led to my 2nd DNF...
I was going to make one long report, but I couldn't bear to type about it. In fact, I haven't been running withthe Denver Trail Runners because they kept asking me about it, and it's awkward to tell friends, "I don't want to talk about it."
Before Leadville, I said I don't want to talk about it - I just want to do this.
After yet another DNF, ditto, I don't want to talk about it. So please take this "skinny" and let's leave it in the past as shit-that-happens.

Picking up from the short post after the DNF, on Sugarloaf, in the dark, in intermittent freezing rain, with me weezing from pulmonary edema, I gave my pack to my pacer. LT100 rules allow you to use pacers as "mules" in rememberance of the miners in the 1800's.
I wasn't moving fast, but I was moving steady. I knew that once I got over this last mountain, I was home-free. We were on the very steepest section of Sugarloaf. I was chugging in slow-mo'.
I was wearing two caps, a NorthFace ballcap, plus my Mountain Hardwear GoreTex elmer-fudd. The MtnHardwear came off without me knowing.
Here's where it went to shit - and it's unbelievable how precise eveything had to be for this mishap to occur...
Another runner or pacer picked up the cap and caught up to us.
The runner asked, "Is this your Mountain Hardwear cap?"
I'm deaf in my right ear, and hard of hearing. The fact that I've fired many thousands of rounds through quite a few weapons in my life, and spent years as a machinist have degraded the hearing in my one remaining ear. I only heard "...Mountain Hardwear..." I had already said, "What?" about 50 million times already that day and was tired of it. The last few times, when I didn't understand people, I simply ignored them. If they want to be heard, they need to make themselves heard. I'm not deaf, and not THAT hard of hearing.
So I ignored the comment about my cap.
I was on my pacer's right-hand side, but he didn't know that. He thought I was behind and below him.
He turned LEFT, never seeing me continue up the hill.
He answered the guy, "No, this isn't mine, but I think it's my runner's. Wait, where is my runner?"
He was absolutely CERTAIN there was NO WAY I was ahead or above him.
And there I was, only six feet away, and getting further away by the second.
My pacer looked left, right, downhill - holy crap!!! Where was Jeff?!?!
Now a dozen feet away.
So my pacer ran downhill - with my pack, with all my sport-drink, food, and other essentials. He searched laterally and below, but never for one second thought to look UPHILL.
I was wearing two reflective ankle-bands. No one else on the course was lit like me. But I neglected to specifically say, like I'd meant to, "Look at my ankles. See those reflective bands? If you ever lose me, I'm the one with the reflective ankles."

My pacer went into panic-mode. With my pulmonary edema, was I passed-out? Had I crawled into the woods and died?
He called the sherif and requested a Search&Rescue.

Meanwhile, I got half a mile up the hill. I needed my sport-drink and wondered WTF, where's my pacer? So I called back down the hill at the top of my lungs, with no trees between him and me down that long hill, but no response. So when the hill ended and there was a slight downhill before the course continued uphill, I stopped and waited.
And waited.
And laid down because why spend time-on-my-feet when not moving?
And runners passed giving reports of my pacer frantically looking for me.
The time ticked on...

Then Tim Fromm, Anita Fromm's husband, came by and offered the unbelieveable - he left his runner and went back down the hill to get my pacer. But my pacer had gone even FURTHER down the hill!!!
Tim came back about ten minutes later unsuccessful. Even though unsuccessful, I will forever be in his debt for trying. He is my hero. Thank you Tim!

I did NOT WANT TO GO BACKWARDS down the STEEPEST section of Sugarloaf to retreive my pacer. Not in my condition, with pulmonary edema, and have to CLIMB IT AGAIN!
But I did. I had to go the wrong way.

I found him, we had "words", he called the sherif to call off the SAR. I was so grateful to hear him say, without us even discussing it, that, no, we were not returning to Fish Hatchery less than two miles away, but instead continuing up and over Sugarloaf to a certain DNF at Mayqueen. I wanted every last step of the allowed distance, and my pacer was of one mind with me.

He felt MORTIFIABLY HORRIBLE! After those initial "words", I had nothing to say. Why would I? Water under the bridge.
I had already come to grips on the walk backwards that my race was TRASHED, but heading back up I was worried that I would also lose my best friend. I realized losing a best-friend was a far worse loss than a stupid race.
So I said, "I don't care what we have to do to deal with this, but that's what we're going to do - deal with it. Races aren't as important as people. The whole reason I supposedly do races is so I can meet people and be positive. If I let this ruin things with people, then my priorities are all wrong and I've failed my primary task."
Races should be excuses to meet people, grow, and be positive in your own life and in the lives of others.

It's not WHAT happens that counts - it's how you deal with it.
I can't claim I dealt with it very well. What my friend and pacer didn't hear, was my tirade on Sugarloaf BEFORE accepting my race was lost and going down backwards. I won't claim to be particularly noble, and in recognizing my lacking, I chose to limit my exposure to people asking me what happened. I didn't want to look back on unfortunate shit-that-happened. There's no good in that.

It didn't change the fact that 2008 was the very best year of my life. I suppose if I had taken a different path, 2008 would not have been my best year.
When I've posted exceptional finish-times, at my advancing age, I've often thought, "Wow, I'll never out-do that!" And then I do.

I look at 2008 and think the same thing. I don't feel like it's possible to do better in life or as a person as I did in 2008. I can only hope that 2009 proves that wrong.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Chillin' in Leadville

2008-12-31T11:56:00.004-07:00

I returned my son to Denver and have ventured out again to Leadville, alone, to recharge.

I'm letting myself be very, very lazy. I'm sleeping as much as I can stand. The days don't last. I must be sleeping them away because they seem like quarter-days, they are over so fast. But I do feel rested.
It is C-C-C-COLD! And sleeping on the cheap in my CR-V and in the snow allows me to feel the full brunt of it.

But life is yin and yang, right?

When I think of everything life has to offer, I HATE work! Did I mince words? (Sorry.) But when I think how we all have to have a job, and I'm not just lucky to have "a" job, but I'm specifically lucky to have the job I have, in the company I'm in, with the people I'm with. Double that, considering how many people are losing their jobs these days. And I have skills beyond most in my profession that allow me to have a job in virtually any city or town in the world. Okay, not just luck - I worked exceptionally hard to gain my skills. But no matter who you are, there's always luck in life.

If I had to live in the snow every day - ouch - that would be harder. But since life is mostly city, I can appreciate Mother Nature. The harshness has beauty. The shapes in the snow and ice that nature sculpts can't be adequately imitated. And the beauty in nature isn't just visual - you can only experience the full beauty if you're in it over a span of time, alone, undistracted. There is no song on an iPod that can compete with the sounds of nature, especially the wind in the winter at night near or above treeline. This is Primal Beauty. This is the Voice of Nature. This is the voice of my Best Friend talking straight into my Soul without using words. It's the Yin to technology's Yang, and I listen as much as I can.

