March 2013

March was a pretty solid month for me, even if the long run efforts left something to be desired.  I was happy with my race at Salida given that I knocked off almost 20 minutes from 2012.  I know I've got time in me for that race, especially since I essentially ran the same race to the halfway point both years.  The shorter races definitely take a different mindset that I simply haven't mastered, and the ability to go hard from the off.

In terms of pure training, I was happy with my totals.  I hit my goal of 350 miles and 60K of vert (369.24 +60,054) and it wraps up my biggest month of vertical ever.  In April I've set my sights on pushing out the miles to 400 and the vert to 65K.  We'll see about that, but I've got a few big runs coming up to test me for sure.  First up is the Cedro Peark 45M in 2 weeks and R2R2R the following week.  I want to crank it at Cedro and hang on for the next weekend.  Hopefully I'll be able to keep the wheels turning into May and be able to race solidly at Quad Rock before tapering for Bighorn.

Lastly, there's a fun video put together from the Orcas Island 50K back in February.  I'm in it a handful of times, but you can follow a few tired strides of mine about 3:20 in or so.  Definitely worth a watch, really shows some of the beauty of the island.

Orcas Island 50k - 2013 from Project Talaria on Vimeo.

Salida 2013

After all the chatter of weather, we arrived this morning to a bone dry Salida.

A brisk start was easy chatter up around the mini starting loop, but as we hit the road, I drifted way off the pack.  I was feeling OK, but just didn't have the turnover to hang as 25+ guys left me in the dust.  My legs took a while to warm up to the trail, and really lagged on the dirt road to the turnaround.  Luckily, I managed to clean my act up after hitting halfway at just over 1:50 in.  

Aside from some blowing snow and my lack of hat/sun glasses the trail conditions were pretty ideal, whatever ice was around had a nice coating of snow to add some traction. The middle section of the course is my favorite, steep and nasty downhills let me really make up some ground and just before the final short climb I had moved my way into 13th.  I dropped off a bit in energy and Paul caught me and ran with me up to the final aid station.  We made a wrong turn shortly after which added a bit of time (not much, really) and as Paul accelerated down the smooth trail, I attempted to match his pace, puked up my gel, and backed off to settle down.

In the end, Paul got me by almost a full minute, a great race there at the end.  I was stoked to run nearly 20 minutes faster than last year, and felt strong pretty much the entire second half of the run with a big negative split.  To run faster, I'd need to put in some actual speed-work as I lost a lot of time on the smooth sections, and particularly that 4 miles of road early on.

Results

The best thing about Salida remains the low key "family reunion" feel of the race.  Friends I've not seen in a few months all seem to show up and we get to chatter about the year's plans and where we'll see each other next.

Big props go to Keith for couching the marathon from sea level in primo fashion.  The pizza, beer, and corn whiskey from Moonlight was much deserved.

As usual, the drive home was the toughest part, driving back into the storm on tired legs...

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.