Seafair Marathon Results and Report

This was the 4th year of the Seafair Marathon and the 4th version.
2005 1st ever Marathon, I ran a 3:59:50, Great course, run down to and along Lake Sammamish.
2006 26th Marathon/Ultra, 3:57:39, a little tougher course, up and around Bridle Trails.
2007 47th M/U, 3:48:22, 3 min. PR mostly the same course as last year.
2008 67th M/U, 3:27:44, 21 min. PR, Toughest course yet, 1600 ft of gain and HOT!
I finished 8th in my age group and 48th overall.

It was cool running across the bridge but not really that much different than Seattle.

Splits were:49,50,52,55 minutes pr ~ 10k.
Full Race results are here.

Race Report to follow later...

I drove the course Saturday and got to witness first hand all the hills everybody had been talking about. That and the forecast, together with a cough I was given by Jenn all wrapped up in a satin bow, I saw my chances of making my goal time of 3:20 becoming harder and harder to achieve. My PR was still the 3:48:22 I ran here last year.

I didn't give up all hope. I like the heat, I like hills (running down them anyway), and I've never let a cold stand in my way of a finish line. New plan; run my race as planned, for as long as I could and then I could really see what I was made of... right?

We started the race about 13 minutes late. No biggie I knew Jenn would figure it out when the first runners came past late. It just meant it would be slightly hotter as I went around the course. The start was crazy, both the full and 1/2 started together. I started at a controlled pace about 5 seconds back from the starting line. I heard it was really crazy another 100 yards back.

Running across the bridge was cool but not the awesome wow factor that I expected. It was better than going across the I-90 bridge. I cruised up the east span and into Bellevue with very little effort. Before I knew it I'd reached Main Street in Bellevue so I started looking for my crew. Jenn and the kids were to meet me there and hand me some Heed. I saw them right away and there was Nicolette holding a recycled water bottle out so I could grab it as I went by. Isn't she cute!

Right after Main Street the real hills start. There were a few people walking up them. Only 7 miles in I figured it was too early for that so I grunted over all three slowing to 5.5 mph on the steepest one. They were just as steep on the back side so I really had to work to get the maximum benefit from gravity. After pushing it on those hills and drinking the 16 ounces of heed I really didn't want to pick up my 2nd bottle when I came back around to the mall(after 4 miles), but when I saw sweet little Jessica holding it out for me I couldn't refuse.

I could feel the heat already and it wasn't even 8:30 am. Somewhere between 10 and 12miles my ankle started to really hurt. I think it was from the camber in the road. Worse than the pain was the loss in strength. My gate turned into a wobble. I took a couple Advil just to try and take the edge off. And since I was taking things, I downed 2 salt tabs.

I passed over the half marathon mat at 1:39:27. That was about a minute slower than I wanted to be. I knew I'd be slowing down on the long hill at Bridle Trails and the other big one at 22 miles. Basically the writing was on the wall. There was no way I could make the second half in 1:41. I was still on track for a huge PR so I pressed on with everything I had, at least it felt that way at the time.

I really felt the ankle once I crested the top at 16.5 miles. I tried to run where the road was flattest but it didn't help much. I some places we could only run on the shoulder. They didn't block off a lane for us to run in. After I got past the boat ramp in downtown Kirkland I was forced to run up on the sidewalk because the angle was more than I could take.

I felt like I wasn't moving very fast but I did manage to pass a couple marathoners on the last hill. Once I made it to the top of the final hill it's only 1.5 miles to the finish. That was the longest 1.5 miles of the race. My ankle was screaming at me to stop and I could only manage about 8 mph downhill! The clock read 3:26:?? when I finished but after checking my watch and seeing the results online, I know that was wrong.

My youngest was there at the finish waiting for his turn to hand me a bottle. That was one good Mocha.

I was pretty dead when I finished, it was hot, but after 10 minutes I felt fine. I felt like I could go out and run some more (except for the ankle). It's a lot different than when I came in at 4 hours and it took a week to even think about putting my running shoes on again.

Today my legs feel great, my head is a little foggy from running with a cold and my ankle doesn't hurt if I walk around on my toes.

LYU 2008 Race Report

A day in the life of a running race director

My day started early. I loaded that last two boxes and cooler into the trailer and then got myself ready to go. The weather was a little cool so I'm really glad Jenn didn't let me leave for the race in just shorts. Brrr! Friday's rain had stalled a little, it came during the night, so it wasn't raining but the ground was wet and it was colder than I had planned.

I made it to the start sometime between 4:30 and 5:00 am. Steve and his Daughter Janna, who is only 15 years old, were already out on the trail. Congrats Janna!!! We quickly unpacked all the food, tables, tents, race bags, etc. and set up for the early starters. There are always a few people who get there early that jump in and lend a hand. Thanks!