Winter Camping with my Son

2008-12-28T18:52:00.011-07:00

My son and I drove to Leadville and then up the hill to the end-of-the-road. It was my usual late start, so we didn't get there until after dark.
The weather was cold, of course, but otherwise very mild.

I loaded up the sled and then we went a ways up the road and then off into the snow. We happened to find a convenient deep depression in the snow. After some shoveling and lots of stomping, we had a flat, hard surface to set the tent up on.

You could see stars through a thin haze overhead, but somehow it snowed all night! It wasn't a heavy snow, but it was amazing that there was never a point where you couldn't see stars, and there was never any puffy clouds - just that haze. So how did we get 6" by morning?

During the night, we each had to get up. Before my son came back in, he shined the flashlight straight up into the night and the falling snow. The snow was way more crystalline than usual, and extremely glittery. He thought that was just the coolest thing and if nothing else, that experience made the whole trip worthwhile.

We ate breakfast at the Provin' Grounds coffee shop, then headed back.

On the way, I stopped to check out the waterfall which I think will be premo' ice-climbing. No doubt it is! It looked extremely high-quality. Now I need to see if I can rope a brother into teaming up with me.

New Drymax Socks

2008-12-20T16:23:00.008-07:00

Last night, my Drymax socks arrived. Bob McGillivray from Drymax said he'd ship me some of their new Maximum Protection socks. Along with it, came a hard-bound book detailing the design/construction, and the technology in all their socks.

Very cool!
With the socks I bought previously, i now have three different models of Drymax socks; six pairs total.
While I was volunteering at Rudolph's Revenge, my son apparently read the whole book - as in "studied" the whole book. I was doing research on the 'net and he was just babbling-off all sorts of stuff like he already knew far more than me! Heck, I should be consulting him!
Any ways, I'm not sure how much "data" to give. As a computer tech, I used to be guilty of giving too much info to people. If you do that, people's eyes glaze over right away. If you have a very awesome presentation, you can go further. My documentation/instructions for computer-users is much simpler these days. I've learned that if it can't be said in one or two pages (with images) then it's too long to get into. So I need to choose the right images and words to report on my findings.
The Drymaxsocks website already is the best source of info. A full website is easier to present info. You structure your site such that links and presentations allow deeper investigation (for geeks), but don't bother people who don't have the time or interest in TMI.
A blog post is a bit harder. The info I have is a bit wider, not just about socks. Not only will I discuss hi-tech fabrics, I'll also discuss surfactants, which are used extensively in more products than you would ever think. I'll put something concise together, soon, that I hope people find useful.

Rudolph's Revenge 5K & 10K

2008-12-20T14:14:00.005-07:00

Friday night, I went to a friend's house for a very nice Christmas party. It didn't last too long, so we all went home at a decent hour.

The next morning, my alarm went off. I went to turn it off, but missed in the dark, hitting snooze instead - and fell asleep again. So ten minutes later, it went off again. This time I turned it off - and fell asleep again! And over-slept until 8:30. So I got a late start.

The Colorado Runner Magazine Winter Distance Series began today. The weather was clear, cold, and much nicer than the blizzard of two years ago.

This year, instead of helping with registration or Start/Finish, I helped along the course where the 5K runners turn, and the 10K runners go straight. Even though I'm not running much these days, I still enjoyed getting some mileage walking to and from.

There was more traffic than I would have normally expected, so the race really caused some trafffic issues for drivers. I felt bad about that, but it was a sanctioned event. Since I wasn't at the finish, I don't know what the results were, but the weather seemed to really cooperate.

Surprise Aid Station

2008-12-18T22:50:00.006-07:00

Tonight, Adam Feerst and I conspired to arrange a surprise aid station in the snowy dark on North Table Mountain.
I haven't been running with the Denver Trail Runners in several months. So no one was expecting to see me at all.
I used a whole can of Nestle Rich Chocolate Cocoa in a 2-gallon cooler. Right after work, it was mixed, then I drove out an hour ahead of the group's ETA for that location.
In a cooler-chest, I had cups, Keebler Pecan Sandies, and Peppermint Schnapps. In my backpack, I had extra winter clothing, in case the forecasted 18mph winds blew in, my backpacking stove, and the 2-gallon cooler full of cocoa. In my one free hand, I carried the back deck of my CR-V, which Honda smartly designed as a fold-out table.
I set up, called Adam to give him my exact location, and then strolled around listening to Pandora.com and looking at the night-time scenery. There's obviously LOTS of wildlife of every size scurrying around North Table Mtn.

They were easy to see long before they arrived. Most had headlamps. I kept mine off until the first people saw me. Several cups were set out with just Schnapps in the bottom, but then I started pooring hot cocoa into them and handing them out, warning people about the Schanpps, and pooring a few for those who don't do alcohol.
It was a hit, and very different than the normal DTR runs where we just head out, run, and come back.

Afterwards, we all headed to a member's house and had our annual Chrismukah holiday potluck party.

Wow, I didn't realize how much I missed them - nor how much some of them missed me. It was good to be back with my extended family. It was very warming to the soul. All around a very good evening.

Other note: NurtaJoint is now back down to $14. It was as low as $11 a couple of years ago, then it went all the way up to $38 - and I refused to buy it. It's supposed to be $14 at my Safeway store until next spring. So I'm stocking up on it.

And finally, here's a photo taken during the Rock Canyon Marathon...

2009 Schedule

2008-12-13T22:01:00.007-07:00

2008 was supposed to be the only crazy schedule, but it's looking like I'll be running all the same races in 2009 - plus Zane Gray and maybe GTR50 or 100. I'm already registered for Zane and Jemez. About to send in my Collegiate Peaks 50 reg. I'm torn between Mtn Air Marathon and Lead King Loop 25K. They're usually on the same day, right after Run Rabbit 50. I just hope real life doesn't interrupt and keep me from running any of these.

End-Of-Season

2008-12-12T17:21:00.003-07:00

There is little doubt that my season is over, whether I want it to be or not.
- Last weekend turned my feet into blister-fests.
- I've been fighting "runners knee" where the patellar tendon below the knee hurt. I've been massaging it and coaxing it ever since July.
- I fell during the Leadville Marathon and cracked my elbow. Very minor. took about 5-6 weeks to heal. Fine after that. Until the beginning of this month. Somehow a tiny speck of bone is floating around in my elbow and when I rest my elbow on a desk or chair arm the wrong way, the pain goes from zero to 100mph in .0001 flat! Since this seemed healed, and now I've got something floating around, my guess is this is permanent. It's not worth surgery.
- I have a sharp pain on the inside/front of my knee. This spot is where the Gracilis and sartorius attach to the tibia and is collectively called the "pes anserinus".
Of these ailments, the last one is the worst. I'm hobbled. I even have to be careful just walking. Prudence says I shouldn't run a step the rest of the year. I hope I can be prudent. I need to go on long walks and hikes to keep myself from going cuckoo.
So far this year, I've gone well over 2300 miles.

