Redmond Watershed 12 Hour

Short: 64.9 miles, 2ND place (under 40)

Long Version ...
Even though it's only 25 minutes to the start from my house, I carpooled to the race with Shawn. I figured that would keep us both there longer if things didn't go as planned. It was supposed to rain so I brought an extra pair of shoes and socks and a long sleeve shirt just in case. I wasn't to worried about the weather because the trees are so thick and the trail was really dry from the lack of rain.
We got to the start as planned with just over 1/2 hour to prepare. One of the volunteers had hand made some really nice hats. It's not my thing but Jenn loved it and maybe I'll get a few SPOF credits for it. ;)
My goals for the race were.
1. Win and defend my title. Well Sam Thompson and Brandon Sybrowsky had both signed up to run so I figured my chances were slim but I was going to lie down.
2. Run a 10 min. mile for 12 hours. This would give me 72 miles and the under 40 course record.
3. Get at least a 1 hour PR over last year(get to 59.5 mile in under 11:00).
4. Finish, no DNF (no quiting with more than ~12 minutes left)

I started off good, running my own race and not getting caught up in the fast pace of the competition. I found myself quickly alone. I was a little behind the 2nd pack and way ahead of any third pack that might have been back there. After the 1st lap which was around 51 minutes I was feeling great but I was tired of running alone so I decided to try to listen to some music. That kept my mind busy for a while. The 1st 26 miles just came and went. I was running about 6.3 mph and past by the marathon mark at 4:12 and then the 50k mark in about 5:03. Those are good times for me if that as far as I was going but I wasn't even to the 1/2 way point yet.
The sun came out and made for a great day not too hot not too cold. And the rain that came early in the day was more like a mist than a rain.
Some where on my 7th lap I started to slow down. There was about 10 or so miles there where I struggled. I wasn't eating or drinking much and it felt like if I did it would come back up anyway. I did manage to get in a GU per lap during that time which kept me from completely bonking. Laps 7(1:08 including a pit stop), 8(1:06), and 9(1:06) were all over an hour and were the lowest part of the race. My energy level was zero and emotional level was right behind it. (why am I here, etc.) I passed by 50 miles in 8:45, that's 14 minutes slower than Mt. Si. I had to do something to get out of this funk I was in, so I changed the station on my headphones. That seemed to bring me the rest of the way back to life because I did the last two big loops right at an hour each. Alex the overall winner and new course recorder holder of nearly 80 miles was the runner to pass me all day, but he did it twice!
On to the small loops. I would normally like the small loop better than the big one because of all the roots and rocks and sharp corners. But I was getting tired and there is a lot of the trail that slopes badly to the left and that really bugs my hips and I felt like if I ran faster I would just be tearing myself up. So I took it easy and did 8?(I think) small loops. And with about 10 minutes left I decided I had had enough.

Follow up:
Monday, Today my quads are completely trashed. I hammered the downhills for all 12 hours. Looking at my speed graph I was still hitting 8 mph on the downhills even in my 11th loop.
Other bloggers that were there: TC, Eric B., Kendall K.
Goals 1 and 2 failed
Goal #3 1:12 PR (1:12 left when I reach 59.5 miles)
Goal #4 Done.

Tacoma Marathon Review

The Tacoma Marathon is a very memorable marathon and not just because I ran it with my wife. It is one of the most visually interesting and diverse marathons I've run. There are new and old neighborhoods that range from pristine to run-down. Some that made you want to run faster (for your life) and even some that are historical and amazing. There are views of mountains and bridges and the ocean. You run through downtown and city parks and along the waterfront and even through some thick woods at the zoo. You run under bridges and over bridges and past bridges and even through a couple of tunnels. There were even a few places that made you want to stop and take in the view for a few minutes, but we didn't. One of Jenn's favorites was the water feature on the front of the Russell Investment building. I thought she was going to run over and start playing in it. I usually see about 5% of the volunteers looking like they are doing court mandated community service, but not on this marathon. Every single person that was involved in volunteering out on the course had a smile for us or something positive to say.

Happy Mothers Day / Tacoma Marathon

6:07 Congrats Jenn!!!



...Story to follow...

Random thoughts from Jenn ...
...I felt good until mile 9, then my toes felt like they were in a vice
...I really enjoyed how friendly and supportive the running community is.
...Everyone was FANTASTIC
...Flitting aches and pains in legs, and buttocks for the rest of the race
...Somehow, I missed mile 17. Went from 16 to 18, I felt like I was flying!
...I remember smiling alot - not sure why...but, I knew it was important
...I was completely impressed with the support of my husband - I know that he was having as much fun as I was, I wouldn't of done it alone and couldn't of asked for a better partner.
...I was determined to run the last 2 miles, but it was probably only a mile, maybe a mile and half.
...Came home and cursed at the flippin' ice bath.
...I really wanted a big hamburger - I don't think I've ever been so hungry and sick feeling at the same time!

We had to get up at 4:00 am to have enough time to drop the kids off at Granny's house and still make it to the early start time of 6:00 am. I think that was the hardest part of the whole day.
I really wasn't paying much attention to the course but it did have a lot of short hills. And a ton of great views.
Jenn was awesome. She didn't complain much and laughed at all my jokes regardless if they were funny or not. She says she is going to stick to 1/2's from now on but we'll see. I'll give her a week or so and then try to get her hooked.

My feet started to hurt after about 5 hours and I made sure she knew it was all her fault.;) Other than that not much to report.
I had a good workout at the Redmond Watershed on Saturday. Which I probably ran too hard and too fast.

Happy Birthday Nicolette

For a year and a half Nicolette has been waiting to turn 5 so she could ride on Dad's Warrior. We went around the block. I figured that was far enough for her first ride. She loved it.
With my dad in the hospital all week I only was able to fit in 15.5 miles, but they were all at a good pace. I cut my Saturday run 8 miles short because things just weren't feeling right. I guess the two 2 1/4 mile runs Tuesday and Thursday, on cement, were a little too fast.
On Saturday I finally saw some dear at Lake Youngs. It's been since last summer and I was starting to get worried. We saw 2 different pairs or 1 really fast and curious pair.

