Cascadia 4's and the Last Chance Marathon

I just ran a 3:29 marathon in my new Cascadia 4's. I'm talking bran spanking new, right out a the box. They worked great. The tread is very aggressive and the shoe was plenty soft enough for the sidewalk, dirt road, and frozen snow and ice course. My pace was between 7:00 m/m and 8:30 m/m. I tried running flat footed and heal-toe, both felt comfortable.

I now have a cool reverse picture of the WS100 course on my socks!

I'll try them in the soft snow and mud this weekend on Tiger.

Wet, heavy, cold, and windy.

The snow on Tiger is melting away quickly. But for now, it's still deep and slushy. The wind has knocked most all the snow down off the the trees but unfortunately it also blew 7 or 8 small trees down across the trail. I cleared a few but I didn't bring my trail saw so the bigger ones will have to wait.

This is the second bridge on the DA loop. It's passable and safe as long as you don't need to use the hand rails.

Luckily there were no big trees across the trail.

Shela had a good time playing in the snow.

2nd Annual Dumb Ass 50k

Not wanting to be responsible for 60 people up on the mountain in these snowy conditions the RD cancelled the Dumb Ass 50k this year, just to weed out those who have a shred of common sense. Somehow I didn't get the email, no really. Maybe he knew I'd run it anyway, maybe it was a joke on me, but there was no way I wasn't going to be up there running it. Even if I had to run it by myself. After contacting a few runners and the RD, I figured out what was going on. From the RD... "Think of the Cancellation Notice as part of the Qualification Process...", meaning you have to be a dumb ass to run this thing, and more so to run it after it's been canceled. How much dumber can you get? Running it after it's been canceled. I figured there would be about 6-7 hard core dumb ass runners. Turns out only 4 made it, included the RD.

So Sunday morning I bundled the kids up and left for Grandma's house a little before 6 through 4-5 inches of fresh snow, in the opposite direction of the race. There was nobody out on the roads and I made great time. Momentum was my friend in the front wheel drive van. I had plenty of time to get ready before the 8 am start. There were only 3 of us that started on time with a forth getting there late. It seemed warm at about 27 degrees and I'm guessing about 4" of snow at the trailhead.

It was easy going at first. There were even some tracks for me to follow. About 1/3 the way up I passed 2 runners that decided come out and run some, but not be part of the race. I didn't catch their names. After passing them my pace slowed a lot. Now I was breaking trail. It wasn't too bad, 4-6 then 8 inches in most places, until I got near the top then it was about a foot. Right before the top my watch beeped 3 miles. What the...? It's only 2 1/4 to the top. I guess I slid backwards .375 miles. At the summit of T3 the wind kept all the new snow blown into the woods. I would find out where that snow went in just a few minutes. There at the top I paused for a minute to enjoy the clear view and let the wind cool me off. It seems that no matter how cold I am at the bottom, I'm always sweating by the time I get to the top.

Half way to T2 I took the left onto the TMT trail and about 3/4 the way across I hit my first snow drift. Ahh the missing snow. The first couple weren't too bad maybe up to my knees then there was one right before the turn to go down toward K3 on a little uphill section that was much deeper. I trudged through that one and turned downhill. Now the trail was nearly bare of snow (for 20 meters), then the big drifts starting showing up. There were a few that were 30-36" deep but I was going downhill so I had gravity helping me out. I just had to keep high stepping through them. I veered off trail a little a few times and blew through one turn because I had snow in my eyes but for the most part I stayed out of the bushes. If I hadn't run this loop 20 odd times in the past 2 years there's no way I could have found my way. After about 2 miles the snow thinned out be ~6" (I never stopped to measure it) and it seemed like I could actually run faster than if the snow wasn't there. I didn't have to worry about rocks or roots, just turning my legs over as fast as I could and making that next turn. Sure I fell a few times but it's snow, falling is part of the fun. I got down to the trailhead reloaded my my bottle and then logged my time on the sign in sheet. 1:37 and my watch had the ~6 mile loop at 7.51 miles. Ouch, I gave about a 1:20 effort. I'm thinking the 2nd loop will be easier.