I'm trying a 30-day free membership at 24-hour Fitness. So far, the location sucks, it's WAY too crowded, and even though it not expensive, I don't think I'll get my money's worth.
I need to try the Wash Park complex. It's not large, but membership is apparently free, and it's on the way home from work. So even though the complex doesn't have a huge lot to offer, the location and price are primo.

More on the Rock Canyon Half

2008-12-07T10:41:00.005-07:00

I was so self-absorbed, when writing my Rock Canyon report. I didn't actually say much about the race!

This was my 23rd race this year as a direct entrant. There were a few others where I paced, or it was an off-the-grid event.

I highly recommend this race.
Things I like about the Rock Canyon Half:
1 - It's less than two hours drive from home.
2 - It's low-key. The people there clearly love to run.
3 - VERY stiff competition. There were some very impressively fast runners there. It brings out the best in yourself.
4 - In December, it's hard to find races. Sure I prefer ultras, but I've discovered that even 10K's are very important training runs for 100's. The only way to push your muscles to become more efficient is to do speed-training. So, because of (3) above, it's great to find a great training race that pushes me beyond my limits.
5 - The scenery was good, following the Arkansas River below the Pueblo Reservoir. Okay, it's not SJS50 or Hard Rock, but it's way better than more loops around Wash Park.
6 - It didn't cost much: $25 for early reg., $35 on race-day.
7 - The course is fast, with only one pitifully short climb.
8 - Good organization and volunteers.

The weather this year was ideal. I can imagine this race getting the brunt of the worse December weather can dish out. It would be very challenging - and therefore even MORE fun!

Things not to do to Drymax socks

2008-12-07T10:10:00.004-07:00

The air in Denver is very dry. In winter, it gets drier than dry.
I'm a "Computer Mad Scientist", as a friend defined me after seeing my lab. You know in the movies, or in TV shows, when they show a super-geek's home (a.k.a. "lab"- because for a true geek, "lab" = "home"). More than a dozen computers, many with the guts hanging out, parts and pieces everywhere. That's my living room.
Dry air is horrible for static electricity. Static electricity can mean death to electronics. So I have an ultrasonic humidifier.
Still, my clothing clings without mercy when I take it out of the drier. So I started using Target's knock-off of Bounce in the drier. This stuff works!

And it ruins Drymax socks.

Drymax didn't fail miserably at the Rock Canyon race. I failed to follow the directions on the packaging that clearly states not to use fabric softener. Yes, I did read the packaging. No, that info was the furthest thing from my mind late on a Friday with the clock ticking and me having to drive to Pueblo in the dark, and still find a place to sleep in the back of my CR-V, and get to the race on time the next morning - a place I'd never been to before.

How can something so minor cause such a drastic performance/behavioral change in socks? The answer is all in molecular chemistry. I've opened a can of worms. Being a techie, and an agnostic, when I get hold of a mystery like this, I'm like a dog with a bone.

So I'm not done testing and racing in Drymax. I mistakenly ruined the molecular behavior of the product, so it wasn't a fair test. Basically, I rendered a high-tech sock down to the level of a cotton gym sock. I'm a bull-in-a-china-shop!

So now I'm doing homework. I'm looking at all kinds of things that have been foreign to me: Valence bond theory, covalent bond, van der Waals force, London dispersion forces, etc. My head is spinning and I only just started. Problem is, you can't define most of these terms without using several of the other terms - which I also don't understand. It's like trying to learn a foreign language by having someone speak to you in the foreign language you don't understand. Yikes. My brain hurts. But like with racing, it's supposed to hurt!
I just hope I don't have fabric softener on my brain, lest I get brain-blisters.

Rock Canyon Half Marathon

2008-12-06T17:20:00.007-07:00

This was not on my schedule, but I wanted to do it.
My freind Jerry L. put me onto this, but I didn't see him there.

I drove down Friday night and found a quiet dirt road 10 miles from Pueblo to crawl into the back and sleep. I woke up after only three hours of sleep and then started thinking of stupid stressful stuff. It was hard to shut that out. I probably wasted two hours of sleep. Total sleep: 5hr. And I was SOOO sleepy when I went to bed!

I ate 4 pancakes at IHOP for bnreakfast.
Note to self: Stop at three, when you're about to run a fast, short race!

The park was easy to find. I didn't know anyone, but runners are runners, right? I felt at home.
It was cold before the start, but there was no wind and the sky was clear. I pulled the forecast up on my iPhone and it said the start temp would be 29 degrees, and the finish would be 45. Without any wind, and the sun on you, 45 feels almost perfect!
I ran in shorts and a sleeveless shirt.

I forgot my running shoes! Being paranoid, and a boyscout, I always keep a pair in the back of my car. They're Gore-Tex, and weren't necessary, but they were good enough for a half marathon.

This was my first race test of my new DryMax socks. Let me tell ya - THEY FAILED!!! My feet are MANGLED! I have the biggest, sorest blisters I've ever had in my LIFE! Good to find out at the end of the season with a little race, right? I'll stick with Injinji's+Wright socks for racing. I'll still use the DryMax socks for training.
In the photo, the extent of the blister is marked in red.

The blisters started just half way through. It felt kind of like sand or little gravel got in, but there wasn't any. That was just the skin separating.

I remembered to dose with Astelin and Albuterol, but I still had two asthma attacks. One was at 10 miles, and the other was just after the only real climb on the course. I had to slow, concentrate on form, and chill out.

Even though I didn't place well, I set another milestone! The Rim Rock Run was my first average-pace below 8min./mile. Well today I dropped the average pace to 7:45/mile. I know - the shorter the race the faster your pace SHOULD be, but mine hasn't been. It was like anything between 5K and 50K was the same pace, no matter how I tried. I've done two 10-mile races this year that were barely slower than 8 min./mile. So to do a half-marathon at 7:45 means I've finally broken through my plateau.

I need to push it down to 7 min./mile this winter!

I've got a few tweaks bothering me - all on the left side. Two on the knee and one on the heel. I didn't want to really take time off, but these blisters demand it. So I'll take an extended break - like two whole days! LOL!

Thanksgiving!

2008-11-29T11:21:00.005-07:00

The McMillan Running Calculator says I'm supposed to be able to run 5 miles at a 7:09 pace. I assure you, there is NO WAY I can manage that at this time.
The odd thing is, I started out a few years ago poking along at 12 minute miles and managed to shave it down to 8 minute miles for any distance below 50K. And I do mean any distance, as in my 5M pace is 8min/M, and my 10K pace is 8min/M, etc. I'm flat-lined.
The good news is I'm getting faster every year at all distances.