Update

NEWS FLASH >>> They just sent him home this morning Friday 5-4

My dad is up and walking around after his bypass surgery (4 grafts) on Tuesday morning May 1st. The surgery took less time than they thought and his recovery is ahead of the curve. He might be home in 2 days.

Profile of 12 summits (red) and Capitol Peak 55k (blue). Without any snow that Capitol Peak was way easier than 12 summits and now I see why. Of course that's just my opinion.

Capitol Peak ...

Tuesday I did 4 easy miles and Thursday I did 4 fast miles.

Friday I went down early to run the 50 miler down in the Capitol Forest. I got a call from my wife who got a call from a friend of my dad's around 9:30. It was his 69th birthday and he had flat lined while out dancing at the Auburn Eagles. They were very panicked. My dad walks everyday and eats way better than I do, so this was a huge surprise to everyone. They were doing CPR and waiting for an Ambulance.
I had to get up there and fast. So I took Shawn's car and hauled up to Auburn Medical. When I got there he was having a procedure done to open up 2 of his arteries. After a while they wheeled him past on his way up to ICU. He looked good considering he was drugged, unconscious and tubed. The Dr. told us about his condition. He said they wouldn't take the tube out or let him wake up until Saturday night(24 hours). And his heart was just as good as it was when he woke up that morning. So I had to figure out what to do next. Do I sit in the hospital all night and watch him sleep(there were 4 people doing that already, my sister, his girlfriend and 2 of his friends) or do I bring Shawn's car back and get her to her race. I had left her there so she could sleep even though she was quick to say she would come with me and forget the 50 miler. I probably said something about she wasn't getting out of it that easy but I don't remember. I decided he would be fine without me there and he had enough people looking after him and he wouldn't be any better off if I left until morning. I was on the phone for most of the drive down to the motel so it went by fast and I was back in bed before 2:00am.
I got another update call in the morning before we left updating me and confirming that nothing would change until Saturday night. So I decided to run the race and then be back before they woke him up. I figured it would help me to relax and de-stress a little and keep my mind off it for a while.

The Race.
We started off in the dark. There was Eric, Karen, Shawn, and I and 5 or 6 others and Shela. I needed another 15 minutes to prepare but when the "gun" goes off you gotta go! First thing, I was rusty at running in the dark. I couldn't see anything. It was warm and by the 1 mile mark I was sweating even though we were going at a very easy pace. By mile 2 I had shed my gloves and windbreaker. I think everybody else did pretty much the same thing. The pack thinned out quickly. It was Eric, Shawn and I up front followed a ways back by Karen and one other person. By the first aid station Karen and her companion were no where in sight.
It was a beautiful morning. The sun was up and it was warm. I would have never figured Capitol Peak could be so nice. We were running easy all the way through A/S 2 and 3. Shela and I were taking turns at spider web duty but she doesn't do a very good jog so I was still taking mouthfuls of them and after a while I got smart and grabbed a twig to bat them down.
We finally got passed by a 50 mile regular starter and the winner, Jim Kirby, at the 3rd A/S which was also the Start/Finish line. We had been running so easy up to this point, I felt the need to push a little on some of the uphills by just continuing the same pace until I felt labored or until Shawn would start to walk. I also felt Eric was running to easy and wanted him to step it up a little so his Marathon on Sunday would be a little tougher workout. He can't just coast all day and expect to do well at Western!
I felt so good climbing up Capitol Peak. I don't know how to describe it. I had only gotten 1 1/2 hours sleep but it didn't seem like it affected me at all. Shawn said that her knee had made itself known and that she wanted to take it easy on the downhills. What a spoil sport. I love flying down the downhill. ;) I was a good wing man and kept the pace reasonable but still made her push it once in a while.
I'm still amazed at how nice the trail was. Very little mud and NO SNOW! I even have a tan line on my legs. I passed the marathon mark at 5:34 and then pulled into the 6th A/S. I talked with Shawn for almost 7 minutes and we decided to take it easy and change to the 55k and skip the extra 15 mile loop. Her knee would be better served by the shorter distance and my mind wasn't being distracted enough to be out there any longer. So we headed to the finish and Eric went off to do the extra 15 miles and we never saw him again.
After finishing our food we picked up the pace. Our mile times were from 8:43 to 10:50.
We finished in 7:14. After a nice cold soak in the creek I had some soup and a beer (thanks Bill). We hung out for a little while but I needed to get back.

Today I feel great. I don't feel like I ran 35 miles or even 20 miles.
My dad is a wake, his memory is back, he's stable and just laying around, complaining, and waiting for his turn to be cracked open for heart bypass surgery.

Photo's by Glenn!!!






Best shot of me running ... Ever!!!

Mt. Si

After a hard 12 summits last weekend, I took it real easy this week. I figured I'd need my strength to run strong for 50 miles.

Short version: 8:31, PR by 57 minutes, missed goal by 11 minutes.
Long Version:
I slept in Again. Turns out my Alarm clock is set 1 day a head so it thought Sunday was Monday and didn't go off until 5:45. I heard about that when I got home! So I get to the start with 10 minutes to get ready and with about 30 seconds to spare I get to the crowd near the starting line. And off we went. My plan for the day was to run no faster than a 9 m/m unless I was free falling some short hill, and to run no slower than a 10 m/m even on the hills.

With no time for mental preparation I start running like a madman at 10k pace. It took nearly a mile, but I finally reigned myself in to much smarter pace. 1st mile, 8:34 oops, 2ND mile 9:19. That's closer but I really should 9:45 at the fastest.
Right at about 2 miles I passed about 12 people that were all walking up a short but fairly steep hill. I guess they went out too fast and are tired already? Just kidding. I ran fairly even mile splits down to the 10 mile turn around (the lowest point of the course, Time:1:33, 7 min. head) and back to the 14 mile A/S. Time: 2:14, 6 min. ahead I spent an extra minute or so here filling my bottle with the toxic drink they had. (I tested everything from there on, before it went into my bottle) I had to pour it out after 2 miles and went the rest of the way to the 20 mile A/S with no water. Time: 3:10, 10 min. ahead.