I created a huge timing nightmare by letting people go before the official early start of 6 am. I thought it would be easy to keep track of but it wasn't. Lesson for next year I guess. I'm actually going to look into the cost of using timing chips. Two of my volunteers backed out at the last minute so we were kind of spread thin. With a professional doing the timing that would be one less thing for me to worry about.

My running plan was to run with the regular starters like I did the first year. Because we were short handed, that was changed to run 2 laps and then my 3rd would be a sweep lap sometime after 1 pm. I knew standing around for over 3 hours would make me stiff and slower but it’s all good training for something.

The start was crazy once again. By the time we got everybody checked in, it was time to start. I didn't have time for a long winded speech about the race so I just said GO. Of course I was still standing there in my sweats. After stripping off my sweats and lacing up my Brooks Burn racing flats (and a quick bathroom break) I headed out 10 minutes behind the 7:00 am start on a mission to catch as many runners as I could.

The first person I saw was young Casey Wilkin, 17 years old and fresh off the Green River Marathon the week before. He was doubled over like he was tossing his breakfast but started running again before I could get there to help. I ran with him for a couple minutes or so before going on ahead. He went on to have a great day.

The next runner was Bob Stoyles, 79 3/4 years young, he was looking strong and would finish 2 laps in just over 5 hours. I hope I can still move like that when I'm his age. Forget all the Elite Athletes and Media Stars, it's people like Bob that are the truly amazing runners. He should be on the Brooks Running Team. He's out there a lot longer, giving more minutes and hours of exposure, than the runner who finishes in the top 10.

I think my personal best 1 lap time around Lake Youngs in training or racing was 1:20 or 1:21. I beat that by over a mile. My first lap was 1:10. It felt good. I got into the Start/Finish area needing to take care of a few things (I had made a couple of phone calls to the A/S during my lap) but I got back out on the course for my second loop in no time. This loop also felt good. I pushed the pace trying to catch up to and say Hi! to as many runners as possible. Everybody was happy and smiling, at least while I was there. Again I was one of those guys talking on the cell phone while running. Geeze just hang up and drive, I mean Run. I'm sure I was weaving all over the trail.

I made it back to the A/S in 1:14. I was shocked at how good I felt. I really wanted to go and bust out a third lap, but today was not about me. My place was at the end of the loop giving everybody the experience that they came for. People say I put on a great race, but I just try to make it the way I would want it as a runner.

The 4 hours at the Start/Finish area flew by. It's great to see people finishing. Some are setting PR's, some are just glad to be able to make it across the line. There were a lot of first timers there. I think my race is a great first Ultra. It's shorter than a 50k, not technical, and not too hilly, but still a HUGE change from running a road marathon.

I saw that it was already after 1 pm so I changed back into my shorts. They were cold and wet from the pool and I opted for Brooks Cascadias instead of the Burn racing flat for the extra padding. I hit the trail at about 1:10 pm, 6:10:00 by the race clock. I took the Clock-wise route as I did the previous two laps. I saw a lot of runners that had only a mile or 2 to go and then the trail was empty. It wasn’t as much fun as the first two laps when I was chasing people down. I felt like I was just plodding along. I could feel that my legs were a little stiff and my feet hurt from standing around and running since 4:00 am. Thankfully I saw hardly any trash on the trail to pick up. Maybe 6-7 gel packs or those darn gel tops that seem to fall out of my pocket every time I run.

With about a 2/3 mile to go, I finally came across the last two runners. They were doing great and didn't need anything from me so I went ahead, ran up the last hill for the third and final time and finished my third lap in 1:24. There were still a few people hanging around but most had called it a day.

The day turned out to be a great success. It was a perfect day for running but a little cool for a BBQ. I'll definitely do it again next year.

I want to give a big thanks to Eric & Iliana Sach for the bottles and Socks, Jonathan Bernard for his extra boxes of gels, Laura Houston for the extra water jugs, Chris Nikas for being a great cook, Skagit Runners for the use of their clock, Jane Herzog and her daughter for help out with timing and for the tent, Shawn Lawson for the tent, Josh Lerner for all the free massages, and my wife Jenn for putting up with me and my crazy friends.

Here are a few pictures.

Lake Youngs Ultra

Wow time has flown past since my last post.

The Lake Youngs Ultra was a huge success. Two new course records were set.
Brett Winegar at 2:58:39 for the men and Monica Ochs at 3:40:03 for the women.

I managed to squeeze in 3 loops at 1:10,1:14, and 1:24. The last loop as the sweep, I was starting to tighten up but I didn't have to stop and walk any of it. It's a good thing the trail wasn't littered with empty gel packets.

Race results will be posted on the website soon.

NB2V Race Report

Grab a cup of coffee and a cookie, this is a long post for a long race.