It's currently cold and snowy outside. I finally got to use my new studded snow tires. The snow has certainly been sticking and freezing to the roads.

On Thanksgiving, I thought I'd be running with the Denver Trail Runners, but I decided to sleep-in. That allowed me an additional 2+ hours of sleep.
After lunch, I headed to South Table Mountain.
I don't know of any other place to park, except at the National Renewable Energy Labs parking area during off-hours. Certainly during off-hours, the lot is empty and I'm not hurting anyone. But the lot was roped and a sign warned that specifically "runners" are not allowed to park there. Wow! (My expletive was different.) So I slowly drove away, keeping my eyes peeled for a kosher place to park. I noticed two cars parked by the curb on the other side. The road was two lanes each direction, but it dead-ends at the NREL, and there's no need for four lanes, so even though the cars were blocking one lane, it wasn't a big deal at a virtual dead-end. But a NREL security guard was writing them tickets! There were no signs giving anyone a clue about property lines. Anyone would think the street and land would belong either to Open Space Parks, or to a city or county. NREL was an 1/8th mile away.
I gave up and drove out of Denver to Buffalo Overlook. I parked in an elementary school parking lot (probably also illegal, but hurts no one on Thanksgiving day).
The weather was colder than I had planned for my run on South Table, so I ended up wearing all my extra stuff, but it was enough.
I had my smaller Salomon Raid Revo 15 hydration pack. There were only two couples the entire 9-mile run. I got to see a small section of trail I had never been on before, and it was stunning! It was old-growth, mossy, and the trees were magnificent! There was a bit of snow-flurry, but nothing bad.
I didn't bring my camera since I had anticipated running on plain-ole South Table.

I had to work the day after Thanksgiving, but I still got a run in after work. During the time it took for me to hydrate and change clothes, a snow storm moved in. So I got my first true winter run of the season! There were only two other runners at Wash Park, and they wore coats and heavy gloves! I just wore a long sleeve shirt and a sleeveless shirt over that.
On the way there, a woman in a Subaru honked her horn at me. I think that translates into, "You crazy running idiot!! Are you insane?!"

Taking a Break

2008-11-23T09:56:00.010-07:00

This is the funniest shit!!!
The top pieces for Jackson Hole about fear are classic!

There you are.
Facing Fear.
It's beady-eyed and hairy.
Taunting.
And then it occurs to you.

Hey, Fear would make a pretty good fur coat.

I don't know where Jordan is these days - haven't seen him in months. He is wacky - wackier than ME - but in a good way!

I haven't done anything. Going through some strange body reactions. My feet have been hurting, in an injurious way. Since my mileage is decreased significantly, it didn't seem logical that it could be an overuse injury. Both feet have been exhibiting signs of imminent injury. Logical or not, I decided to take a REAL, TOTAL break for several days. Not my normal "break", meaning a reduction from 50-100 miles per week down to 20, but a switch to non-running, and not even much walking, except to do errands in the 'hood.
Without my usual activities, my usual diet, sleep, and mental routines are in disarray.
I don't care if my feet hurt, it's just that if they hurt in the wrong way (too consistently), or too much, then I want to wait until the issue declines. I don't want plantar issues, bone spurs, or fractures. Stress in bodies isn't just a short-term thing. It can build over an entire season, which I think is what's going on here.

The way I've been feeling lately, looking back to the mileage I was doing in May, June and July, every day an epic weekend, it's hard to fathom. Was that ME?!?! 'Cause REALLY - I don't feel like the same guy!
Maybe it's nothing more than diet. I've been a naughty boy since the Boulder 100. In fact, I had an ice cream shake yesterday.
And Lisa Bliss says the short days of this time of year have a profound affect on mind/body. I need to try sticking to eating right and getting sufficient quantities of sunlight.
I might also join a gym. Yeah, I know, it's indoors, but that's better than staying home all the time. I still need my endorphin fix, right?

Other than that, my hair is less gray. My grayness has been an odd thing. Since I no longer spend much time looking backwards, it's now hard for me to remember when my first gray showed, but I do remember it was pre-mature grayness that resulted from me scarring the shit out of myself up on a mountain. The gray started showing up a few weeks later and eventually went away. I think that might have been in my late 20's.
That was the pattern for about a decade. Climb a mountain, scar the shit out of myself, then the gray would come, and then it would go.
But then it stopped going away. Scaring myself too frequently, stressful job, stressful marriage, older age, and the gray was there to stay. But the gray would vary from significant to light.
The current level of gray, though, is unprecedented. The gray isn't gone, but my last haircut seems to have gotten rid of most of it, and I'm wondering if my beard really is darker or if its my imagination?

Stress in my life has fallen off considerably since I started running. Or maybe it's just that running helps me cope with my pathetic, fucked-up life? Keeps me from dwelling on it.
Job situation - I used to have a high-stress machinist job. Screw up and I could get injured, trash thousands of dollars in an instant, and worst-case could lead to an airplane crash resulting in the deaths of dozens of people. My bosses and co-workers were too often jerks.
Now I have a job that allows only a tiny bit of creativity, and I have very little authority. I've even quipped that "I'm not even at the bottom of the totem pole. I'm not on the totem pole at all. I'm one of the rocks shoved up against the bottom of the totem pole to keep it from falling over." But man, they sure do appreciate me - and I appreciate them! And now that hundreds-of-thousands of workers are losing their jobs, I appreciate mine even more!
Relationships - I'm no longer involved in any jacked-up relationships. In fact, I've refused to even go there - with ANYONE! That whole arena has been such a life-time complete failure, and now I have no stress there, that I've not been willing to step up to the plate again.
I have an incredible son. He gets nearly straight-A's, he composes his own music, he designs stuff, he gets along with kids in school, and he's fun to be with.
I have at least one really good friend, and tons of acquaintances, and they are all high-quality people. There is so much quality influence on me these past few years, it seems that no matter how jacked-up I've been, if I stay-the-course, how can life go back the way it was? I'm doomed to succeed!

Colorado Trail 26.4M

2008-11-16T21:48:00.012-07:00

Saturday, I ran errands all day. I thought I'd get in a nice 8 miles at Wash Park, but it never happened.
Instead, I went to a party at an art gallery with free munchies, wine, and beer. So I had several glasses of wine. I left feeling quite steady and not at all inebriated, but wow that was a lot of wine (no I didn't drive).
There were no tables, so it was a four-handed job to hold a cup, a plate, while eating, and shaking hands constantly. Hate to go Howard-Hughes on you, but I'll probably get sick now because with two hands, I had to balance my plate on my cup while shaking and eating - and it's flu season.
About 5 the next morning, I had to wake up and get a drink of water. Oh, the hang-over.
Then I finally got out of bed for good at - holy shit! - 9:20! That was a nice 10-11 hours of slumber! I need to drink wine more often!
The hang-over was diminishing, but I had no milk, so I started my morning driving to the grocery store.