This is where I picked up my pacer Shawn "gimpy" Lawson. She would be my pacer by bike. There's no way I could spend 5+ hours sitting on a bike seat. Hat's off to a great pacer with buns of steel. She gave me the low down on how the front runners were doing and how far a head the runners that she thought I should pass were. It took a while to get into a rhythm and at the 29 mile A/S we had pretty much figured it out. I still would like to spend less time just standing around trying to figure out what looks good, but it was a lot faster than if I'd been by myself. Time @ 50k 5:10, buffer gone.

Somewhere between 30 and 34 miles I started to doubt my strategy. I was still running strong and about at the 10 m/m pace I wanted, but running at the same pace for 50 miles doesn't really match the course elevation profile. I should have tried to run slightly slow from 10 to 34 miles which is slightly up hill the whole way. Oops! This is the plan I made and I'm sticking to it. There was a bit of a surprise at 34 miles. The A/S was moved so we had to run down a very steep hill for about 100 yards and then turn around and right back up it. I flew down the hill and had to use the closed steal gate to stop myself. Time: 5:48, 3 min. behind. I took the opportunity to get a little extra food in while walking back up. Maybe too much food! I got to the top and figured I could make up some time on the down hill.
Right at 36 miles I was sucking on a Gel and that gave me a slight gag reflex, which has happened 100's of times before, no biggie. Well this time I got a tiny bit of bile and that triggered an instantaneous explosion of 2 1/2 bottles of drink 3 gels and a half a bottle of espresso drink, and some chips. Wow I never knew my stomach was that big! Thinking back I was the slightest bit queasy from trying to push to pace for the last 2 miles to the 34 mile turn around. Live and learn. Good news was I felt so good after getting sick I was running faster, and much lighter on my feet. It felt like I was making up time all the way to the 40 mile A/S. Time:6:45, 5 min. behind.

The last 10 miles were run until I felt like walking and then I'd walk for under a minute. At the end I was running out of energy and all systems were failing fast. It was probably all in my head because I knew I couldn't meet my 8:20 goal.

Overall I had a great day. I might have been able to run the 8:20 if I had run a little smarter but I'm still happy with my performance. And now I know I can get sick, toss my lunch and come back strong.

It was great to see so many 1st time 50k and 50 mile runners out giving it their all.
Since I didn't have my camera with me and I haven't "borrowed" anybody pictures yet here is some interesting information.

The red is the elevation for 12 Summits the Green is Mt. Si 50 miler.

Mileage: 54 for the week/510 for the year

12 summits

This week started out with a continuation of last week. I'm just trying to remember how to run without stopping to walk the hills, because there are no hills at the Mt. Si 50 miler.
Monday 0
Tuesday: After dinner (Turkey Soft Tacos) I did 10 miles on the very flat Cedar River Trail. My average pace was 6.2 mph, max speed was 7 mph. I felt really good and I was having a hard time keeping my speed down at the end. The last miles were at and then under 9:00 m/m.
Wednesday 0
Thursday: After dinner (Clam Chowder) I ran around Lake Youngs. I did the 9.6 miles in an average pace of 6.8 mph and a max of 8.3 mph. I know not an even pace but I was tired of running 10 minute miles. I tried to do the first mile slow, 9:19 and the last mile slow 9:26 but the rest were not, 2 miles right at 9 m/m, 5 miles at 8:45 or faster and one at 8:10. It felt real good to run a quicker pace.
Friday 0
Saturday: 12 Summits, 34 miles, over 10,000 elevation gain, 4.1 mph avg, 8.7 max. You can read about it from Eric or Tc.
It was a good run with good company. The weather and trail conditions were perfect. I was sure I'd be only doing 10 or 11 summits because Eric and TC are way faster than I am. Tc was his usual tour guide for the first timer Eric. Telling him to go easy on the ups or you'll be sorry on the way back. "you're gonna want to walk this one" he'd say as he ran up ahead. It didn't seem like either one of them was working very hard. As for me I was ready, as usual, to turn around 3/4 the way up the 1st summit. But since I was out front a little nobody noticed. I slowed and TC went screaming past me. At least I didn't get an elbow as he went by. ;) Just kidding, he only does that in races. We arrived at the top of our 1st summit and it was fogged in, so without haste we headed down and up to our 2nd and then 3rd summits, both also fogged in.

Disco?

The journey to our next summit is much longer almost an hour. There are still a few blown downs so following the trail can be difficult. The section from the Christmas tree to where you cross the Preston trail is runnable in both directions and some of my favorite trail. I felt good and was running as fast or as slow as I wanted. We hit the road up to our 4th summit and Tc didn't do his usual extra up and down. He said he wasn't feeling fresh but I think he was saving up for later. This summit was also fogged in and I was starting to think it would be like that all day. It's logging road nearly all the way to the next summit. We run and talked about Imus and other things. I didn't even know who this guy was a week ago. The road dead ends about 100 yards from the 5th summit and it's straight up from there. I decided to run it to see if I could get Eric to follow. He didn't. So I pulled out my camera and just waited at the top.

Down the back side is some real good downhill running trail. But after only 4 1/2 minutes Tc said he wanted to Not take a left and continue down this beautiful downhill section. So we went straight which was steeper and more rocky and overgrown and much slower. He blamed it on Glenn. After running back up a logging road we met up with the "real" trail and then the dog leg to our 6th summit. On the last section to the turn around we only saw 2 people and 1 dog. No horses or groups of 8 family members out for a hike. I know the keys were in here somewhere!

We had a nice long break at the car before heading back. I stiffened up a little from all the standing around (12 minutes) but it only took a few minutes to get back into the grove. I felt like I was lagging behind a little until we got near the dog leg to South Tiger. I guess my meal started to kick in at the top. I purposefully had been going easy on the gel and had only had 1 on the way out to the turn around. When we got back down to our gear I wasted no time. I was moving before I even had my pack on. I knew they would pull away from me once we hit the road. I really had to push to keep up on the road and Eric had to do the same on the trail. Once we started the climb up to Middle Tiger we really spread out. I figured we would but I thought it would be me bringing up the rear. Tc was 1 switchback ahead of me and Eric was 1 switchback behind. Tc waited for us in the sun on the backside of the summit. It was the same story on the way to East Tiger but this time Tc threw in a 100 yard hill repeat. We headed out down into the woods and got some good running on the way to the Christmas tree. From there it was more walk than run up to Tiger #1. While I waited for Tc and Eric I took some pictures and gave Shela a snack.