I packed enough food and clothes for 3 days, 2 pairs of Brooks Cascadias, and my 1 size too big Brooks Glycerin's just in case my feet got too big. You just never know what's going to happen 50 or 60 miles into one of these races. And since this was a self supported run I wouldn't be able to just stroll up to an A/S and grab what sounded good at the time. I think I did pretty well at guessing what I would want to eat or at least what I would settle for to just fuel me down the road.

Tony and I carpooled to the start, it was pretty cool out. While waiting for the 6:30 am start, it was just a little too cold to stand around in a short sleeve shirt and shorts. Perfect for running and by the time I was done not really listening to RD extraordinaire Shawn Lawson, I was starting to shiver a little. I was definitely ready to run. And then all of the sudden she said you can go anytime!!! Of course she wasn't ready to go so a few of us waited a couple extra minutes for Shawn to grab her gear.

I only took me about 5 minutes to warm up. By the time we hit the 2 mile mark, the 4 of us (Tony ,Steve, Shawn and I) had caught up to the lead pack. We got to the first A/S in what seemed like just a few minutes. I wouldn't be seeing my crew which I was sharing with Tony and Shawn until 10.5 miles so I just added a little water to my bottle and headed out.

In the 1:47 minutes it took me to go the 10.5 miles I had already figured out a few things regarding how my race would go. First off it was not cloudy or raining so I could tell it would get a lot hotter than the forecast had predicted. Yeah, I figured that out all by myself. Secondly I had not recovered from my 12 hour 100k race the weekend before where the temps got up to 96 degrees in the Redmond Watershed. I figured it would take more mind power than any race I've ever run. So I just filled my bottle with Heed and grabbed a banana. I could only take it one step at a time

Halfway between here and the 20 mile A/S - Detour point there was a water stop at the Mt. Si 50 mile/kilometer turn around point. Once I was beyond that, the trail was pretty new to me. I had only ever been on it once and I was going the other way, so I made sure to take out the camera and get some photos. After what seemed like an extra mile we came to the McClellan Butte detour turn off. That 3/4 mile of downhill single track was a very nice reprieve from the constant 1-2% uphill railroad grade.

A 30 minute break quickly turned into a 48 minute traffic jam because everybody had to slow down and look at the dead Deer or Elk on the side of the road. And of course I had to tease Jenn, our bus driver, that this was a race and she was driving too slow. I think she's the only person I know that drives faster than I do. I used the time to eat as much as I could. Funny thing is I actually got a little stiff sitting in the car. I headed out of Easton at 11:10 am a minute or so behind Tony, Shawn and Tim.

Shela and I slowly reeled in Shawn and then the three of us reeled in Tim. The trail doesn't change much in this section but we found ways to entertain ourselves. After about 5-6 miles into this 11.5, Shela started lagging behind. I had a water bottle for her and she was drinking regularly and we even stopped to take a dip in the Yakima River but she just was a little off so I decided to leave her with my crew until after the next leg which was 18 miles long. That ended up to be a very smart/lucky decision on my part. I think she got over heated, maybe even before we started running and never recovered. She had a fun weekend playing with different crew members and watching me come and go all night. She did step up after I finished and let me use her as a pillow.

This next section from 32.5 to 50.5 miles was the hottest and second longest of the race. I loaded my pack up with 100 ounces of iced Heed and hoped it would be enough. There's no easily accessible "clean" water on the trail. There are a few streams but they seem to come from sources that you wouldn't want to drink from. There are a couple of rivers but the climb down and back up didn't look fun. I did dip my hat once or twice but as it turned out I had plenty of water. I think Shawn had about an ounce of water left when we got to the A/S.

The only thing I remember about the next 8 mile section was that it was wet but still warm. At Ellensburg we meandered through the town to the A/S at the fairground. Tony was already there with his Domino's Pizza. I had to really focus while I was running to "keep it together" but when it came to my A/S stops I was pretty casual about how long I spent, each time hanging out a little longer. After some Pizza and a Real, running water, bathroom break, Tony, Shawn and I headed out.

The three of us took Tom's suggestion and ran straight to the trestle (staying on the JWT instead of on the road down below) and then down the single track. It was dark but I felt like I was moving pretty good. I'm just glad we found it. I would have hated to had to back track 5 miles to take the road around. It seems like this way was a little shorter but also harder than the road because of the extra climbing. There was no advantage in choosing one way over the other.

It was 11:10 and we finally made it to last outpost. I wasn't sleepy but I knew I couldn't sit and relax or I might not be able to continue. It took me over 25 minutes to "gear up" for the last leg. During that time Tony was napping behind the car and Shawn was trying to catch a 10 minute nap in the backseat. Finally at 11:37 Tony and I headed out toward the finish line leaving Shawn behind so she could finish her nap. This next section was to be a mix of soft sand and rock fields for 20 miles, not the easiest thing to run on, in the dark with 70 miles already on your feet.

