Committed

I had mentioned that I'd been keeping an eye on Quad Rock, well now that eye is set and done.  I'm in, I'm committed.

Should be interesting, and there will be some solid comp too, so just having a good day is the goal.  Climb, descend, repeat.  Three weeks post big ditch puts it at the perfect time.

I recently reread this piece, which has sort of been my unofficial motto for a few years now.  So my plan? Race hard, see what happens.

Salida looks to be getting snow Friday night and Saturday, which should make things more fun, in my opinion.  Getting home seems to be the only issue.

February 2013

288 miles (+48,381').

Missed one day of running which meant I missed my arbitrary goal of 300/50K' by one day's worth of stats. I've committed myself to letting arbitrary numbers go and simply doing what the day gives me without forcing it.  That said, March's arbitrary goal is 350/60K'.  More of this is simple base building and I think this year has begun quite well in that measure as I feel fit and I was able to get in more mileage and about four times the vertical than I have in the previous 5 years of running.

Last year I ran 250 miles in February and 19K of vertical.  So, the climbing is coming a bit more natural, although I've still a long way to go to be where I want to be.  Overall, I'm really happy with where I am and where I'll be in the build up to Bighorn.  I've been keeping my eye on Clarkie's Quad Rock rego list and as each passing day goes by I get more and more desire to race.

This coming weekend is Salida, of course, and hopefully this massive head cold passes and I avoid another 2012 race.  Otherwise, things are well in the running world and I'm really excited for a bunch of exploring and running every bit of unexplored trail and non trail on "my" Green Mountain.  Stoked to be heading down to the ditch with a great group of guys who "get it". More and more, I'm also excited to get this Bighorn monkey off my back (and to keep my HR status up).

Sunday

Motivation

It seems that the Orcas Island kick in the pants along with some gradual gains in fitness have begun to stoke the fire again.  Funny how that works itself out after a nice long break.  Plans are set in motion for the year and I'm finally feeling comfortable about how things will play themselves out.

About a month or so ago I was really searching for motivation, and voiced some concern in regards to fitness/recovery to Todd on a run around Green.  Since we've moved to the foothills my weekly vertical has jumped by about 5,000' or more per week (as a reference, my biggest month ever was June of 2011 with 444 miles and +35,473, this January I ran 250 miles and +33,685').  Needless to say, the first 5-6 months were rough on my body, and I was not able to comfortably gain the mileage I'd wanted to prior to Orcas Island, feeling wiped after every run.  Todd had mentioned a similar fatigue after moving from the Highlands to Morrison a few years previous, so it was nice to know that I was at least in a normal phase of "adaptation".

The week prior to Orcas I managed to kick out some decent runs and since then I've been waking up feeling fresher than I'd been in the past, and it seems that the body is beginning to take the vertical and mileage in stride.  Despite some lingering soreness in the days immediately following the race (4 hours in a car and 3 in a plane are poor recovery tools), I've felt great since and am looking forward to Salida.

I've seemed to nail down my race plans for 2013 as well, though I've got some considering to do on a few things.  April is a trip to the Grand Canyon for the R2R2R and is locked in!  Originally I'd planned on doing a double Buchanan/Pawnee pass loop in May, but it's likely not going to be accessible for a running option that early and will likely be pushed back to July or August.  I've been considering running Quad Rock as a tune up for Bighorn which I've confirmed for June after talking with the wife.  I am not a fan of loop courses, though I do love the trails up there and I can't make it to Jemez this year because Rachel's 5K shares the weekend.

I'm planning to recover from Bighorn through June and early July, then just have fun in the high mountains through August.  I do want to go back to the Mt. Werner 50K, but it looks to be too close to Bighorn for me and I want to make sure I'm recovered and rested before launching the second half of the year.  Late September I'm planning on checking out the Devil Mountain 50 down in Pagosa followed by Deadman Peaks 50 in October as part of a build up to Hellgate in December.  Obviously focusing on a few things: being ready and fit for Bighorn and Hellgate.  I want to leave the latter part of summer and early fall for what makes Colorado awesome, big mountain running and camping with Rachel and the boys.

For now, it's simply time to get fit and have fun in the hills.