We ran down and up to Tiger #2 where we were treated to a nice 3/4 moon from some "picnickers" up by the communication towers. After a few minutes of laughing we run over to Tiger #3. Tc went down the "#3 freeway" and I treated Eric to a trip down the very steep and technical Nook trail. I like the Nook because no matter how tired you may be you're going to work hard getting down to the bottom. After getting Shela one last drink and washing my shoes in a stream we met Tc at the cars. It took him a few tries but Eric finally talked us into stopping for a snack while he picked up a Pizza for his wife.
Sunday: I did a jog, shuffle, walk with the kids for 3.25 miles easy miles. I was pushing them in the bike trailer but it was still an easy run.

Today my quads are still on fire from 12 summits. I think after an easy week they'll be really ready to do Mt. Si.
Total: 57

Miles, Miles and More Miles (eggs, eggs & more eggs)

This was the highest (non race week) mileage week in a real long time.

Monday:
Zero, I take most Mondays off. Usually because of a Race or Double from the weekend.
Tuesday:
2.4 miles, I did a hill workout on the treadmill. It always seems like I've been on it for hours, then I look down and I 'm just getting to a half a mile.
Wednesday: 7.1
Tempo run. In preparation for Mt Si 50 miler, I'm trying to teach my legs to run at the same slow pace (about 6.2 mph) on flat or on the ups or downs. Except for a few seconds here and there, I ran between 6.2 & 7 mph the whole way. I put an Aerobics DVD in before I went running so I could jump into it without letting my heart rate drop. And as soon as I ran in the door, Jenn and I did 40 minutes of hardcore cardio and boot camp aerobics. Avg. 6.0 mph.
Thursday: 6.1
Another Tempo run. This time I set my watch to beep annoyingly at me whenever I went too fast or slow. My speed was much more controlled (no 8.3 mph like yesterday)Avg. 6.1 mph. Time 59:59.1 (I said I'd be back in an hour ;)
Friday: 0
Zero miles but I did spend 9 hours on my feet watching the kids so Jenn could go to the office for a day off. I need to do this more often. My feet were killing me!
Saturday: 18.4 up at 4:30 am!
I wanted to run 2 tempo laps around the lake but I had 2 egg hunts to go to and I didn't want to run it in the dark, again. So I came up with a split workout. After what seemed like a just few minutes of sleep, I got up and headed out onto the Cedar River Trail that goes right past my house. Somehow I got a late start (maybe I fell asleep while putting my shoes on?) and couldn't finish 10 miles on time unless I sped up, which I didn't want to do, so I turned around short and headed home. I did stop to read a new sign that I noticed a few days earlier.

This part of the trail floods from blocked drains, a lot, I'm glad they are fixing it.

At around 7 3/4 miles it was 6:30 and it seemed pretty light out. Light enough for the Tiger gate to be open. I hope it will be next weekend. I finished up before 7, ran in the house, grabbed my keys, no licence or wallet, said hi and goodbye to everyone, and drove up to Lake Youngs for the second half of my run. Same plan as before except here there are actual hills, not just 2 or 3 degree inclines. The beeping watch really kept me on track. I dipped below 5 mph 4 times, 2 were on hills but only for a few seconds and 2 were for a quick nature call. Funny thing, looking at my heart rate graph it looks a lot like the altitude graph. I finished the last 2 hills really having to push to keep the pace. My HR got up to 170. Stats for the run; Avg speed 6.2 mph or 9.50 m/m, highest speed 7.7 mph (it's so hard to go that slow on the downhills). This was a great run for me, opposite but great. I normally slow way down going up the hills and fly going down, it's much more fun that way. I arrived back at the house with just enough time to take an ice bath and get ready for the days festivities.
Sunday: 12
Jenn & I headed out the door at 6:30 to do another 2 laps around the lake. After dropping the 3 kids off at Granny's we started running just before 7 am. We did the usual run walk, easy pace that we always do. Even though it had rained the night before the trail was still in great shape. The only mud was on the eastern half of the loop. Jenn's been progressing well with her ability to go further and further. Today was not to be one of those days. Her knee was bothering her so we quit at 12 miles. She ended up doing more miles on the treadmill later. We could have stayed and gone a bit slower but I had to get home to put the Turkey in the oven. We had 16 people coming over for dinner. Of course I ate way too much. Everything was just soooo good!

Total: 46

This Pix was while waiting to have their faces painted. You can see Arthur didn't want anything to do with it. While the other two couldn't wait to get painted. Jessica was excited it was going to be blue. It didn't matter what it was as long as it was blue!

Another Easy Week

I didn't do anything challenging this week. It was more of a maintenance mileage week then anything else. A few short runs and some cross training.

This weekend I did a 10 mile tempo run in the dark Saturday morning and then off to an Easter egg hunt.

Sunday an easy 9 miles Sunday morning then off to another Birthday party.

Total Miles 30.2

R & R & Wind & a Party

After doing 100k last weekend I felt surprisingly well. I did a little stretching and walking Monday and Tuesday. Then Wednesday I did a hard 3 on the treadmill at 12%. Hamstrings were a little tight and the back of my knees were mildly sore, but that was it.
Saturday I was going to do 6 summits at Tiger but I only made it to T3 and turned around. It was pretty windy and I was by myself so I headed back down. I had already seen a few fresh branches / trees down and it seemed to be getting windier.


Sunday was my son's 2nd Birthday party. So I expected to do Zero miles. I ended up doing 3 workouts.

1st while Jenn was doing a run, I did 45 minutes of the Biggest Loser workout. I worked muscles I never work. It felt good and strange all at the same time. After Jenn got back I had an hour before I had to start rolling my Chicken Enchiladas,
so I went for a quick Tempo run. I got in about 7 1/2 with 3 minutes to spare. I felt much better. My legs and arms got a correct workout (running).

Arthur Jr's party was nice, Shawn was there with her (kid/husband) Seth.

Jenn was set to make a cake shaped like Lighting but they saw this one at Safeway and couldn't resist.



After the party my friend Chris wanted some company running, so I figured I could burn off the cake I ate. We did an easy (he's slower than Jenn) 40 minutes.