We made it about 10 yards before we made our first mistake. It looked a lot different in dark and we missed a turn. Luckily we only went 3/4 mile before realizing it. I tried to talk Tony into just cutting straight up the hill to meet up with the JWT but he wouldn't even consider it. In the dark it was probably the right choice. So, back to the car, Shawn was still trying to get her 10 minutes. But said she'd be right behind us.

Up the correct path we went, signed in, got our permits and headed off into the dark at 12:06 am. Going the wrong way took some steam out of me but I think it took more out of Tony. Those kinds of little things can really get you down at this point in a race. I've heard tale of a runner almost quiting because he felt like the squirrels were taunting him. Tony talked to me about stopping, he wasn't having any fun (I think he knew there was heavy rain coming). He wanted to just walk a while, and then decide what to do. So I went on ahead. I kept looking back for him. One point it looked like he was running toward me and then it looked like he was headed back, and then toward me again. I was thinking my mind was starting to play games with me, but as it turned out that's what he did. Soon what after that it started to rain and I got pretty cold. I hoped he made it back before it got too bad.

This was a pretty lonely stretch, it seemed a lot longer than 20 miles. Even though I was in the lead it was hard to stay motivated. There was a beautiful cavern that I ran through. It had a few Owls, a field mouse with the biggest ears I've ever seen on a mouse, and a few hundred pigeons. All of them except the mouse didn't like being disturbed by my lights and told me all about it with their loud cries and flapping wings. The only other wild life I saw after that were two deer the second of which stopped right in front of me and gazed into my headlamp. After some time passed (definitely less than a minute but it's so hard to judge) I decided to talk her into moving. She did and then I continued slogging toward the finish. I should have taken a picture but I didn't think of it until after. With less than 10 yards between us my mind was racing, I had 100's of thoughts going through my head. What if they are being hunted by coyotes? What if she was a fawn that she feels she needs to protect? Wow what a beautiful animal. I wonder if there are more. ...

One of my goals when I started this stretch was to finish before it got light. I didn't make that but I did beat the Sun. The last 4 miles were at a respectable pace. It was just after 5 am when I finally crossed the road and finished. I was glad it was over. Judy, of course, was there taking pictures and cheering me on. Everybody else in camp was fast asleep, but not for long. Jane her clan came out to congratulate me. And then Jon was up. I was eager to find out how everybody was doing. I got all caught up and then called Jenn to tell her I won. It was nice to hear her voice. Hopefully next time I can figure out a plan for the family to meet me at the finish.

Shawn and all the crew did a magnificent job putting this race on. I'll be back to help or run next year.

For full results go to NB2V.

2008 NB2V

Just a quick update with results.

My time was 22:33:35 of which 48 minutes was spent being bused around the tunnel which was closed.

Tim Lofton came in second in right around 24 hours.
Shawn Lawson , the Race Director, came in 3rd in 24:20.
And DFL was Ray G. at around 29 hours.

Tc did about 90 miles total.
Scott Railton did around 75 miles
Jane Herzog made it to just over 100k.

More details later.

Western States 100 Lottery update

Update:
Page 56 of April's Ultra Running magazine listed the new rules. I have 2 copies and I still missed it.

Every year you are not draw in the lottery you get an extra chance (ticket) for the next year.
You have 1 month to apply.
No Buddy System.
No two, three, or ninety-nine time loser rule.
All entries online.

I still wonder how many applicants and DNF's they could eliminate by simply stating, This Can't Be Your First Hundred Miler.


I just noticed a change on the Lottery page for WS100.

Under the Paragraph "Automatics" there used to be 10 items listed.

1. Top 10 Male
2. Top 10 Female
3. 2 time losers
4. 25 Foreign Runners
5. A/S runners
6. Sponsor's runners
7. Trustee runners
8. Winners from memorial day and Raffles
9. Gordy and Cowman
10. Nine-time finishers going for #10

But now there are only 8 items listed. Numbers 3 and 4 are gone! No explanation. No new 3 time loser rule. Wow, it kind of makes me glad I'm only a one time loser.

2008 Redmond Watershed 12 Hour

It was 96 degrees out of the course today. No wind and the humidity was very high.

Top 6 finisher's:
1. Alex Swensen 68.1 miles, age 43, last year 79.24
2. Tim Stroh 65.94 miles, age 45, last year 70.26
3. Van Phan 64.17 miles, age 36, last year 65.61
4. Arthur Martineau 62.73 miles, age 40, last year 64.89
5. Ryan McKnight 60.57 miles, age 35, didn't run last year
6 Sam Thompson 60.57 miles, age 27, last year 73.14

Obviously everybody was really affected by the heat. I think it was the first day all year over 75.

It was already warm at 7:00 am when the race started. I left the starting line in only shorts and a tank top. My plan was to just run easy for the first 1-3 loops then start paying more attention to the watch. There was lots of chatting for the first loop and before you know it we were back at the start. Lap 1 time, 46 min.