The 2nd loop seemed easier going up. It was basically like doing stairs for 2 miles. My brooks ASR5's did good on the compact snow footholds. So I'm thinking this loop should be a little faster. Once I hit the snow drifts that thought went away quickly. On the first time down it was more like a controlled (and not so controlled at times) free fall. This time I had to work harder. I had to decide to either place my feet in the huge deep holes that were there, or to go with a completely new line. Either way it was slower and more work. I did a little of both. My second loop with a little less effort on the way up but a lot more on the way down was about 1:44.

The third and forth loops were more of the same. Snow stairs up, high stepping down. Each a little slower than the last.

On the fifth loop right after I started climbing 2 guys came shuffling down the mountain. I think cool, I'd much rather be going down that up. Unfortunately they blew through all the footholds. So now I had to really dig in with my feet and go up on all fours when it got steep. I really wanted to keep all my loops under 2 hours so I pushed hard. Once in a while I would catch a glimpse of Scott's footprints. There was less and less snow on them so I figured I must be getting close to lapping him. Sure enough, I caught him right after the twin bridges near the bottom. I assumed he wasn't going to head out for his 5th lap, but I didn't ask. He ended up finishing his marathon about 4-5 minutes behind me. Luckily I remembered to bring a headlamp because the 3 miles were in the dark. Michael had already stopped at 4 loops and was waiting down by the gate to make sure we didn't get locked in.

Things I learned.
1. I am dumb enough.
2. Screw shoes are still my traction choice.
3. Even if you ran slower than you've ever run before you can still take first place. Just be dumber than everyone else.
4. Sure I loved snow when I was a kid but now even with all the hassles that come with it, I still love the snow.
5. And the biggest surprise, there aren't as many dumb asses out there as I thought.

My final time, 9:12 of playing in the snow! That's more than twice as long as it took me to run my last 50k.

Results here.

It'll be a cold day in ...

Oh my god, it was cold in Spokane this weekend. At the start of the race it was just above ZERO with the wind chill.

Two of my fellow Brooks team mates and I headed out of town after lunch on Friday, the pass wasn't too bad but there were over a dozen people in the ditch and when we passed Easton the WSP or DOT had just closed I-90 West bound for about two hours so they could clear the carnage of cars that were strewn everywhere without the fear of getting slid into themselves.




















We made it through with no problems thanks to the little black Kia and an expert ex-Zamboni driving Canadian. After getting all settled in four of us, Dan the speedy professor, Clark the class clown from the islands, Gordon the designated driver and myself went out for a big pre-race meal at the Outback. Afterwards we hung out in the upgraded suite that I negotiated at our hotel.




















The race didn't start until 11:30 so we had lots of time to kill Saturday Morning eating french toast and waffles in the lobby of our Hotel and telling stories and jokes and telling all the other teams how great Brooks is. When we got to race we all went out for a mile or so jog to warm up. I worked up a good sweat with my two coats, sweatpants, hat, and gloves, but my feet were frozen. Since this was just a 10k sprint I had to figure out what would feel right for the whole race. I think I needed just a little more because I was cold the entire race. Ultras are so much easier, you can shed your clothes when you get warm and put them back on if you feel the need.

After checking in with Steve, our fearless leader from Brooks, I pinned on my FOUR race numbers and Two timing chips, then after waiting forever, stripped down and headed out to the start. We started a couple minutes late and I was pretty much numb from the waist down by then because I never wear anything on my legs when I run. I might have to re-think that one next year.

I feel like I ran hard the whole way with about a 6:00 to a 6:30 m/m effort. I slowed from mile 3.5 to 4.5 but really started to kick it into gear after that. I passed 20-30 runners (mostly guys with a 60 on their back) in the last 2 miles.
My mile splits for the 2 3/4 laps were 6:34, 7:06, 7:10, 7:05, 7:06, 6:59, and then a 1:42 for the .27 miles at the end for a time of 43:43 that's a whole 53 seconds faster than my 10k split during my last marathon. At the end I bent over to take off the TWO timing chips they had us wear (one on each foot) and saw that my calf had been sliced open. Funny I never felt that happen. I guess I got spiked, but I didn't.


