Miles this week: about 20

Chuckanut - Pac Rim Double

All three of us (Tony, Shawn, Me) made through the weekend. Each of us did 50k x2.

Chuckanut was wet and very muddy. I went out too fast, just like last year, but didn't seem to feel any adverse affects from it. Shawn, surprisingly enough, was right behind me when I hit the first hill right after AS#1. She always goes out slow so she can squash people later in the race. I know because I've been one of her victims. I told her that we were going to fast but she didn't slow down. She jumped ahead of me as soon as we hit traffic and I followed. 8675309. I passed her and she passed me back as soon as I eased up on the pace on one of the climbs. I got ahead of her at a log crossing traffic jam and stayed ahead until AS#2.

At AS#2 she jumped out to a good 100 yard lead while I filled my water bottle. It took me over half the climb to AS#3 to catch her but I did. Six months ago I could have never caught her. I recited all the names of people that were behind us that normally finish ahead of us in an attempt slow the pace. It didn't work. We pulled into AS#3 together and I switched from bottles to my Hydro pack. Last year I ran out of water in this section, and spent some time with GI problems, and bonked, and nearly DNF'd. So I made sure I didn't make that mistake again.


I really like the next 2 miles or so of this coarse. It's more down than up, single track and very technical in some places. We smoked through that part of the coarse passing everybody we saw, except 2 that passed us but we may have passed them back. There are just so many people in this race now. They all start to look the same. After you come off the single track it's pretty boring for a while. It was extremely muddy in this section and that slowed down everybody. I could have gone faster but I was trying to save some gas for Pac Rim. I was doing surprisingly well on the climbs. I offered but nobody wanted to pass. We caught up to three groups of runners on the big climb back up to AS#4 we passed all but 3 of the runners/walkers/staggers that we came across. I was surprised Shawn had not passed or even tried to pass me during this climb. She even fell back a little once in a while but I could still hear her back there.;) I guess the pace was started in get to her. I was trying to figure out how to pass the last three when we ran out of hill.

At AS#4 my plan was to change my shoes and drop my pack. Well it was so muddy I just left the shoes on but I did drop the pack. From here it's downhill to the next AS. I would normally fly down the hill as fast as I could get my legs to turn over but I wanted to save some for Pac Rim. I know I'd been saying that all day but now we were going to finish well under 6 hours and there was really no reason to go faster. At the bottom was AS#5, last stop. Just an easy 10k in from here, mostly flat and we had well over an hour to do it. I was trying to hold Shawn back because we were already going too fast and she wanted to go even faster. I know she had been pushing hard all day, same as me, and I wanted her to be able to run another 50k. Well I could only hold her back for so long and with about a mile to go she left me. We both passed two more people and finished less than a minute apart. Tony finished just 20 minutes ahead of us.

We sat in the creek, then grabbed a quick bite and changed into dry clothes before jumping in the car of the long drive to Pac Rim. After 4 stops we finally got there and started running around 7:30. I quickly ran 10 laps (miles), took a walk break and ran until I got to 1/2 marathon. After that I started a run walk run walk...at 2:45 minutes (10:10pm) and 16 miles into it, I decided to take a break. I napped in the car for almost 15 minutes. It seemed much colder after that. So I bundled up and started running again. Time and laps slipped by and before I knew it Tony was missing, done with 50k and resting in the car. I still had 2 laps to go. After 1 1/2 laps I looked at the time and saw that I was coming up on 7 hours. I shifted up a gear (well 1/2 a gear) and ran to finish out my 50k in 6:57. I went straight for the car and layed down. Shawn kept running because she had 2 more laps to go before hitting the 50k mark. I don't know how long it took her but it seamed like 30 seconds.
After a 2 hour uncomfortable nap, I got up and decided it was time to collect my race shirt and pack my things. I knew Tony wasn't going to run anymore but Shawn kept saying she wanted to do another couple laps. I think she just wanted to run more miles than I did. Her mind might have wanted to but her body wasn't listening!
So we crammed all the wet gear in the back of car and were all our way.
A couple of picture by Glenn T.


Thanks Glenn!!!

Chuckanut 50k 5:54
Pac Rim 50k 6:57
100k time 12:51

9 1/2 Summits

My plan for this weekend was 12 summits Saturday (easy) and 4 hours Sunday (really easy).

Saturday
We started off in the dark and ran the extra 1/2 mile to the trail head. (I hate starting and finishing there). We topped #3 in 54 minutes #2 in 1:03 and #1 in 1:13. We cruised down #1 past the Christmas tree and onto the East trail pretty fast. Everybody knows I love to run downhill! At 1:41 we came down onto a road that we were supposed to just run straight across.

We did and immediately lost the trail. We bush whacked for 20 minutes. Well it's still winter so there isn't really all that much bush out there. We couldn't find the trail and I was starting to get cold from the slow pace so we circled back around to the road. We figured it would have to lead somewhere and it was roughly in the right direction. We soon came to a 'T' and turned left because it looked like where we were supposed to be and figured the trail would cross it eventually.
The road made a few turns and we ran past a gate that looked very familiar. We both agreed that it was the way to Middle Tiger but we still needed to hit East Tiger. So up we ran over the a crest and past a wooden gate.


We couldn't say for sure if it was the right way but since there was no other way.

There wasn't any other clear trail and the road was going downhill, so we went through the wooden gate for about 5 minutes before I decided we should turn back and give up trying to find East. We were on the road for a total of 45 minutes.
We went though the metal gate we had past before and headed up to Middle Tiger which put us at 2:55.

Before we got to South Tiger we made one last wrong turn. We went left onto the Artifact trail.

I would recommend everybody take this trail at least once. It's pretty cool! Once we realized it was the wrong way we turned around and headed back down toward the South Tiger stump.
We made good time all way to South Tiger and got there in 3:41 .