I didn't stop, I grabbed my water bottle and kept going. The lead pack stayed pretty close together. We were still enjoying the day. The 5.375 mile loop hadn't worn us down mentally yet, and we were still all running pretty easy. You could feel some pockets of air getting hot already. It was like running through a row of 50 cheerleaders all pointing air dryers at us. I kept thinking how nice it would be to have a waterfall to run past or a stream to run through. Lap 2 time, 47 min.

I was in and out pretty fast, just long enough to fill my bottle and tell them my number. Somewhere along this lap I had to start giving some effort, not to much but it was noticeable. The pockets of hot air were starting to merge. To me the heat wasn't bad but I knew it would be. I really should have paid more attention to how hot it was. Lap 3 time, 47 min.

This lap I ran most the way right behind Jamie Gifford and Tim Stroh. I was probably running a little faster than I should have but I didn't feel like I was pushing the pace. I figured these guys are way smarter than me, maybe I could learn something today. Right before the single track small loop they gave me a turn at the lead. That was kind of fun because at this point in the day that trail is fun as it twists and turns quickly through the thick forest. Lap 4 time, 48 min.

I had an AWESOME surprise at the A/S. The family had come out to see me run. I was in race mode but I still took time to get a couple hugs from each of them and put Jenn to work filling my bottle. It was the best 3 minutes of the whole race. I heard the A/S volunteers got to enjoy the kids running around for about 40 minutes because they just missed me on the previous loop. I'm surprised there was any cake left after that. I left them behind and tried to make up the time out on the trail. This was a huge mistake and the beginning of a downward spiral that would last for hours. I wasn't paying attention when I left the A/S because some of the runners I was trying to catch up to were behind me. Another mistake. It also started to really get hot but I didn't pay attention to that. I should have slowed down but I didn't, I pushed harder. Lap 5 time time, 51 min. (26.88 miles total, clock time 4:04)

I really over heated on this lap. It was hot and humid and I was dehydrated! I just didn't know it yet. I don't think I was sweating for the last 1/2 of #5 and all of this lap. (I realized later) I finally made it back to the A/S just barely holding off runners I had just lapped. Lap 6 time, 64 min.

I figured I was done. I needed to sit in the shade and cool off. The shade was too hot so after about 5 minutes and went over to a horse trough and hosed myself down. The water was so cold it took my breath away. Colder than the snow fed Cedar river I'd be standing in later. That really did the trick though and I was off, out for another lap. I started the lap just walking, eating a Popsicle. I had no motivation to run but after about 2 miles I realized I had already drank 3/4 of my bottle of Heed and I had 3+ miles still to go. So I started running, trying not to drink too much. I eventually made it all the way around and I didn't even run out of water. Lap 7 time, 66 min.

I filled my bottle and went straight for the cold hose. This time I didn't try to keep my shoes dry or anything dry for that matter. I knew I'd be completely dry by the time I got back. The time keepers told me Shawn had left the A/S just before I got there and that she wasn't doing that well. She's pulled me out a funk more times than I can count so I pushed the pace trying to catch up to her. I passed Sam Thompson and his 1 loop pacer Brock Gavery. Sam looked over heated and was walking, although he did start running as soon as I passed him. I finally caught Shawn with about a mile to go and we ran in together. Lap 8 time, 59 min.

I had the routine down now. Ice in the water bottle and ice cold hose for me. Ryan McKnight was at the A/S changing his shoes when we arrived and we were out before him. Shawn and I ran this lap together. We were passed by Ryan but a mile later passed him back. We pushed each other but not as much as we normally do. The lap went much faster having someone to talk to and complain to. Lap 9 time, 61 min.

I ran this lap by myself, Shawn said she wanted to take it easy and not run that fast anymore. I guess I didn't either. Luckily it was starting to cool off a little. Lap 10 time, 66 min.

This lap was pretty lonely. There weren't that many people to pass and say hi to. Lap 11 time, 65 min.

I did 5 small loops in 41 minutes at the end. I think I could have gotten in 1 more because I was feeling pretty good but I knew it wouldn't change my overall position so I stopped with 7 minutes left. First thing I did was to cool off with that beautiful hose one last time. On the way home, Shawn and I stopped by the Cedar river for a 20 minute soak. That felt real good until I thawed out.

After dinner and a fun filled evening of drinking about 60 ounces of water, I lost 5 pounds. I got up in the middle of the night 3-4 times and drank another 40-50 ounces of water (that went right through me) and a couple salt tabs and in the morning I was another 1/2 lb down. I guess I was dehydrated.

I should be recovered enough to make a good attempt at NB2V this weekend. I was planning on just 50 miles but we'll see how it goes.