The ice from my opposite shoe had sliced through the skin. My right shoe was covered in red ice and snow. I never felt a thing. Chalk one up for being numb! It did hurt later though. I had time to shower and bundle up before the start of the Open race. It felt colder at the 1:30 start. To stay warm I had to run from one side of the course to the other cheering them on and taking pictures as they passed.







It was a fun trip, next time I'll be more ready for the cold.



Next up the DumbAss 50k with about 15,000 feet of climbing over 5 loops.

Weekend Update X-C

This weekend I did something that I haven't done in, oh about, 24 years. (insert your dirty joke here) I ran in a Cross County meet. It was a two loop, flat course with a bunch of hairpin turns at Lake Sammamish State Park. I don't do any speed work so it was truly a 3.1 mile sprint. They said course was kind of sloppy and muddy and slow but compared to some ultras like Bridle Trails it was nothing. This was just a test race for the upcoming USATF championship race in Spokane on Dec. 13Th. I'm on the brooks team and I don't want to be bringing up the rear. Luckily that race is a 10k so I'll be a little more toward the front. I hope.

My splits were 6:24, 6:49, 6:44 and 3.1 miles in 20:28. I placed 78/132 in the men's race and 26/41 masters. The course did get a lot muddier on the second time around. The women's race was first but they didn't chew it up very much. I think I could have gone another mile or mile and a half at that 6:44 pace but I don't think I could have kept it for another 5k.

It was fun running a short race but I'm not going to trade in my Ultra Shoes anytime soon.





I was going to do a loop up on tiger after the race but I decided to rest and go play at the park with the kids instead. Plus I didn't know how running that fast would affect my legs.

Sunday I felt great so I went up to tiger for a loop. It was super crowded so I had to stop about a dozen times to clip in Shela. It was strange running it in the daylight and I kept trying to turn off into the bushes on the way up. I finished the loop in PR of 1:15 and called it a day. Michael that's 40 up 3:30 across and 31:30 down.

It sure is nice to get back on the dirt.

Dream

Only 200 miles?



Brooks is donating 5 cents for every view to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center up to $25k.

Warning this catchy tune might be stuck in your head for a few days.

Ron Herzog 50k

4:25, 1st master, 3rd overall.
~3000 feet elevation gain and loss, official distance according to the RD was 32.2 miles.

I was pleasantly surprised with my conditioning today. After 2 months of virtually no hill workouts I really expected to die after a few miles of blazing up the side of the mountain. I didn't and actually ended up getting a 20 minute 50k PR.

I also had an unexpected experiment during the race. Somehow I forgot my heed, so for the first time ever, I didn't drink at least half of my calories. I did have some nuun with me because I planned on doing 1 bottle of nuun and 1 bottle of heed. The nuun worked good and possiblely put off the "I've run way too fast" cramps in my calf's for an extra 5 miles. I also had zero nausea which I get sometimes after pushing it to the limit for a long time. I'll have to try this experiment again.

And as a bonus the 2nd place master was a Montrail runner that I've never beat before.

Tiger Mt.

I went out the door early Saturday Morning in hopes of getting in a quad busting workout on the mountain. I got there before the gate opened but luckily a minute or so after I started up the road, up came a car. I did a U-turn and drove up to the trailhead. It only took about a 1/2 mile to realize that I was in for some serious pain. Running on trials uses your core exponentially more than cruising down a flat paved path. And of course I felt every twist and flex in my ribs. Ouch!

2 hours later I arrived back at the car. I learned a few things.
1. I'm really out of shape when it comes to running up or downhill.
2. I discovered a whole new level of pain.
3. Dogs get out of shape just as fast as humans.
4. Always bring extra Advil.