By the time I got to Waterton Canyon, I left my car at 11:55am. That's the way I tend to do things. No early rise training runs for me! Screw that. I need to unwind and rest on my weekends.

About three miles into my run, a herd of rams in the road had attracted several people. I'm sure they were hoping for hand-outs (the rams - not the people), but I just ran through.

Colorado Trail doesn't have any winter treachery on it yet. The most hazardous things are the hunters and poachers. A couple of weeks ago, a friend was running in the area and came to a 3-way intersection. A hunter came from the way he had planned to go, but the hunter told my friend that he met a couple of creepy hunters. The usual banter elicited evasive answers and the hunter became kind of spooked. So the hunter advised my friend to take the other trail, which he did. Poachers are not rare in Colorado.

I was wearing my new blaze-orange cap and had my bear bell in my hand. The bell was not just for bears or lions, but for bikers and hunters.

One of the things I bought during my errands Saturday was a pile of DryMax socks. I've kept my eyes peeled for these socks all year and only now found them at Runners Roost.
Initially, they were no more comfortable than my Balugas. Just how comfy can socks get? They're just socks, right? But testing them dry is no test at all.
I didn't plan to get them wet. If I got them wet, it would mean I got my nice, burnt-orange Salomon XT Wings wet. I can't do THAT! They're too purty to get wet! But they did. I was too distracted by scenery and didn't notice until too late at a stream crossing. I tried to walk on water, but I must've sinned this week because I didn't stay on top (like I usually do - wink-wink). The weird thing was I could feel the water seep in on top, but as soon as the water ran down to the bottom layer, the water felt like it vanished. The bottoms of my feet couldn't tell there was any water in my shoe.
Nice test, but the ultimate test is hot, sweaty feet. That's not something I'll have until July 2009.

I ran outbound for 13.2 miles. 27.4 total for the entire day, with some side-trips.
There was a great overlook for the Buffalo Creek burn area. That fire had scalded everything! It practically sterilized the soil, it was so hot. So the area isn't "bouncing back", but it is coming back slowly-but-surely.

The weather forcast was fairly okay, but it wasn't quite right. The weather ended up being very nice, especially for mid-November. So I'm still pummeling my body, my feet hurt all the time, and my body is begging for a break.

Rim Rock Run 2008

2008-11-09T08:41:00.011-07:00

Two years ago, my middle metatarsal cracked at the 20-mile mark. By mile 21, the bone had broken clean in two. Ouch. The last 1.5M were excruciating and slow. I could have had a 3-hour run, but instead, droves of people passed me and the time slipped to 3:12:52.

Last year, I was exhausted and stressed and didn't want to risk an injury to wreak my revenge - but I knew that only a sub-3-hour RRR would be enough to get revenge.

I did it. 2:59:21 That averaged to 7:57/mile - the fastest pace of any race in my life for any distance.

The weather was fantastic! The drive out the night before was pretty bad on the passes, with a semi-truck getting winched up after going off I-70 near Vail Pass. The temps at the start were in the mid-30's, but there was only a 2mph breeze and the sky was virtually clear, so the sun warmed us pretty well.
I had done almost no running during the week and was feeling good.
For some reason, there weren't as many runners as there have been in past years. I'm not sure why. There's new race directors last year and this, but the registration experience was the same (Active.com), the bus shuttles and post-race party were the same (except the micro-brew beer was replaced by canned Bud-light and Coors-light (YUK!) The trend with all races is that we suddenly have to register within hours, minutes, or even seconds in order to get in before a race fills. There is only one difference. No race-day packet pick-up or registration. While I can understand no race-day registration, not letting you pick up your packet on race-day is just plain crazy. I had to play hooky from work Friday, sneaking off that last hour, to get out in time.

I'm not much of a climber, plus I forgot to take my asthma meds, but I told myself it was too short of a race to matter. I pushed until it hurt and kept a steady pain-level. I got passed by several on the climbs, then as it leveled, I'd pass them back. And this continued until we topped-out and I took off like a rocket (a very old, heavy, slow rocket - like a Saturn V rocket carrying a lunar lander and rover and extra fuel, and stuff).
Then came the downhills! Yum! I concentrated on leaning forward and having clean, efficient form. No side-to-side motions, high cadence, landing with my toes directly under my knees, don't let any pressure land on my heels, but do it by landing far enough back - not by raising up on my toes (it's pavement after all).
At mile 17, a pesky blister became evident, and tried to slow me down. Indeed, I didn't push back with each step as much as I could have, and it had to slow me down, but I tried to make up for it with even higher cadence.
It wasn't looking good. i kept figuring and re-figuring and it kept looking like I was going to hit 3:07, but it's hard to figure with this race since you climb slowly the first several miles. The last, though, are screamin' downhill with 6-minute miles. So I told myself to persevere as if it was always do-able.
At mile 20, there was quite an impressive spray-pattern from someone blowing chow on the shoulder of the road. And yet, that person was still ahead of me! And a little follow-up pile a bit after. I reminded myself how lucky I was to still have all my jets firing and already into my free-fall towards the finish.

To keep the blister from slowing me, I tried the sadistic approach. I decided to see if I could TRY to make it hurt, and if it swelled and popped, I'd get brownie-points!

There are a couple of tunnels we have to run through as we drop into a canyon. At the bottom, there's smooth walls lining both sides. I couldn't resist letting out a hoot to hear it echo off the walls. (Apparently, this is a guy-thing!)

Somehow, I'd nearly caught Paul Grimm (I guess it was my taper all week). He still finished ahead of me. I was 11 seconds behind, and the last guy to get in under 3 hours.
Bernie Boettcher had a great finish in 2:18 and scoring 4th place. In past years, with a larger, more competitive pack, that still could have earned him 1st place. So 4th is deceptive - he had a fantastic pace and finish.
I don't know any of the other leaders.

Next year, I need to do more hill and speed work. I need to get rid of my sand-bags. If I can shave time off my climb, and keep the same pace on the flats and downs, I can easily shave another 5 minutes off.

This was the last race on my calendar, but there's at least one more I hope to fit in before the end of the year. I've done 23 "events" so far this year. What a year!

I forgot my camera again, so these photos are not from the Rim Rock Run, but from the 9.2 mile hike Paul, Karla, and I did on the Kokopelli Trail afterwards.

Trashed!