1st place Alex
2nd place Tim
3rd place Van

:^) <---------that's me---- 4th place

5th place Ryan
6th place Sam

SPOT review wanted

Have you seen this new gadget? It's the S.P.O.T. "SPOT" Satellite Personal Tracker.



I saw this at REI, and it looks pretty cool. They have a great marketing campaign. I'm looking for a real world, real person review and field test. Preferably by someone here in the always cloudy heavily forested Northwest US, or even Western Canada, not some writer sitting in the parking lot of his office building. Does the phrase "you have to be able to see the sky" mean horizon to horizon or small holes high up in the canopy?

If this thing works as advertised, it would be a great addition to any ultra runner's gear who frequent the backwoods, I'd have it in my pack. They even offer rescue insurance.

I'd hate to be lost just feet from the trail in a ravine drinking dirty Giardia infested water, being bitten by 100's of bugs for two days because nobody knew where I was.

Check it out at http://www.findmespot.com/Home.aspx

Tacoma Marathon (only the 1/2)

Short version: 1:33:18 of sprinting at my red-line, 6Th place in my age group, 33rd of 952 over all.

Long version:
The day didn't start as I had planned. I woke up late and had to rush out the door, herding my 3 kids, still in their PJ's, into the van and off to their Aunt's house. Luckily I put all their clothes shoes and snacks in the van the night before. When I get my sisters house I have them jump out on the fly. OK I slowed down a little. Just kidding. I had to stop and pound on the door to wake her up, after all it was still dark out.
So after dropping off the kids I was able to make up some time and ended being on time for my volunteer duties. The next 2 hours were a blur of escalators, race numbers, shirts, drop bags and giving directions.
With seconds to spare I jumped into the crowd waiting to start and was off.

Stats: My HR was in the 160-180 range for 1:24 minutes
My mile splits
1 7:08
2 7:26 up hill
3 7:23 at the top 5k 22:50
4 7:05
5 6:40 down hill weeeeeee
6 6:54 10k 44:08
7 7:02 on the flats
8 7:05
9 7:06
10 7:10
11 7:14 hills to the finish start here
12 7:03 good song on the mp3 player
13 7:17 Holly Sh*t straight up!!!
13.12 0:40 That's one crazy last 1/2 mile.

My race went like this. I started out at my marathon/50k kick pace. It's that little bit I use up in the last quarter mile of my regular races. Side ache, long up hill ... run faster/ hold the pace as long as you can. Downhill fly like the wind. Flat kick kick, gel kick. Uphill drive hard only a couple miles left. Free fall down to the finish. Wow is it over already.

2 second negative split! Road 1/2 marathon PR by about 26 minutes.

Pictures to come


Can you spot me?

Product reviews

There are a few things I take with me on almost every run whether on trails or the road. Here's my opinion of these things I "can't live without". I highly recommend all of them.

Brooks gear

Cascadia, Glyercin, Cascadia, Burn
I've been running pretty much exclusively in brook's shoes since the beginning of 2008. I've had their shoes before, like the original Cascadias's, but they didn't knock my socks off. My other trail shoe was discontinued so I tried the Cascadia 3's on and wow this is a great trail shoe. I've worn them in mud, snow, frozen ground, lose gravel and even hard packed fire roads. They worked great every time! The other gear Brooks offers is also great. I think their prices far and selection is great.

Suunto
(Laptop not included)
I've been wearing a Suunto T6 since August of 2006. It has a good training manager that tells me I'm lazy if I skip a workout or two, a very accurate foot pod (not included) that tells me how far and how fast I've gone, a heart monitor that tells me I went out too fast and will die way before the finish line, an altitude/barometer function that gives me the elevation gain of my run and much more. I wear the watch even when I'm not running because it's so durable. Two things that I hope they improve if they ever upgrade the watch is the "beep" is way too quite, maybe it could be adjustable. And it needs more memory. It runs out of memory around 65-70 miles into a run. ... Or maybe I just need to get faster.

Canon Power Shot

I have the SD850IS it takes great pictures on the run and is smaller than a pack of regular cigarettes. Pretty much any camera in this line will take good pictures of your trail running experiences. It has held up great in the wet NW weather, although the lens will get fogged up when it gets too wet.

Sitemeter
(OK I don't take this one with me)
I have recently added this hit counter to my blog. It's not just another counter. It tracks where your visitors clicked in from and where they clicked out to. Also gives you their city, their IP address, screen resolution they use, ISP provider, and a ton more interesting and useful info for tracking and "marketing" your readers. It's kind fun too.

Capitol Peak , two lessons learned

I made 2 big mistakes on Saturday. Hopefully I can learn from them and not make them again.