Tri-Cities

I decided to run the Marathon on Friday night after doing 2 miles on the treadmill at race pace. I didn’t really hurt that much more to breathe running than just sitting on the couch. Sometimes you just gotta say “What the F… Joel”

I woke up well before by 3 am alarm. This is the weekend that my cool alarm clock changes the time to daylight saving for me. Too bad there’s no way to turn that feature off, so I knew I had to sleep lightly. I made it to the start with plenty of time.

While hanging out chatting I realized that my memory of this course from 2 years ago was pretty inaccurate. I thought we had a tail wind for the last 8 miles but it’s the opposite. I tough headwind! Cr*p! I needed a race plan quick. I was going to try and run even splits the entire way but I don’t think I could have done that today. I figured the best way to try and get my 7 minute PR-BQ was to “bank” a few minutes in the beginning. I know it’s not a very good strategy but it’s all I had.

It was cold at the start but I went with just shorts, a singlet, a hat, and a pair of gloves. I also had a water bottle because I don’t like other people deciding when I can drink. I felt good at the start, 2 Advil during my warm up helped with that. I quickly fell into a pack of strangers running around 7:10 pace. I had my watch set up so I could see my pace, lap pace, and overall pace. I had to keep overall pace faster than 7:40 but I wanted to hold at 7:30 or faster for as long as I could. I didn’t know anybody around me and talking made my ribs hurt more so I just put my ear plugs in and listened to some AC/DC.

The first 10k (actually 6 miles for all 10k splits) went by in 42:55 and soon after that I could tell the wind had started already. About a mile later I hit Bridge #2 and turned into the wind. For the next 4 miles I worked hard at keeping a good pace. I had nobody around to break the wind. I tried to tuck in behind a fast girl but being about 4 ½ feet tall she didn’t break much wind. It seemed like forever but the turn around at 12.5 miles finally came and I relaxed a little, lengthened my stride, and started to think this thing was actually possible after not running all week.

The second 10k took 43:30 and the ½ marathon split was just over 1:34. I tried to conserve a little energy in the back stretch while I had the wind at my back but I don’t think it worked. As soon as I hit Bridge #3 and that headwind my pace died. I stayed positive by telling myself the wind would be less on the other side with a few tree the slow it down.

The third 10k was 44:33, and then the wind came…
What can I say about the last 8 miles of this race? They are tough and you better save something or every time someone passes you, you’ll fell like you’re going backwards. I had some really bad cramps in my calf. It was cool so I probably didn’t drink enough and didn’t take enough salt. I had to stop 3 times to stretch and in doing so I was passed by 3 or 4 runners who all looked strong. I only managed to pass 2 regular starters during this stretch.

The forth 10k was a snails pace of 48:24. I had no idea what my time was all day, (until I hit 20 miles) all I knew was that my pace had been better than 7:40. There was a volunteer calling out times, he said 2:26. Some quick math in my head and I knew I had it (I had 54 minutes to go 6 miles, that’s 9 minutes per mile). I think that cost me some time. And then at 23 miles I figured I could do 10 minute miles and still finish in 3:20, that brought a smile to my face. If I hadn’t known I may have pushed harder in those last few miles.

I finished in 3:18:22, a 9:19 PR and 2:37 faster than I needed to qualify for the Boston Marathon. As soon as I finished I flopped onto the grass cramping badly. After a few minutes I made my way to the car and called Jenn to let her know I didn’t puncture a lung or anything. I knew she was worried and I could hear the relief in her voice. I’m sure if she’d had been in town she would have talked me out of going.

I did see my Doctor on Monday and there is an “issue” with my 8th and 9th ribs. As soon as the labs come back I’ll know how bad it really is. The worse case scenario is that they are cracked but only a very minor way, like a stress fracture.