2008-11-04T20:24:00.006-07:00

Something has been wrong with my training. Gas hit $4/gallon, so I cut out some driving. I didn't do the Thursday trail run, also because it took so much time, during the work-week. But I kept my mileage up and I ran harder, so I figured I'd retain my base.
After running through the Flatirons Saturday, I ran 10.6M hard Sunday. By Monday, I was wrecked. My quads hurt like after the Jemez Mtn 50. I hurt worse than after the Boulder 100. How could that be? Obviously my fast, flat miles aren't good enough, even if I do throw in some weekend hills and mountains.
I've been really pushing myself to log the miles. This warm weather isn't going to last. Winter is overdue. So I've been throwing so much at myself my body is now begging for winter.
Please, winter, before I self-destruct!
But wait until after the Rim Rock Run, okay? It's a bitch waiting in the frigid cold before that race.

Yesterday evening was the perfect Fall evening. The wind was blowing. Not straight winds, and not too hard, but enough to stir up the piles of leaves all over the place. The sound of wind and leaves rustling around is such a nice sound. And the temps are so warm for this time of year. It was nice walking in my 'hood. So close to Halloween, it reminded me of To Kill A Mockingbird. I could picture Scout running in the night in her costume. What a great book. I might have to dig it out and read it again.

Boulder Flatirons

2008-11-01T22:36:00.009-06:00

Today, I ran with several Boulder area runners through, around, up, and across the Flatirons.

The weather was unbelievable!

I had never done any running or hiking in the Flatirons, so I was at the mercy of following various people and using dead-reckoning.

We started by running up Green Mountain to the north (not to be confused with Denver's Green Mtn). Then down and north and around, practically back in Boulder before skirting around east of Green. So we looped all around Green.
This first half was rather easy.

Then we took a series of trails that led south to a steep climb up Bear Mountain.

There was a very long trail (over a mile, I think) that was extremely steep, with many blocks of rock laid like steps. It was such a chug! For this second half, I was mostly with a few triathletes and adventure racers. I could barely keep up with them, but that's also the way I like it.

I didn't stop on Bear because these three guys didn't stop - and there weren't any others from the group around I could follow. And it was a good thing I didn't stop. Coming down from Bear is a near-vertical rock climb down cracked granite. It wasn't really hard, but I've never liked climbing down something I've never climbed up, especially when you can't see your feet and you're trying to wedge fingers and toes into cracks. Having someone below me telling me where to stick my foot was very nice.

While I waited for my turn down the rocks, I took a great pano shot of the distant Continental Divide. Framed by rock and tree, I think it turned out better than it would have from the summit.

Last, we climbed South Boulder Peak.
I decided to stay there and soak up the views. The fast triathletes ran off and I snapped lots more photos and talked to the people up there.
On the run down, I was alone and using dead rackoning and common sense to figure out my way back.
Overall, it was a greuling 18 miles. Very good training.
Many of us met at one of the local's homes and we had a little barbeque. It rounded out the day nicely. Good food, beer, and great company.

The Boots

2008-10-26T12:50:00.006-06:00

After I got home last night, I was so drained it was like I was drugged. I put myself to bed early and slept 10 hours, just like last week after the Boulder100. For sure, I must still be recovering from Boulder, but the climb was tougher than it seemed at the time. There was so much stimulation with my senses so overwhelmed that I was primarily paying attention to how cold my fingers were, my hydration, stepping careful, dancing with the wind and staying upright, and the VIEWS!! I wasn't paying much attention to how tough the climb was.
My GPS claimed I had only gone 4.1 miles round-trip, but plotting it on Google Earth said it was over 4.4 miles - still not far. So why was it so hard? There was 2510 feet of climbing, slipping constantly the whole way. I started at 11060 feet and topped-out at 13570 feet. Fighting the wind also required more energy to maintain stability, especially on the ridges.

I'm so glad I could visit that spot! I could see SO MUCH of the course I want the race on. The sections that were in most doubt were right below me. Plus I might have found an alternate route - but the NFS would have to allow me to build a new section of trail. If they would let me do that, it would keep the ugly powerlines out of the view for many more miles, and allow the race to enter an extremely beautiful high basin that originally would not have been seen.

I've lost my ice-climbing boots. Those boots were PERFECT! I've searched everywhere. How can boots that big disappear? Maybe I threw them on the roof of my CR-V one night sleeping inside and drove off without retrieving them? I don't remember anything like that. I have such a tiny living area and so much stuff that my shelves, closets, etc. are overwhelmed. It's hard to go through it all, but I have, and they aren't anywhere. I guess I have to buy new ones.
I LOVED those boots! They were so comfortable and indestructible. Okay, so it's not the same thing as losing a pet, or something like that, but I really will miss those boots. I've worn them on every extreme outing I've been on - EVER! Even camping in -20 raging blizzards above treeline, solo climbing Mount Wilson when recovering from Guillaine-Barre and still only half-recovered from paralysis, cramponing up adjacent Wilson Peak (I call them the Wilson Sisters) the year before, those boots have been up so many peaks.
I picked them up from "the pound" - REI's return racks - and paid half-price, or something like that. They looked so sad sitting there, but when our eyes met (my eyes and its eyelets and lace-hooks), it was love at first site. We bonded immediately.

R.I.P. (melodramic music plays here - maybe the saddest Italian opera music you can imagine)

More Scouting for my 100K

2008-10-25T22:11:00.006-06:00

I'm not really sure I'll ever have the patience to actually put this race on. It's so high and exposed. How does the Hard Rock RD, Dale Garland, endure the stress? The safety of the runners has got to weigh heavy on him.
I was going to drive through Montezuma and head south, but the gate to the north road was open. Since I wasn't used to that, I took advantage of it. I had no plans for the north, so I just made it up as I went.
It was a real late start - too many chores at home. I left my CR-V at 4:20pm and started up the trail/road to Argentine Pass. Instead of staying on the trail, I left it at the first and only switchback. I continued climbing up the valley on very slippery snow. The rocks under the snow were treacherous. The wind was gusting, but I guess I'm used to that, and it helped. The wind actually helped to blow me uphill. It was extremely slow going, with safety my primary concern.
It was all worth it! The views were stunning, and I got the best view yet of the areas I hope to have my course go through.
The sunset from so high up was fantastic. Heck, I'll let you decide!

Sure beats Kansas!!

Rest

2008-10-21T22:02:00.005-06:00

Thanks to everyone who has helped me get across the finish. The list of people out there who have coached and inspired me is too long. You know who you are.

I finally got my photos. I didn't take many. I REALLY wish I had gotten the sunset over the lake, but the timing didn't work out. All I got was me drinking my champagne at the end, and the swollen ankles and the really bad rash. Heat rash? I never had a rash like that. I'm afraid I didn't pay much attention to anything but keeping myself moving.