The First big mistake came at mile 15. Some how, due to a combination of errors, I ended up with a bladder full of super concentrated drink that I was only able to consume 5-6 sips of over the distance of 6 miles at which time I was able to dilute it. First off, I think I had more "strong" drink left in the bladder when I pulled into the 15 mile A/S than I thought. I always start off with a strong mix and then add water at the A/S. I didn't stop at any of the previous A/S, oops. Second, I think the bladder didn't get completely filled (I should have checked it). Thirdly, I think I may have made a math or counting error when I was preparing the baggie of drink powder. Any one or even two of these would have been OK and I still would have been able to get an adequate amount of fluids. Luckily there was snow on the ground that I used to cool off a little during the long climb up to the 21 mile A/S. I downed an extra 2 cups of water and a mocha at the next A/S but I knew I wouldn't be able to catch up on my hydration.
Lesson: Don't do that!

The Second big mistake came at mile ~39. I was at the top of some big switchbacks, half-way through a gel and I started to feel nauseous. As I came out of the woods onto a fire road it felt as if the gel was going to come back up. I started walking slower than a toddler with my head down staring at my feet and I went right past a course marker not more than 10 feet from me, in the middle of the day, in full sunlight. What an IDIOT! About a 1/4 mile and 10 minutes later I started to feel better. I started running again but soon came to a dead end. I looked and looked for any sign of a trail. Then turned around and headed back slowly not wanting to miss the marker again. I yelled out HELLO a few times and "Trail" but there was no answer. Finally I came to the markers and couldn't believe that I'd missed them. I think I called myself a few names worse than idiot. I estimate I lost about 22 minutes from that mistake (from my Suunto watch I was able to figure out that it was more like 15 or 16 minutes). I'm just lucky there was a dead end or I may have just kept going forever.
Lesson: No matter how slow you're going you still have to watch for trail markers.

I've been off course twice before:
Last year at CCC 100, in the dark, I and many others followed 4 huge 15 foot long parallel arrows pointing the wrong way. Cost me about 10 minutes. In my mind ... not my fault.
Also last year, two weeks later, at Plain 100 (which has no course markings or aid) I got off the trail and onto the fire road at the wrong crossing, 1 1/2 miles early. To me after 27 hours they pretty much looked the same. Cost me 3 extra miles and about 45 minutes. In my mind ... not a mistake, that's just part of what this race is all about.

I finished my Capitol Peak "51.2 miler" in 10:14, hopefully a little smarter and a little better trained for the next adventure. I guess that still counts as a PR. Last year I ran the 55k in 7:14 and my split at 50k this year was 6:05. I made it to the 55k/50m turn off in 5:09 and then 4 hours of running later, I ran the last section in 1:01 for a comparative time of 6:10
In 2006 as my first 50 miler I finished in 12:37.



Picture copyright Glenn Tachiyama 2008

Winter Wonder Land in April

I was fortunate enough to get out and play in the snow on both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday Shela and I headed out to Tiger for a couple of loops around (UP) the Mt. Well the gate guy was late and after waiting a few minutes, until 6:05 (he should have been there at dawn which was 5:38) I just headed up the road the extra 1/2 mile to the trailhead. You'd think I was going to die having go the extra distance on a dirt road. I really don't mind running up it, it's the coming down part with cars going past that I don't like. ... Anyway...

I was soon climbing one of my favorite trails and with a special freaky white bonus.

I love the way the snow gets thicker and deeper and whiter as you climb higher and higher.

Shela loves it too. It always seems to be snowing more on her than me.

Because of my late start I didn't get in the miles or time I would have liked but I had more important things to do. I was headed off to a birthday party with the family. It was at one of those warehouses full of Huge inflatables. Climbing and sliding with the kids for an hour is really fun and a great workout! And then we had Pizza and Ice Cream Cake. Yum, I loaded up for Sunday!

Sunday, on the way out to the trail, I knew it would be a great day no matter what.

I met up with the carpool and we decided to go all the way out to Mt. Si. OK, it was my crazy idea but I figured there would be some really great snow up there.

I was right and there weren't that many people on the trail either. On the way up we passed only 3 groups that were headed down and 6-7 that were headed up. The only bad thing is that the snow gets packed down everyday so it's really slick. I didn't get any pictures out on the trail because nearly every time I stopped to turn around I ended up on my read-end. I snapped off a few at the top.

On the way down, I sat in the middle of the trail Jokingly, I was going to slide down a foot or so but ended up going about 20 yards before I could stop myself. Oops!

Running down fast a Blast! Needless to say I didn't try to slow myself down at all, except for the sharp turns. The traffic was getting thick, we passed about a dozen groups headed up. We got to the bottom in about 38 mins. All things considered we decided to not go up again (slippery trail+traffic+tired legs+speed=dangerous possibilities). After some debating we headed over to Tiger Mt. for 2 more hours of fun in the snow. There was an extra 2" from the day before so traction was good. When we got to the top of T2 the sun came out in full force, blinding me so all I could do was follow the foot prints 1 foot in front of me until I made it back into the woods. Wow that was Bright. As we neared the bottom we came upon Glen and Wendy, they were taking it easy and let us by.