Tony and Van were headed up as we went down. Tony got Shela and Rickie's attention with is cougar calls. Funny guy, I expected to have to look for my pack that I felt at the stump. Tony and Van started much later than we did but didn't have to park down at the gate. I wasn't surprised when I saw them considering all the wrong turns we'd made.
We got to the turn around at 3:53, our mileage was about right at 17 miles even though we skipped a summit. I refilled my go juice and grabbed a snack. Shawn had everything she needed on her back. I gave Shela a couple dinner rolls and we were outta there. I was on a tight schedule and didn't have the time for a leisurely lunch like the last time I ran 12 summits.
We skipped the out and back to South because I wanted save time and try to hit East.
We made it over Middle in 5:54 it was right around then I decided to just take the short cut back to the car. We also noticed Rickie was favoring a front paw at certain speeds and if I was going to be carrying a dog out 5 miles I'd need all the time I could get.
We made good time on the road. After going through a couple of blow downs that happened to mark where we needed to exit the road,


we found the trail again and ran until after we got past the Christmas tree. We power walked faster than I expected on the ups and made finished last 3 summits with ease. Standing on top of Tiger #3 I checked my watch (7:12) and thought damn we should have followed TC and Van to East Tiger.
We took the same way down to the trail head as we came up,(section line - nook) instead of what I call Tiger #3 Freeway. I like the challenge of the steep technical trail on tired legs. If I went the other way I might be temped to walk in some spots and I'd be a lot muddier.
We made it back to the gate in 7:46, mileage of the 9 1/2 summits ... 30.5

Sunday
Jenn and I were supposed to do 4 hours at about 12 - 13 m/m average. We slept in, that was nice! and only had time for about 2 1/2 hours. We dropped the kids off at granny's and drove a mile down to the Soos Creek trail. It's paved which will help to toughen up the feet and shins.
We went to the end and back then did enough to get to 10.2 miles. That's 1 mile less than last weekend. Jenn was a little sore from the asphalt so we called it good. We ran into we Patch and Eric as we were leaving. Too bad we had no time, we could have talked Chuckanut strategy. Jenn did 6 more on the treadmill after lunch.

Miles this week. 46

Hills, Hills, Hills

I've been very lax with keeping up my blog. Sorry! Life is unpredictable and finding the time between buying a new house and work and the three kids and birthdays is tough.
Here's what I've been up to (in my running life).
I've only run 1 marathon or longer race, Bridle Trails. It went real well. I thought the frozen ground made it harder than last year’s mud fest but I have not been able to find anybody that agrees with me. Last year the ground was real soft. This year there were a lot of places where the mud was frozen with horse tracks in it. It was tough not to turn an ankle and still keep up your speed. I ran a 5:42 but I think I could cut 30 minutes off that with better conditions.
I have been running shorter distances and with my wife Jennifer. I did 1 lap at Tiger Fat Ass.
I did 2 laps at pigtails, 1 with Jenn.



My last 4 weekends have been Tiger, Squak, Tiger, and Tiger.


I've been searching for the steepest trail I can find. So far it's the Nook-Section line up to Tiger #3. It came in at 1188 ft gained per mile. There was snow on it this weekend which made coming down pretty dicey.

2006 is over.

December was a busy month for me.
Birch bay really slow
Pigtails slow
Last Chance average.
Details later

Seattle Marathon

Last year this race beat me. This year I think I got the better of it. I ran a 4:01, not the greatest time but 10 minutes faster than last year. My first half was 1:54, not exactly even splits but considering the hills at the end, I think I ran as even as I can. And since I've been sick all week and was still sick on race day, just to finish was a win in my book. Plus I had all three kids Friday and Saturday by myself. My kids are pretty easy but they sure do tire me out.

The weather was not a factor for me. Yes it was snowing at my house when I left but I chose the right amount of layers and was not too hot or too cold, other than standing around at the start. Even with the two sections that are dog legs I think I only saw half the maniacs that were out there. It was really great to be able to see so many friends out running this marathon. And those marathon walkers, WOW! To be out there in the cold rain for 7 or 8 hours walking. My hat's off to them.

Today my quads are really sore and there’s a little swelling in my ankle. I didn’t think I was pushing it very hard but I guess I was.

I really like my almost new hat. Thanks Hippo!

Ron Herzog 50k

This is a fun but hard race.

Four of us met up and rode to the start arriving an hour early. It was a little warmer but wetter than last year. I started out slow running the flats and downs and doing a walk run on the ups, walking a lot more the running. About 200 yards before we leave the dirt road and finally get to run on trail, Shawn went to water the bushes. So I decided to just walk until she caught up. Once I got to the trail I turned and still couldn’t see her. I decided to head in and take it easy until she caught up. About a mile and half later I noticed my foot pod was gone. I knew it was only about 100 yards back because I remembered my foot got caught on a branch and almost pulled me down. So I turn around and started running back. I passed a guy that asked if I was looking for the girl I had been running with. “Nope, I’m looking for my foot pod.” I thought to myself, self that was strange. Then I come to another guy that asked me the same thing and then told me she was looking for me and that she got some “wrong” information. I guess he must have been the person that gave her that “wrong” info. Then I found the pod and kept going back. I didn’t want someone lost looking for me thinking I was lost. Finally after over 20 minutes of going backwards Shawn comings running up the trail, “there you are” we both say.

So we’re off in the right direction. I figure I lost about 30 minutes to this detour. Running the traps is the most fun part of this race for me. I expected the Tank Traps to be real messy because of all the rain but they were about the same as last year. A tank trap is a steep narrow washout in the road wide and deep enough so a tank couldn’t get across. Well we ran them pretty fast but not as fast as last year. I’m still not getting enough rest in between races. We passed the five people that I passed going backwards. After about 3 miles we hit snow but nothing like the 8” last year. Dang that was fun last year! Last years snow covered a few bogs that were pretty wet this year.

We finally got to the halfway aid station at about 3:35. I figured with the delay and extra 1 ½ miles that wasn’t all that bad. The rest is pretty much downhill so I can make up some time. Well I just could not get my legs to turn over fast enough. I had dropped or lost my bag of tricks, so I had no Salt or Tums or Advil, all of which I needed. The lack of salt was the worse. It made it so my sports drink was going right through me. I had to stop at least every mile to pee. It seemed like it took for ever to get back to the finish. My time was 6:42:49. If I take the extra 30 minutes off that’s faster than last year, but not much. Not enough!
Next year maybe I’ll be rested. Next up Seattle. It’s payback for last year.