Orcas Island 50K

What a race. What a venue. I'd had Orcas Island on my radar since racing Sun Mountain a couple of years ago, so when James sent me a tempting note, I was in without blinking an eye.  I have a special affinity for the northwest, its weather, and climate.  The only downside to coming out to race in February was that it is about 2 months early!  I did my best to get as ready as I could, but the training leading up to the race was perhaps less than ideal.  So, I insisted to myself that because I'd come down from altitude, that'd make up for the fitness deficit.  All in all, I can't complain, the race was truly amazing.

I flew in and joined the list of runners missing the early ferry to the island.  In any case, I met some nice folks from Oregon and passed the time.  After getting lost on the island I managed to settle in and grab some food and a beer before heading to sleep.

Race morning was uneventful, and as the race was underway I was quickly unsure as to how things would pan out.  I knew it wasn't gonna be an excellent day (likely left the weekend prior on Falcon, dammit) but it wasn't gonna be a terrible day either.  Dead climbing legs meant getting passed constantly on the climbs and by the top of the first big one I was essentially where I'd be the rest of the day, around 20th.  I let it rip a bit on the first descent for the most part, and that was super fun.  

Photo: Glenn Tachiyama

I couldn't get a grip on where we were in relation to the course because I was too sucked into the surroundings, the big views, and the thick old growth forest.  Attempting to gain back some time, I promptly slammed my face off the ground.  That's the nice part of the northwest though, it's all so soft and forgiving!  That kind of fall could have ended my race back home, so I counted my lucky stars and managed to stay upright the rest of the way back home.

Initially going into the run, I had hoped I might be able to hit the 5 hour mark, but that quickly fell apart with my legs around the 2 or 3 hour mark.  I lost a lot of time on the powerline climb (not too different than the Pb version, just steeper, shorter, and lower).  Towards the top of Mt. Constitution I resigned a bit,and enjoyed my hike until I reached the summit.   When Jason Louitt passed me, I tried to go with him for about 200 yards before the fatigue hit me again.  I wasn't in pain per say, just had nothing in the legs, which is pretty easily deduced to the whole training issue.  All in all, I felt good all day, never had any terrible stretches, so hopefully that means that the endurance piece is coming, if slowly.  In the end, I finished in 5:25, which is still pretty solid for a race with +8755' of gain (in reference, the fire course at Jemez "only" has +20' of gain over 20 more miles).

So, what did I learn from this? I learned that the northwest is still awesome, you should definitely make space for your bucket list races, Washington folk really like their weed, and single ply TP sucks.

Also, James (Rainshadow Running) puts on badass races.  Thanks again for the wonderful time, I'll be back for more.  Big ups to Skaggs for dumpster diving the sparkling wine at RVR, which likely contributed to some excellent dance moves.

Lastly, but not least, thanks to Drymax (yet another blister free day), and Highgear for keeping me going.  2013 figures to be a great year of fun and running.

Ending the Offseason

The offseason is coming to a close and I'm still struggling a bit to find my groove in training, though admittedly it's starting to come back despite some setbacks.

Family photos.

I have a race in a month and I'm slightly uneasy about my fitness going in.  The specifics of the race are really intriguing as it's 50K at sea level with nearly 9K of vertical.  The distance is not crazy, but I don't really feel comfortable running that hard for 5+ hours yet, so my main focus is going to be endurance in the coming weeks.  Over Christmas we traveled back to CA to visit my family and I ran my Simas Peak route (15+ miles/+4,100') in 2:17 going what felt like 80%.  I pushed hard with sustained effort on the climbs, but did not push the downs at all, just controlled.  Logically though, it's not likely I'll be able to duplicate that effort for 30+ miles, so I guess my goal is to try and be as close to 5 hours as possible.  With a new course it's hard to really have any prediction of what my time will be, and the Ultrasignup "goal time" calculation is just BS (it predicts an 11+ hour finish for Diana Finkel at Jemez. She ran 9:30 last year...).  So, who knows, my running lately has left much to be desired.

Part of the offseason I'm trying to kick the habit of was some sickness.  I caught a virus from my kids that unfortunately wiped me out the 3 days surrounding my birthday/new year.  I had zero energy and trouble eating for those days and generally lost the desire to do much of anything besides sleep and lay around.  Hopefully that's behind me, but you never know with these damned kids around.