I hope there's some good snow next weekend at Cap. Peak!

Mt. Si 50 miles of ... something.

The weather was perfect for the Mt. Si races this year. The weather man stuck to his guns and didn't update the forecast but I figured it wasn't really going to be cold and wet considering it was 80 degrees at my house the day before. And sure enough when I arrived at the start (in the dark) I could see stars in the sky. Luckily, I put some sunscreen on my nose or I'd be looking like Rudolf today at work. It was a little sunny but not enough to make it hot and no rain until hours after I finished.


My plan was to run "fast" for the 1st 10 miles, just letting gravity do it's job (Free Speed right), then push a steady pace for the next 25 miles uphill, and finally pick up the pace for the last 15 miles down to the finish.

My plan was going well for the first 10 miles. My 2 mile average speed ranged from 6.8 to 7.2 mph, but when I turned around I didn't slowdown (I set my watch to do an "autolap" every 2 miles). From mile 10 to mile 20 I was going too fast but pretty constant at 6.7 to 7 mph. At 22 miles I dropped down to an avg. of 6.5 mph and then 6.1 at 24 miles. My two mile average when I hit the Marathon mark was 6.0 mph or a 10 minute mile. At 3:55 for 26.2 miles I knew I was in for some struggling later on. My 50k time was just under 4:50. Considering my 50k pr is 4:45 I was feeling pretty good. By the time I made it to the turn around at the "top" my 2 mile avg split had fallen to 5.4 mph which was the slowest of the day.

After the turn I tried to assess how much I had left and set my pace from there. And from there to the finish I stayed a lot more consistent than I thought I could. I did fade a little at the golf course but that's it. With just over a 1/2 mile to go I saw that I might have a shot at under 8 hours. My foot pod shows I was going a smoking 7.5 mph but it was too slow and too late. I finished in 8:01, a 30 minutes PR. I don't think I could have done any better.

I stopped or slowed to a walk 16 times, 8 for aid stations, 3-4 nature breaks and 4-5 10 second to 4 minute walk and/or stretch breaks. I had 2 gu's, 3 pieces of red-vines, 1 peanut granola bar, 2 mocha's, 8 salt pills, 3 Advil (for the feet), 1/2 oz. of perpetuem, 4 scoops of Heed, 15 oz of gu2o from a/s, 80 oz. of generic sports drink, and 30-40 oz. of water.

Snoqualmie running

It's amazing how different trails look and how hard they are to follow (stay on) when covered in 3-4 feet of snow. There are no snow bridges in the summer!




My pacer and I went up to the pass to get some hill training in. I love to run in the snow so I figured I'd get up in it before it all melted away.
We went to Easton and started running around dawn. We ran on fire roads for a few miles then went off onto single track trail #1304.




I "led" the way.
I lost the trail after the first switchback, found it again and immediately lost it. Found it, lost it, found it, lost it, thought I found it and lost that, found the real one and then lost it for good. I decided to just go straight up for a while then, knowing I wasn't going to be able to get to my original destination, turned around and followed our tracks back and then about halfway I saw where the trail really went and took it but after a few hundred yards it looked like we were not going to be able to follow this part of the trail either so we went back to the fire road where the trail began. We were on trail #1304 for about an hour, it seemed a lot longer at the time. We took the fire road uphill and then when it split, took the steeper road. We "ran" (post holing sometimes as deep as our knees) up the fire road for what seemed like a long time before it finally dwindled down to nothing.




At that point I just pointed my feet straight up for about 1000 feet of elevation gain until we reached the ridge line at 4265 ft. We took a quick break just long enough to have a snack and take a couple pictures. It didn't take long to get chilled exposed to the wind. We started back down before I even finished my Mocha.




The trip back down was fast and so much fun. At times I was just taking the biggest possible strides just to free fall a little longer. On the way up it was 1 step up and then slide a half a step back, and it seemed like I was taking a break every 20 yards.


But with the fast pace and longer strides I ended up getting a few small bruises on my shins where they were hitting the 1 1/2" thick top layer of crusty frozen snow. Another thing that's more fun on the downhill is that I got in 3 good slides where the slope was so steep I was able to lock my legs and become a human toboggan even though I was sinking 6 to 12 inches into the snow.

Even the bunnies were sinking in the snow.

I saw mice or chipmunk, rabbit, coyote, and deer tracks but no actual animals.

We made it back to the car in just under 4 hours. I have no idea how far we went because post-holing makes the accelerometer on my foot pod useless. It said I went nearly 9 miles. I burned 2650 calories which is about equal to 2 Dumb-Ass loops (12 miles) or about 20 miles of road running.

Shawn "don't point that thing at me" Lawson.