UWR Marathon

Well what can I say about this race? It was an hour slower than last weekend. I felt like giving up at around 10 miles but there was nobody around to tell. My legs were dead after about 4 miles. I tried taking short walk breaks but it only helped me to go faster for about a minute each time. I was overdressed. It was warmer and dryer than I thought it would so I was sweating like a pig wrapped in Palm leaves, buried in red hot rocks on a beach in Hawaii (see Luau). I did finish before it started raining. And the only wind was during the last 2 miles along the water. And that Chowder at Spuds was Awesome. I know where Shawn’s going to be hanging out this summer.

I guess I ran a lot harder for that PR last weekend than I thought I did. Hopefully I’ll be more rested for R.H. 50k on Saturday. That river crossing is going to be dicey with all this rain we’re getting.

Tri-Cities Marathon

3:51, PR by 6 minutes...
20+ MPH winds ...
10+ hours to get home...
3rd place in age group...


Saturday I checked the weather forecast one last time. It was to be a bit windy but warm. I don’t really like running against the wind but how bad could it be? I guess now we know! I rode over to the Tri-Cities Marathon with Cliff the winner and Mel. I think this was Mel’s 309th marathon. We arrived with plenty of time to get ready to run.

It was a little chilly at the start but I knew once I was moving it would be the perfect temperature. The route was an out and back with 4 crossings of the Columbia River on 3 different bridges. And the wind did show up as predicted. But at least half the time it would be at your back.

I forgot my watch, so I thought to myself, self just run strong but try to stay behind people in the beginning that you KNOW you should be behind. For the first 1 1/2 miles there was some dust and sand being blown at us but for the rest of the day was just wind. Except for that leaf that was pinned to the side of my leg for over a half mile. I figured it would fall off when the wind changed direction and it did.

All day the wind seemed to come at us at an angle. It was almost never directly from behind. From mile 2 to 8 it was pushing us pretty good but also a lot to the left. So when I would have my right foot off the ground I had to make sure I didn’t trip myself. And with the left and had to make sure I didn’t kick the guy next to me. After all it was his first marathon. At one point I looked down and saw that my left foot was being pushed out over 3 inches by the wind. I asked the time at 3 miles and it was 24 something. I figured this was too fast but without a watch what choice did I have. I was trying to hold back. At 6 miles I still felt real good, but at 49 minutes I could tell I was going faster than I should have been.

At 8 miles I crossed the river for the second time, this time going directly into the wind. I could barely walk 4 mph let alone run. I tried to draft behind that same guy running his first marathon but then he started going slower than I was. Once I got down off the bridge I was headed west into the wind. Now I was leaning to the left instead of the right. I figured it would all even out by the end of the day.

At about 11.5 miles I got to the turn around. I still felt pretty good, I was just wishing the wind would straighten out so it would be more at my back. This sideways stuff was no good. It seemed to be slowing me down in both directions. At 12 miles I was close enough to another runner to ask her the time. She said 1:39 that’s an 8:15 mile, still too fast. I continued to keep a good pace all the way past mile 15.

Now I was crossing the third bridge and the wind was at my back. I went up the bridge like I was running downhill and down the bridge like I was skydiving. At one point the wind spilt around a pillar and came at me from the both the front and back. I felt like I was floating for about a second and a half. What an adventure. The cables were also singing a nice tune. I’m just glad I didn’t get thrown into them like some of the runners did.

At the end of the bridge it was the start of 8 miles of running into the wind, hunched over and leaning to the left. The wind was stronger than ever and could (and did) push you right off the path without warning. I was passing a lot of people some walking; they must have been early starters and some kind of running. It felt like I was going rather slow myself but I only got passed by 2 people. A couple of other guys tried passing me after I had just passed them but they couldn’t hold on very long. I kept asking the time whenever I passed some wear a mile marker but I don’t remember most of them.

Just before mile 20 my Maniac hat, that had turned around backwards because I was running into the wind, (I kept turning it back and front depending on the wind) flew off like a kite on a broken string. It went at least 50 yards straight sideways before I lost sight of it. Damn it! I love that hat. I thought I can go down that 70 foot embankment and find it but I’ll never get back up again, it’s just too steep. So I started running again, sans hat, cursing into the wind. Like it cared, I’m no Charlton Heston.

At mile 21 I remember the guy said it was 11:03. 11:03? Ahhh AM! So I had to figure out the time. I think we started at 8 so that 3:03. So I have almost an hour to go 5.2 miles. Can I do that? Into this wind? I don’t think so. It felt like I was running slower than that already. With about 3 miles to go I saw Van, she was on a short walk break. I’ve never seen Van this late in a race, even when I started an hour early. She must be having a hard day. Running 40 marathons in 10 months will do that to a person, if they’re still alive. I figured this was a good time for me to take a walk break also. 5 seconds later she started running and so did I. I passed Van with about 2.5 miles to go but I knew she would be passing me back before the finish. If she really wanted to that is.

With about 2 miles to go I got a time of 3:31. Wow 29 minutes to go 2.2 miles. I can do that! So I put the hammer down. Well it wasn’t much of a hammer. More like a feather and with that wind it was gone in a flash. Ok let’s try it again. I just need to make it over the last bridge then it’s just a mile to the finish. It was really tough into the wind and up hill but I knew the downhill would give me back some time. Well there was nothing left for the downhill. Sure I picked it up a little but nothing like I normally do. Now there was 1.2 left to the finish. I splashed some water on my face at the last aid station and gave it all I had. I just continued to do what I had been doing for the past 9 miles. Focus on the runner in front of me and try to catch them. I finished in 3:51, a Personal Best by 6 minutes. How fast could I have gone without the wind? We’ll never know.




After the race the awards were handed out and I ended up taking 3rd place in the 35-39 age group. Wow!

This is normally where the story ends. We got in our car at 2:15 and drove the 3 hours home. Blah blah. I took an ice bath. Blah blah, it was cold. How boring is that? Where’s the adventure?
Well here’s what really happened.