I'm not crippled. I was going up and down stairs at work carrying computers like usual. No one had a clue about my weekend. I haven't been hobbling. There have been some temporary aches and sharp spikes, but if I wait, they go away. I think it means I need to take some time with only moderate activity.

Tonight was the Tuesday Wash Park run. I trotted and walked 3 miles - no more. It felt good to run, but I think it would be stupid to try to push my luck. I need several days of rest before I start loading up again.

The Rockies are covered with snow. I think it's too late to scout my 100k course, but maybe I'll give it one last try this weekend.

Boulder 100 Report

2008-10-20T05:08:00.004-06:00

The 12 Hours of Frisco taught me much about being prepared, and past experiences with Gemini Adventures races taught me about some of the temptations that have led many to DNF. They REALLY take care of you! They have more food types than most races. More, probably, than even the LT100. But the best (worst) thing is the heat tent. They have a tent with chairs and a big gas heater. So many people get into one of those chairs at night and never get up.

I bought a box of 1-gallon Ziploc bags. In each was an 11.5oz can of V-8, one gel, 20oz of sport drink, and either a bag of potato chips or a trail bar of some type.
For sport drink, I bought an 8-pack of Gatorade (for the bottles). I mixed some of them half-strength and others had my own mixture of orange R4, Gatorade, and Heed. Between those bottles, and my Ultimate Direction and bike bottles, I had enough for all 14 laps.
I made leashed out of duct tape for the Gatorade bottles.
Even though I didn't use the tempting main aid area, I did use the aid station at the far end. Every time I went through, I grabbed some banana and refilled my bottle.

Each 1-gallon bag contained 400-500 calories in food. With sprot drink calories, it added up to 9500 calories consumed.

Registration for 100's are not cheap, and by supplying myself I forfeited a chunk of money, but I saved a massive amount of time on the course.
Rules allowed us to receive aid anywhere on the course.
The course begins with a .4 mile loop. I stuck my pile of stuff at the junction of this loop.
Aid transition went like this...
If I had a Gatorade bottle, I stripped the duct-tape leash off .8 miles from the turn-around and threw the tape in one of the garbage can along the course, and threw the bottle into a recycle container at .7 miles from the main aid.
If I had an Ultimate Direction bottle, I threw it down and ran empty-handed the last .4 miles.
I'd make sure they recorded my number at the turn-around, then I went back .4 miles to grab a 1-gallon bag. No need to stop. My aid stops consisted of about 3-4 seconds because some bags were geared more for hot sun and some for cold nights, so I had to pay attention. While I walked, I put the food in one pocket, the empty bag in another, and I would drink the V-8 in time to toss it in the recycle bin at .7 miles.
A mile later, I would eat half my food.

So many faster runners would pass me well before the turn-around, then after being on the course for a mile, they passed me again. So I was doing an additional 1-2 miles while they were at the aid stations. That's how affective my few-second aid stops were.

The day was warm and the sun was a scorcher! I was using my beau jest flap on my cap, plus a white bandanna to shield from the sun. Humidity was extremely low - 50-60%, so the dry-rate was extreme. I didn't pee most of the day, but felt fine. At night, I began peeing three times per lap.

The only time I stopped more than 30 seconds the entire race, and the only time I sat was to use the porta-potty during the night. My longest stops were for hugs, and talking to friends I only get to see at races.
Theresa Do from the LT100 was volunteering. Paul Grimm and Paul Gross were both there. Jack from Hard Rock was there at the aid station.
Uli Kamm was there. I walked with him a couple of miles. He's full of sage advice and kept my psyche under control not to go too fast.
Ryan Cooper ran 128 miles in the 24-hour event. GEEZ!! That guy is incredible.
Alene Nitzky also did the 24-hour, but I lost track of her in the dark night. She's always very good company.
The night was particularly dark for the first several hours. And even after that, most people wear head lamps on their foreheads, so you can see their faces.
Mike Quispe and Justin Mock met me during the night. Justin had asked Mike how they would be able to find me, but Mike just said, "Look for tree-trunk legs." Sure enough, "Jeff?" "Yeah? Who are you?" They went about 4 miles with me and kept me laughing the whole way.
Paul Grimm volunteered until 4am, and then he paced me all the way to the finish.

My goal was sub-24 hours, but I was easily managing a 22.5 hour pace. But during the night, I forgot my down vest the first lap I needed it. I didn't get real hypothermic, but I did start shivering. Maybe my building dehydration through the day caught up to me, or my electrolytes weren't right? All I know is three laps were dismal and I fell way off the sub-23 pace.
Then at mile 88, I had this amazing resurge. I've only read about stuff like this. No I wasn't Superman, but it was like when the fever breaks after having the flu. I could run again. So I did. Run-walk-run-walk.
My pace chart allowed me to finish in 23:48, slowing down 2 minutes per lap through the whole race. I didn't follow the chart - it was just something to gauge myself by (and very useful.) I finished in 23:45. How's that for close?
Official cut-off was 30 hours, but seriously, if I can't do this in under 24, then I can't do the LT100 under 30. So to get my revenge, I had to do this under 24.

Also, I got 2nd place!

It was a fantastic time - and now I hurt like hell.

Winter in Wyoming

2008-10-12T12:54:00.006-06:00

I wrote the following Saturday night.

I'm sitting the same place I spent Friday night. I'm a few miles from the Happy Jack exit on I-80 on a ridge. The weather is worse than ever. Ice coats the outside of my car.
In the past, I have "roughed it" to extremes. I've hiked, climbed, and camped in severe blizzards. A few of my adventures were downright death-defying in sub-zero raging winter storms above treeline.
So here I sit inside my steel and glass cocoon, cheating. I have comfy bedding. I've just finished watching I Am Legend for the 2nd time.
Outside, the wind rages, rocking the vehicle. I have the windows barely cracked to let some air pass through. The wind tries desperately to send its rage into my lair.
Am I getting old, or what? All I do is run, now. If I climb a mountain, it's just a training run. If I head out into a winter storm, it's for a short training run - or an aided race. I tell ya - life is so different now.
My soul loves the wind. When I sleep, I like to feel the wind on my cheeks. I like when an occasional snowflake or droplet lands on my cheek. But I sure am woosing-out inside the car.
Oh well...
Time for bed.

Around 11pm, I was awaken by... silence. The wind had stopped. I opened up the rear window and let the clean air in. Then it started snowing lightly.

In the morning, the clouds had lifted sufficiently to give me a very nice view. What a crime that I forgot my camera and was left using my iPhone. I did the best I could with its pathetic camera.