Suunto says: (in minutes per mile)
1. 6:56,
2. 7:10, bridge #1
3. 7:13,
4. 7:06,
5. 7:19,
6. 7:07,
7. 7:08,
8. 7:12, bridge #2
9. 7:17, start of a headwind
10. 7:17,
11. 7:22,
12.7:13, start of the only tailwind
13. 7:13,
14. 7:27,
15. 7:22,
16. 7:32, bridge #3
17. 7:24, start of a headwind
18. 7:35,
19. 7:37,
20. 7:41,
21. 7:52,
22. 8:05, cramping started
23. 8:21,
24. 8:48, stopped twice to stretch cramping calf, bridge #4
25. 8:32, stopped once to stretch cramping calf
26. 8:08,
.2 2:19

Plain Train Wreck

Last year I ran Plain 2 weeks after running a perfect race at Cascade Crest. I did some bonus miles right at the end so I wanted to come back and do better.

This year the 2 races were 3 weeks apart instead of only 2. I figured with the extra week and some real 100 miler training (see 70m/week instead of 35) I could do much better maybe in the 26:30 to 27 hour range. After Cascade I was injury free and resting when I caught a head and nasal cold. It didn't seem that bad at the time but it did hang around longer than normal. The weekend before Plain I was feeling much better so I went for a moderate/hard 10 miler. The cold came back bigger for a few more days. At this point I was starting to get a little concerned. I took it easy and tried to rest. By Wednesday I was again pretty much all better. All the way up to and including race day I was hacking stuff up but I felt I was over it and made a race day plan that I'd run up the first 7.5 miles to the saddle and see how I felt. From there I'd either fall back or push on.

Tom said go and we were off.

I felt good, not great, going up the road. My legs weren't 100% but overall I felt way better than last year. Tim, Davy and I all hit the Saddle in just under 1:30. We should have been 10 minutes behind Allen but he made a wrong turn. I decided I would continue at this pace/effort level which I figure was 10-15% less than my Cascade Crest effort of 23:05.

At the river Tim stopped and Davy fell back 30 or so yards. I headed up the steep trail to the ridge where I almost stepped on a frog. I walked all the tough sections and about halfway across Tim caught back up. Soon after that the sun came up over the ridge and I let him past while I took my jacket off. The sun felt great put it wasn't enough to keep me warm so I dug my gloves out of my pack and that did the trick. Tim blasted up the hill and by the time I was done changing he was gone.

The downhill running off the ridge is one of the best trail sections on the course. There's no motorcycle grove and the corners are all banked. It's like running down a luge track. I caught up to Tim at the bottom just after the Horse camp. He showed me where to cross without getting wet. Just after that he stopped to eat and I was again all by myself in front. I slowed down a little after the ranger station turn to eat. I walked anything that was up hill for about 30 minutes. Tim commented that this was more walking than he has done in the past but was still at the same pace.
Yes that's frost on the grass!

Lake Ann, I love that green. Tim Stroh


At the last water before Klone Peak we stopped to fill up and were joined but Ian from Canada. I topped off my bladder and mixed in some Heed. Tim took about half as much time as I did and was quickly out of sight. By the time I finished Allen showed up after running an extra 2 miles on his way to the saddle. Ian and I were running and walking at a casual pace up toward the peak and Allen came Blasting by, uphill, like he was running a 50k. I commented that he was a first timer and there was noway he would ... (Allen set a course record by 30 minutes) I think Ian agreed. I didn't know he had come out and ran the course in training.

About 50 yards from the top Tim then Allen came flying down the mountain and that would be the last time I would see either of them until the finish Sunday morning. I got Ian to snap this picture.
ME!


And I took a few more. It's a Three Hundred And Sixty Degree view at the top. I'm no Glenn Tachiyama so you'll just have to take my word for it. It's a pretty nice view.

Just before the out and back turnoff we passed Jamie followed closely by Davy. That put them about a mile behind us. Right after the turn Ian quickly gapped me by about 2 minutes on the downhill and held that through the S&R check point and all the way down to the river.

I snapped off these 4 shots while running. I love running on the edge like this. One wrong step and it's a long way down.

Ian was filling up when I got there and was done before me. I must be slow at this water filling thing. I'll have to practice that for future races. And that would be the last time I would see Ian. He went on to his first finish in 4 tries. He finished 3rd behind Tim.


