Taper week in full force. Today I decided one more day of the same 5 mile Planet Walk route was in order. I am pretty sure I slept through it. Tomorrow I may or may not run, we will see....
Antelope Island 50K (30 Miles) 04:08:30, Place overall: 3
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Antelope Island 50K -
Quick Report - 3rd Place. Happy with the result. The nasty weather overnight wasn't so bad come race time. Snow flurries on the island with it clearing up mid-race. 0-3 inches on the course made for muddy trails but no big deal. More details later....
T-4:08:30 (8:17) 3000' Vert
So some more details...I am watching the replay of the NYC marathon on the tv right now. In many ways my race was just like that. All you have to do is double their mile splits, add some snow, mix on some more americans. Ok, fine. It was nothing like the NYC marathon. It was just a bunch of stupid blokes like me who like to run on trails no matter the weather.
The race started out easy for the first climb. We did have to pause for a slow walk break as a herd of Buffalo decided to saunter across our path 20 feet away. Sure, take your time... The pace picked up near the top of the climb and quickly I found myself in the lead group of 3 guys with a large gap already spreading. I was constantly reminding myself of the last time I ran out here and blew up the second half. I told myself to slow down and run my own pace. I soon watched first and second place slowly gain a gap on me. From then on, I was on my own.
The course takes you on a huge loop of the Island and the views today were spectacular. The fresh snow coating everything, the massive black clouds over the Wasatch dumping snow on the benches. Herds of Antelope wandering around. I even had a wolf cross the trail right in front of me hunting something pretty closely. Pretty awesome setting for a race. Lots of hills the first half, up and down, over and over. From mile 19 to the finish it was mostly flat with just small rollers. I was able to maintain a decent pace for the first 20 miles then things quickly went downhill. I once again got all cramped up in my stomach and chest. I couldn't eat and drink or even breathe. I struggled from there to the finish. I tried massage, water, coke, anything to get it to relax. I might have to figure that out some day.
I ended up cruising into the finish all alone with 2nd place a good 10 mins up and first a blistering 30 mins ahead of me. Crazy. I had apparently died off a bit at the end as the 4th place person wasn't too far from me. I never saw HER. Phew. Nearly got chicked. My time was a huge PR so I am happy for it, but it does come with an astrick as the course director did admit that the course is about a mile short. It had to be changed this year as the normal course took you onto the beach that is now under a few feet of water.
Overall, a good day but I was sure happy to see that finish line with some buffalo stew and coke waiting for me. Now off to take a bit of a break from training for the holidays. I will still run, but only when I feel like it.
Recovery went well from the 50K and I felt like hitting the trails again so I braved the 15 degree temps for a jaunt up Providence Canyon. I felt much better than expected and actually felt good as new (at least for a short run). The trail was packed down and not too icy. Overall, a great run. I even was able to turn off the headlamp for the last 3 miles.
I was feeling good today, so I went for a new course PR. Previous record was 1:09:15. I smoked it by a whole minute even with the slippery trail. I actually think the trail is easier when it is covered in packed snow cause it takes out all the rocks. Makes it less technical, but slick. Good times.
Longish run with Paul. Last run with Paul before he abandons us to go to greener pastures. I figured that since it seems that most runs we have done together have been in the rain, today would be no exception. It was cold, rainy, windy, and just plain uncomfortable. Paul had a wardrobe malfunction (don't worry, just his gloves) and nearly froze to death. The other 'highlight' was watching him "run" on Deer Fence trail in the mud. It was hazardous, and he was taking no chances. We FINALLY made it though, in case you were worried. Even though we suffered in the rain, the snow storm outside now is even nastier. Glad we went when we did!
Not surprisingly, the trail was buried under snow today. I opted to not take the microspikes and I think that was a mistake as the snow was quite slick. Someone had blazed the trail for the first mile, but had done so yesterday and the snow was icy chunks. The footing was better once I hit the bridge but from then on I was making the trail. Snow was nearly mid shin and the going was slow. I was working pretty hard to hold a 14 min mile pace. Once I hit the turnaround, though the soft snow was nice and cushy. Coming down was a blast until the icy stuff over the last half mile. Good times.
Worked 17 hours on Tues and another 6 on Wed. Nothing like the late night coding/debugging sessions! I did manage to wake up today and run for a while. Did the usual Providence Trail. Today, the sun was out though due to the later wake up and that made it nice (you know, to be able to see and all). Today, I wore Microspikes and that made a huge difference on the icy trail. The bottom half of the trail was nice and packed down with a few icy patches, but the microspikes did wonders on that. No slippage at all. The upper half of the trail was untouched other than my tracks from monday. Looks like I am on my own for keeping that section of trail clear.
Escaped the valley rain to run in the mountain snow. It was just flurries, so no big deal. The trail had turned to mush though from all the warm weather. The microspikes saved the day again. It was like running in a slurpee.
12 lousy miles. I think my week finally caught up with me and I crashed and burned. I woke up and decided to wait until the foot of snow melted a bit. I headed out mid day and just didn't feel good from start to finish. I did stop and chat with the RedRoosterfor a few mins. Poor guy is still injured.
I have to earn my glorious over-eating tradition by running a few miles before proceeding to stuff my face. I do that everyday and Thanksgiving is no exception. Today I hit the BST over to Green and ran up to the yurt. I ran the first mile of singletrack before switching to the road. I had my microspikes and I am glad I did. The snow was mostly hard packed or ice. It was a great morning to be out and about. I am very thankful to be healthy and running. I even did an extra 2 mile repeat of the first mile of singletrack before heading back to the car. The only complaint was the sciatica pain I had over the last 4 miles. Now after stopping, it is brutal. Hope it goes away. Maybe pie will cure it.
Ok, its official. Thanksgiving is now a mandatory day off. I am cursed. Last year I ran a race and got hurt, this year I ran by myself and still got hurt. The sciatica pain is brutal. I walk around like a gimp. Guess, a few days off wont kill me. What a pain in the butt....literally.