I like shooting. I've been pheasant hunting in the past. I have nothing against guns or hunting. But why do some selfish, ignorant turds have to bring TVs and other garbage out, then shoot it up, and then leave it? It pisses me off for so many reasons. It is SO hard to find a place to shoot in Colorado because so many idiots have caused signs to sprout saying "No Shooting". There were a few nice, free outdoor shooting ranges near Idaho Springs, but each were shut down. They give shooters a bad name.
When I've taken my son shooting, I've always warned him, "We always leave the range better than we found it." I won't clean up everything (I'd need a pickup truck!), but I'll at least clean more garbage than I brought. If everyone did that, piles of junk wouldn't proliferate.

Silent Trails 2008

2008-10-11T14:03:00.008-06:00

This was an experience! WHAT a completely necessary FANTASTIC time!

I drove up straight from work. The weather was nice, the traffic bad, but no auto accidents.

I made it to Cheyenne for dinner, then onwards. Not far out of Cheyenne, in the dark, I drove into a cloud. The next 30 miles were treacherous limited-visibility. Then it started freezing on my windshield. So not only could I not drive the speed limit due to visibility, I had to slow even more for ice. The cloud was only hanging around the ridges.
I took Happy Jack exit to find a place to camp. In the freezing cloud, the mist was billowing across the ground in constant waves. Visibility off the highway was even worse. I don't know what was legal camping and what wasn't, but with visibility sometimes down to 20 feet, I didn't think I'd see another soul - nor would a ranger think of looking for any violators. I don't know where I was - I just drove off into the mist on a dirt road and stopped somewhere.

In the morning, the weather wasn't even a tiny bit better. My car, and my bike outside, were coated in rime-ice.

Alec Muthig and wife Kathy were there, as usual. So was Gail Leedy and Patrick Eastman, people I've met before. Patrick got married this summer.

Things were actually tolerable at the start, but I spent half an hour on the side of the road with a cardboard sign warning people to slow down. In spite of that, several vehicles slid past the turn, but overall, I think I helped keep people out of the ditches. What irony if someone had a car accident at a race in memory of 8 runners who died in an accident.

I felt pretty good at the start of the race. The trail was icy and there were plenty of rocks and tree roots and two streams to leap across. If you add it up, there was maybe 1-2 miles of road, 1-2 miles of double- or wide-track, and the rest was winding single-track through rime-coated aspen and pine. It was MAGICAL! But watch the footing. The few times I had to step on a smooth rock,my foot slid sideways on the ice. My Pearl Izumi's just don't have tread.

Last year, I had a minor asthma attack going up the steepest last part of the major climb. This year, with Albuterol, I had no troubles. I pushed hard, but not 100% because i didn't want to get injured one week before the Boulder 100. It didn't matter - I PR'd anyways. 1:32 (I checked last year's stats - I'm completely missing. So i checked my race report from last year. I neglected to state the finish time, but said I had taken two minutes off my time. So that would mean I took another five minutes off. So, still getting older and faster.
I was 5th in my division. I'm very satisfied, especially since it wasn't a 100% effort.

The post-race is always fantastic. All you can stand to eat. Lots of awards and prizes.

Got My Energy Back

2008-10-06T20:46:00.003-06:00

I've been really tired lately. I actually took Saturday off. My brothers did their usual bit where they say thay want to do something and then they don't. We were going to go gold prospecting, but instead I watched a DVD.

I highly recommend the Chinese movie "2046". It's one of the best movies I've ever seen. Extremely well written, acted, and filmed. Why haven't I heard of this before? No Hollywood marketing campaign behind it, I guess. 2046 won awards at Cannes.

Sunday I ran at Apex Park, which is a pretty rugged trail. I did an 8.6 mile combination. I never felt very good and had to force myself to do interval hill sprints.

Today, I started slow, but after warming up, all my fatigue faded away. I logged 9 miles and finished FAST! I feel great!

I can no longer suggest Knox NutraJoint.
In past years, I could get NutraJoint for $11 with a coupon or on sale. The coupons and sales stopped. I didn't want to pay $18 for a little can, so I waited for it to go on sale again. Instead, the price shot up to $28 a can! Geez! There's no way I'm paying that! But that's not all - now its $38 a can. Thirty-eight! Dollars! US!
Buy Jello and take calcium suppliments.

Friday Ramblings

2008-10-03T22:22:00.005-06:00

The woman in red & black. I see all sorts of incredible women at Wash Park, but this one that was wearing red & black on Tuesday has caught my attention.
Don't get me wrong - I have no intention of starting anything with anyone. My past is paved with a perfect record - every woman who I tried to have a relationship with now hates my guts. I've discovered too much happiness alone, I'm selfish about my freedom, and I love to run. Why screw with what works?
Wednesday, I saw her again. I swear she runs a half-marathon every day. She has to be doing 5 laps, or maybe more.
Thursday, she was there again!
Now Friday night, and she was still out there.
I am very curious about her, but she wears ear-buds. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if a person crams earbuds in their ears, and they don't ever make eye-contact, then they want to tune-out the world and don't want you to bother them, right?

I've been averaging a bit more than 8 miles per evening.
By the end of August, I ran more miles than all of last year. Now I've done 200 miles more than last year.
It's nice to be healthy. I have been having occasional sharp pains in both feet since the beginning of summer, but since it hasn't been constant, I haven't slacked. Still, with so many people I know getting severe sprains, stress-fractures, knee surgery, and other issues, I'm trying to be cautious and not take anything for granted.

There's a marathon tomorrow morning easy driving distance from Denver and I decided not to run it. I'm going to spend time with either my brothers of my son, or all of them.

Recently, my head has been sweating like crazy. The temps are cooling off, but I'm sweating so much that I have to wear a bandanna to soak up the sweat lest it run constantly down. A cap isn't enough. I tried wearing a cap and then dabbing and wiping with a bandanna in my hand, but since the sun sets so early, I don't really need a cap bill, so I now go running like a pirate, wearing the bandanna on top. I'm just a hot-head.

Next week, I have the 10-mile Silent Trails race in Wyoming. I really like this race. I get to meet another group of people I don't normally see, yet they all love to run trails like I do.

Two weeks from now is the Boulder 100. It's a boring course, but I'm really looking forward to it. I know I'll have lots of fun. It's not the course, it's the company I keep! Oh, and the view of the Front Range helps. At the 12-hour of Frisco, I learned some extra things about self-crewing that ought to keep me moving faster through the turn-arounds. V-8, V-8, lots of pre-filled sport-drink in any kind of bottle I can fill - it doesn't have to be an Ultimate Direction bottle. I bought a bunch of Gatorade in smaller bottles. I can fill them with my preferred mixture of Heed, Gatorade, and Pretpetuem.

And last-but-not-least, I stumbled on this blog in bloody-ol' England. The photos are well worth the visit...
Sarah' and Iain's blog
So check out the wiki. It is absolutely beautiful - for a place with no trees and still low elevation. They even run in the famed Brecon Beacons.