We got as far as Easton where the freeway was completely stopped. The Semi’s were either getting off the freeway or turning their engine off. After sitting for nearly an hour we decided to turn around and head for White Pass. That’s a pretty long detour but since the traffic advisory said the freeway was closed in both directions and would be for several hours we all came to the conclusion that it would be better to drive around. On any other day we would have been home at 9:00 pm which is what Cliffs GPS was predicting as our arrival time. But not today. We came to the turn for White Pass and the sign said Chinook Pass was open, which it should be, after all it only October right. So we took the shorter Chinook Pass route. The first time we stopped was right at the top. There was a pickup sideways against the guardrail. I thought, hey that’s it, it’s all downhill from here. We’ll be home in no time. Well ½ mile later we stop again for about an hour. Then the park rangers clear the vehicle out of the ditch. So we’re off we’ll be home in no time… 100 yards later stopped again. And again we wait for them to clear the obstruction. Now the sheet of ice has a nice layer of water on it from all the engine heat. So even after being parked for 5 minutes, cars are sliding sideways. Poor Cliff, after running a 2:59 marathon with 20+ mph winds (WOW), he can’t even give his foot a brake. He has to keep a foot firmly on the peddle or we’ll end up in the ditch like those other Yahoos.

Finally we made it out of the snow but everybody’s still so paranoid we’re only doing 40 mph in a 55 mph zone on dry pavement. I made it home at just about 1:00 am Monday morning. Good times!
Luckily next weekend it’s only a few miles to the start of UWR.

Halloween Marathon

It was another great day of racing in the NW. It was supposed to be sunning and warm but for the first half of the day it was cold foggy and windy. I didn't warm up until the second half of the race when the sun came out.

The first 13 miles I ran with Jennifer (the wife). It was her first 1/2 marathon and she did great. She kept an even pace the entire race and only walked the steep hill (freeway overpass). She finished just under 3 hours.

The course was different this year. We took a right at a mile and a half then under the freeway and a couple more rights to the turn around. There's only about a 50 foot elevation difference from the highest point to the lowest point. I guess it’s flatter than before but you still have to run on a cambered road which always bothers my hips.

After I got pictures of Jenn finishing and handed off Shela, I took off to finish the marathon. I didn’t really feel like it but I needed to. It took me at least a mile to shake the bugs out. Running at a slow pace used different muscles I guess. I figured there were a lot of people I could catch (I started the second half in last place). I quickly passed the first person; she was wearing wings like Jenn. I was cruising right at 9 minute miles. It was an easy pace that I kept for the rest of the race. I caught 2 more running before the turn around. I saw 3 more as they were leaving the turn around but it took me a mile to catch them because I took so long filling up. As I went under the freeway I passed another guy. After that I could not see anybody ahead of me for a least half a mile. I could feel that it was taking more effort to maintain the current pace but I decided to keep it up, even though there appeared to be nobody left to pass. Good thing I did because I ended up passing 3 more runners, one of them at the last A/S where neither of us stopped and the last one with about ¾ of a mile to go. He was in bad shape, walking for 10 seconds then running for 10 seconds. After I went by him I heard him try to keep up for about 2 minutes but then I couldn’t hear him. I didn’t look back but I knew he couldn’t catch me. I think I passed two other runners but I can’t remember where. At the finish I got mauled by Shela and hugged by Jennifer, or was it the other way around? ;) I ended up running a 5:05, a personal worst! But it was good training to run a faster second half, which I almost never do.

My hips did bother me some but not as much as they have been. And considering the slant of the roads that’s awesome. I have almost no soreness today. I rode 14 miles this morning with no soreness in my quads. Next up UWR, unless I can find one before that.

Baker Lake 50k

It was another beautiful day at Baker Lake.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather or a nicer course to run on. But once again this course beat me. I started out Way too fast! I was just running along enjoying the scenery doing 8:30 to 9:30 minute miles. I should have been thinking about how hard this trail becomes on the way back if you go out too fast. I just love to run on this kind of trail.

At right about 5 miles in my hip started to hurt, again. I guess I’m going to have to do something about that. I’m thinking about cutting out UWR, Birch Bay, and Last Chance. We’ll see.


So I popped a couple of Advil and kept running but now at the correct pace of around 10:00 m/m. When I got the aid station I was still feeling pretty fresh and the hip hadn’t gotten any worse. But I was starting to feel some cramps in my calves even though I had been drinking plenty and taking my salt.

I quickly refilled my supplies and headed out. Shawn had left the aid station right in front of me so I figured we’d have a nice run back to the finish. Then the wheels fell off. About a mile out of the aid station I tripped on a root that was hidden by all freshly fallen the leaves. And of course I landed on my bad hip. (What am I, 90 years old?) That hurt a little! I didn’t know it but as I fell I pulled the mouth piece on my bladder 95% off and it soon fell off the rest of the way. Why is my leg all wet? I look down and there’s a yellow stream coming out of my pack. Luckily I found the mouth piece before my bladder had gone completely dry. I get back to running but Shawn is long gone. She went on to have a real strong finish. Good Job Shawn!

I on the other hand was now paying the price for going out to fast. I had plenty of salt, drink, and gel. I didn’t bonk like last year. I just couldn’t run at the pace I wanted to. I could jog along without a problem but as soon as I would try to pick it up my calf would cramp real bad, a total lock-up. I tried over and over. I had so much energy left. I just couldn’t use it. It was very frustrating. I ended up with a 6:09, 23 minutes faster than last year. I’ll be back for another try next year.
There was, as always, great food after the race. Dave Dutton did a great job as race director.

The End of September

I ended up with fewer miles this month (94) then any other since I started keeping track. Ironically last month was the most ever at 230 miles. I guess that’s a good thing since I want to make sure I am completely healed from CCC.

Most of my runs have been tempo runs in the 7:00 to 8:30 range. My right hip still has some sharp discomfort but compared to how it was 3 weeks ago it’s almost gone.

Monday: ..... 4 miles
Tuesday: ..... 2.4 miles pushing stroller
Wednesday: .....4.3 miles
Thursday: ..... 0
Friday: ..... 2.2 miles
Saturday: ..... 9.6 miles trail w/Jenn
Sunday: ..... 0
Total: ..... 22.5 miles

Since it’s now dark so early (I give daylight priority to Jenn) my running schedule is changing to running in the morning before work. This will also allow me to run twice a day if I feel the need.

See you at Baker Lake!