And this is where my race ended.

Right after I finished filling up at the falls my Small intestines cramped up. I took an Imodium and that caused me to gag and hurl all the extra water I drank while I was filling up. For 3 hours I strolled and sometimes staggered up the ~5 mile ~5000 ft climb keeping my heart rate under 120 and trying out everything I had in my pack, stopping periodically to dry heave. Nothing would stay down.

I was passed by Jamie, he looked good but I was surprised that he hadn't caught me earlier. Then Davy, he looked like he was working/struggling. Next was Beat, he gave me some Ginger that actually stayed down for a long time. Micheal came up and we walked together for about an hour or so. Not sure really. He was recovering and would go ahead about a mile and a half before the check point.

5 hours, 52 minutes and dozens of dry heaving episodes later I finally made it to the S&R check point at about mile 45. During that time I was able to keep down about 8 oz. of water. It wouldn't be until around Midnight that I kept any food down.

I may never know what caused this. It could have been from being sick or something I ate. If it had just been from running too hard (which I don't think I was because I wasn't) it shouldn't have taken me nearly 12 hours to "recover". And I wasn't overheated at all.

The 7 hours of running were really great and totally out weigh the sickness that followed. I was pretty upset about the DNF at first but I'm OK with it now.

4 Time Finisher!!!


Klone Peak

Cascade Crest goals... How did I do?

update: Glenn's picutres are posted at the end.


#1. Success
My first goal in a race of this magnitude is to just travel from the Start to the Finish under my own power. A subset of which would be to not get injured. I had some sharp pain in my lower calf area while climbing up Keechelus Ridge. I guess it would be my Soleus or some other minor flexor muscle above my Achilles. From then on I ran/walked uphill flat footed. I tested it once in a while and it would always came back. I think if I had not changed my stride or really pressed hard going up the needles it would have gotten ugly fast.
#2. Success
My second goal was to beat last years time of 25:05. I felt this was an easy goal as long as I didn't make any Big mistakes. I didn't train with big mileage last year like I did this year but I had done a ton of cross training (re: remodeled a house). Last year I just ran every section really well with no bonking.
#3. Success
My third goal was to break 24 hours. Why 24 hours, well why 100 miles? 24 is one day, dah! I think it's a standard of measure in 100 miler's. CCC had 10 runners finish under 24 hours this year, 9 last year, and 5 the year before that. In the first ten years there have been 65 finishes under 24 hours by 45 different runners (by my foggy headed math).
#4. Success
This goal was more subjective. It was to finish in the top 10. So depending on who showed up healthy and who added their name in the last week, it could go either way with goal #3. I don't know the names or faces of a lot of fast runners from other parts of the country so I just tried to run my own race according to goal #5.
#5. Success... well almost... close enough.
This goal ended up being my main focus throughout the day and night and morning. This one was to run each section a little faster than last year. This meant I had to run smart and not have any bad sections. When I added up all the times it came out to 22:55. I ran every section, except the section to Thorpe Mt., faster than last year. It was about 18-20 minutes slower. And my time of 23:05 was just off the mark also. I guess that gives me something to strive for next year.
#6. Fail!
My sixth goal was the pipe dream of finishing in under 22 hours. I came up with that when I was playing with the numbers. It's 4% faster than 22:55.

I huge portion of my success has to go to my pacer Shawn "McTagyoureit", she really helped me out with this race. She kept me from making a few big mistakes. She got me to take in some drink and gel when I was bonking and nauseous. She kept me motivated and entertained in the middle of the night. She even stopped twice to let my wife know where we were on the course, and then busted her rear to catch up. I recommend her as a pacer if she hasn't already been hired as a full time pacer by Sam.





Glenn's Pictures

Thorpe

Goat Peak

Tacoma & Stampede

2008 Cascade Crest Results

It was another successful CCC100 for RD extraordinaire Charlie Crissman. I turned in a good improvement over last year. Here are the results.


A few photo's from the finish.