The highlight of the offseason for me was the reintegration of some actual sport in my life.  I started playing indoor soccer again with a fun group of guys who all happen to be talented.  Specifically we're playing futsal, which is a much better version of the typical indoor game in my opinion and it's helped me work a bunch of muscles that I hadn't used in a while.  Initially I thought I'd just play this season and take the running year off, but I'm considering more and more the idea of continuing through the year.  It's been a lot of fun, and while I've picked up some bruises, it's generally been beneficial for my physical fitness and helps break up the training.

Current standings.  We are "RUSH".

Aside from that, my planning for the 2013 ultra year has been pretty quiet.  I've pretty well nailed down some ideas for what I'd like to do, but still uncertain in some areas.  I obviously have Orcas Island 50K on 2/2 and then Salida on 3/9, but after that the race schedule is generally quiet.  Rachel and I still have yet to finalize some stuff in regards to an anniversary trip which will likely include a race for both of us.  I'm excited that it looks as though I'm going to be able to check off a major bucket list item, the Grand Canyon R2R2R over the weekend of April 20th with Donnie.  The only way I want to see it for the first time is to really see it, all of it, on a single run.

Some other things in the works are a "Fat Ass" which I'm looking to do linking some trails from my house over Green, to Mother Cabrini, Lookout Mountain, Golden, and then back.  It's somewhere between 31 and 36 miles depending on what you take to get there.  I need to scout the section from MW to Cabrini to Apex as it involves a fair amount of off trail bushwhacking, but it'll be sweet.  I might actually try this sooner rather than later if I can find a good way though to Apex.

Roughly the idea.

Also in the works for the summer is a Front Range traverse starting at Lookout Mountain and heading south.  This is something that I've chatted with Todd about for 2 years, so this feels like the year to get it done.

I'm leaning towards running my 100 at Bighorn for some redemption (depending on what I decide on Cascade Crest), and using a super long fun run as a way to get ready.  The idea is a Buchanon/Pawnee/Pawnee/Buchanon double loop.  Simple idea is to start at night, drive up around midnight, and start the Buchanon direction first.  Finish the loop proper back at the car, refuel and head out in the opposite direction.  The wilderness aspect of the race would be good preparation for a race like Bighorn which lacks substantial support for long periods in the middle of nowhere.  The loop would be in the range of 52-54 miles and +13K of vert, so solid training and a good excuse to hang out in the Indian Peaks.  I think mid-May would be good target so long as it isn't still packed in with snow.

2012 Recap

Been pretty quiet lately on the blog.  Mostly I've been busy with work and life, trying to get things in order and running when I can.  Rather than write a huge post in regards to the year, I'm posting some photos to help speed it along.

Final figures for 2012:

277 Runs

498 Hours

50 Minutes

19 Seconds

3156.39 Miles

341,907 Vertical Feet

Snowmass Lake from the 4 pass loop run.

Camping with friends.

This burned down.

My best friend got married.

We bought our first house. I can now run trails from my front door.

Ran my first track race.

Kicked JT's ass.

Won my first 50M race.

Awesome photo from said race. Photo: Jason Halladay

Hung out high on some big peaks.

Oliver was small to start.

We hung out.

He got bigger.

And then he got stuck.

Ran some other races. DNF'd a bunch.

Found the limits of the Subi.

Finally don't have to worry about losing that damn ring.

Xavier went to his first soccer game.

Xavier grew up, dropped his first curse word at school, and beat his mom bowling.

An unfortunate sickness mellowed my plan for any fun on my birthday, but the year was a great one by any measure.  I'm looking forward to lots of fun in 2013.  Haven't really nailed down any running plans after March, but I've got a month to get ready for Orcas Island, and then another few weeks to prep for Salida.  After that, it's anybody's guess where I'll be, but hopefully I can pull off the Grand Canyon trip with Donnie, and either Bighorn or Cascade Crest.  My resolution is to get up Green Mountain (here in Lakewood) 100 times.  Started out with one slow ascent today.  See ya on the trails this year, bitches!