Old Man Still running

To beat the heat I did a favorite 50K run around Lake Mountain. the mountain that rises about 3000 feet above my home on the west side of Utah Lake.  I've done it many times before.  This time I started at sunset down at the far south end.  I dumped off some fluid refills at the point closest to home, one mile away, which would be about mile 18.

With the crazy splint on the hand still, I used a camelback and headlamp.  I ran clockwise and enjoyed this starting point because you can really cruise the first half on fresh legs.  The second half is more technical with far more climbs.

The first mile was a pain because of all the bugs out at dusk.  I just had to run with my mouth closed to avoid some fly-ins.  I turned my light on at the top of Soldier Pass.  As I came down the secluded valley away from the main road, I was surpised to see a couple campers around a campfire.  I'm sure they expected total privacy because that area just doesn't get many visitors.  But here I came!   They turned and stared as I ran right by their camp.  I yelled "Howdy" and ran on, trying not to laugh.  I'm sure I shocked them.  Why in the world would a guy come running in the dark through their camp in the middle of no where?  We were a good ten miles from the nearest housing development.

I ran on at a good clip for the next ten miles to Eagle Mountain town center area.  On the north end of the mountain, my pace slowed on the steady climb.  Once over that pass, it was great to see all the lights of Saratoga and the cities across the Lake,

I stopped and refilled at my aid station and then for the next three hours took my sweet time running on the east side of the mountain.  The stars were brilliant in the sky and the lights across the lake looked like sparkling jewels.  I was totally in my element running at night.  I sang out as I ran having a great time.  With about a couple miles to go, my headlamp dimmed, but that was OK.  I dumped out onto Redwood Road where I could run without a light.  Only one truck drove by at about 3:30 a.m.

The weather had been perfect.  It was 77 when I started and 59 when I finished.

Ran the Freedom Run again this year in Provo.  Chose the 5K this year because it was hot.  Three sons and my son-in-law also ran, so it was fun to have the guys there.  I hoped to get an age group place but knew 1st place would be tough because Gene Morehead was running.  I've never beat Gene, who runs tris and trains for these shorter distances.  But every race I'm getting closer and closer to him.

I warmed up by running a couple miles on the BYU campus bringing back lots of memories.  At the start, I spotted Gene.   He hit the chip timer ahead of me.   I passed him during the first quarter mile, knowing that he would later pass me.  If I could tuck in behind him to the finish that would beat his time.

It was hot!  About 80 degrees.  My first mile was about 6:00 but I slowed from there.  Gene passed me at mile 2 and I just couldn't keep stride, my breathing was just too hard.  So I cruised it in, about 30 seconds behind Gene to grab second place.

I guess the top 20 runners or so missed the final turn and ran an extra mile.  Can't see how that could have happened.  Some volunteers must have really messed up.  The cones looked  very obvious when I arrived.  So it took forever for them to get the results sorted out.

The boys finished about 5-6 minutes later.  They did great.

I got a nice crystal cube trophy, my third one from this event.  They look pretty cool.

I have a free hand again!  Whoohoo!  Doc says I'm ahead of schedule compared to most because I already have full range of motion.  I'll just need to keep it protected for the four week (no weight lifting, hauling furniture for moves, bringing in groceries, taking out the trash, making my own dinner, ha, ha).

Nice to be able to type again without any problem.

a.m 6 road including hill

p.m. 10 Rose Canyon, Yellow Fork

Thinking about friends in big races coming up.  Hardrock 100 tomorrow and Badwater on Monday.  Those are always fun races to follow online.

I'm starting to focus on Tahoe Rim 100 in nine days.  It will be my 5th time running it.  Looks like most of the snow is gone.  Hopefully there will still be some patches.  Long-range forcast looks good, a little cooler than normal, high of 70 at the lowest point of the course.

I really hope for a sub-24 finish.  I know it is possible but I'm not sure about my recent training.  Also, I'm timid on the trails because of the injured hand.  If I bump it, it can hurt bad.  I've got to figure out how to get over the fear.  At TRT100 you really have to blast down some trails.

Looks like it will be more competitive in my age group this year.  Usually I can contend for the top spot but there are three guys who should beat me.   If I do go sub-24, that should win the age group and get top 10 overall.  I'm shooting for 10:30 for the first 50-mile loop and then 13:30 for the last 50.  That should be possible.   Last year I did the first 50 in 10:52 but was delayed by gut issues and they had record high temperatures.

Last year I ran the first 15 miles in 3rd place before people started to catch up.  Turns out the two guys in front of me later DNFed.  I'll probably start out fast again, it worked out well.  I'll work on the sections later that I slowed down on.  Chafing was a major problem last year.  I'll avoid it this year.

Heat training.  Ran 2/3rds around Lake Mountain, 20 miles.  When I was a mile from home, I had had enough.  Somewhat dehydrated but good stress put on the body.

Heat, hills and speed.  Taper begins. I'm at race weight, so that is good.

Doing a severe taper.  Going to really take it easy this week to rest and heal up stuff. Just going to do enough to stay loose.  Race day weather looks perfect, cooler than normal, high at the lowest point of the course, 69, up on the ridges about 60.  Overnight low 48.  Great stuff.

Ready for Saturday.  I may go a little early to go watch the Celebrity Golf Tourney at South Lake Tahoe on Saturday to watch Barkley, Jimmer, etc try to golf. 

Hoka or not?  Leaning not, at least for the first loop to get over the fear of slipping and falling again.   Still some snow and wet places on the course.  The hardware in my hand cost $4,000, just the hardware, not the cost of installation.

Detailed report later. 

I don't think I have ever suffered more during a 100-mile race.  I experienced a terrible stomach bonk for at least 14 hours.  Not acid stomach, just terrible discomfort when I pushed the pace.  I've concluded it was altitude related.  When it was at its worse, my breathing was also out of control.  Probably low oxygen in the blood, drawing the blood away from my digestion.   When I was on the lower portions of the course near 6,000 feet I felt much better, but above 8000 feet, it would just kick in again.  At 3 a.m., at mile 80, I stopped for an hour to try to recover but then my body temp went down and I shiverred in a cot under the care of some very kind people.  I was very seriously thinking about quitting, but I knew that I was still probably about seven hours ahead of cutoffs, so I had plenty of time to recover if I still wanted a finish.

Eventually I pulled out of it, jogged up and down the stairs inside the ski lodge and concluded that I could continue on.  But after a huge climb up a ski slope, eventually the suffering came back.  At least I was running faster than the other runners around me.  

My only goal now was to finish sub-30, to get the silver buckle and my 500-mile (5-time) finishing belt.  I paced myself exactly fast enough to have a 15-30 minute buffer.   With my slower pace, a warmer morning, and some great pancakes, I felt much better with 10 miles to go.  I just enjoyed the morning and the amazing views of Lake Tahoe.

I crossed the finish line in my slowest time ever there, 29:45:51, four hours slower than normal.  I had been shooting for sub-24.  Not this year.   I was frustrated and disappointed because my legs were fresh but my body had experienced terrible stress.  But I was in good spirts at the finish as the RDs greeted me and made me feel like a hero as they presented me with my belt. 

Oh, I ran into a mother bear and her cub at mile 52 only 50 feet in front of me on the trail.  That really spooked me.  She took one look at me and ran away with amazing speed after her cub.

Feeling much better today.  Appetite coming back. Only a little soreness in the legs.

I need to get a handle on this bonk issue.  If this happens again on a 100, I'll quit rather than suffer like that for hours.

Ordered one of those finger oxygen testers and plan to do some training with my heart monitor.  I'll plan on doing more altitude running.  Also, need to look at changing nutrition.  I ran mostly eating gels for the first 50, but once the stomach bonked, it wouldn't tolerate them. Eating them made me feel worse. Lots of things to consider.

Did a crazy recovery run, just 4 days after finishing TRT100.  Went up Timpanogos for the first time this year.  The amount of snow if more than I have ever seen, even on some early June summits.  The avalange fields are huge and will remain there clear into next summer.  Knowing the snow routes, I was able to glissade from the saddle down all the way past the rockslide basin, over 2,000 feet, with just a few sections of trail to run through.

I took my sweet time, 4:45, but it was a good test.  I was worrying that I was losing my running mojo, but I charged right up, passing many very fit college kids who were flabergasted as I ran by.

Altitude.  Breathing did well, even up to the summit.  But I got a bad altitude headache starting at 11,000 feet.   My stomach and lungs were also sore.   But it all went well.   I'll post a bunch of pictures on facebook.  The goats were just sunning themselves on the shelf below the saddle.   They let me get pretty close.

Ran a group run with the Salt Lake ultrarunners up on the pioneer trail.  Started at Jeremy Ranch, went through East Canyon, up Little Emigration Canyon to Big Mountain, ran the Wasatch course backward to Swallow Rocks, then left it and ran a ridge and down into the canyon taking us to Little Dell Res.  Finished at I-80.   First half felt good, but then started to melt in the heat and took it easy for the second half.  Did the whole thing in about 5:45.   Fun to see everyone.

Ran the crazy Sogonapmit Marathon as a fun run.(Sogonapmit is Timpanogos backwards).  Instead of running the Timp Half marathon, you run from the finish up to the start and back, climbing about 2,000 feet or so.  The marathon started at American Fork High School, ran through Cedar Hills, up American Fork Canyon to Tibble Fork Res.  Then turn around and go back.  Pretty crazy.

I opted for the early start since I wasn't going to race it and wanted to make sure I reached the top before the crowds of half marathoners started.  Turns out they started late so I ended up beating all of them to the finish.

It was great fun starting at 3:06 a.m.   I quickly took the lead.  The rest of the marathoners started about 15 minutes later.  I was the first runner to the top and no one caught up until about mile 20.

Running on the Cedar Hills paved trail that early was funny because I got blasted by sprinklers.   But it was nice, they cooled me off.  We had a warm headwind going up.  The other runners fell way behind so I was blazing the trail and taking it pretty easy because I wasn't competing against anyone.  But I kept my mile splits to about 9 minute miles for quite awhile.   A lot of the road cones had been knocked down during the night by kids, but the police set them back up as we run up.

As I was running up to Tibble Fork, out of the dark Seth caught up to me.  He had been setting up the course during the night and decided to run up, starting with the main group.  He was really nice and ran with me for a couple miles and then ran ahead during the last mile.  He's an amazing runner.  It was great to talk to him.  He then stoppped to talk to friends for a ten minutes at the top and still won the marathon.

I thought the other fast runners behind me in the second group would catch me before the top, but they never did.  It turns out I did the uphill half in 2:02, much faster than expected.  It was pretty cool to be one of the first arriving and I got great cheers from the half marathoners.  I ran with a reflective vest and a blue headlamp to make it easy on the eyes.  I probably looked funny arriving.

I made the turnaround and then kicked it in to gear for awhile to make some time up.  But I soon discovered this was also an obstacle adventure run.  With all the buses going up and down, I had to dodge them all.  Several times they met in both directions and I was between.  I had to choose which one to run out in front of.  Pretty dangerous.  That slowed me down several times.  I could tell that the buses were late and that the half would probably start about 20 minutes late.

By mile 20, as always happens to me in marathons, I lost my speed.  My hips were complaining and I didn't want to push it at all since I have a huge run to do in less than two days.  I just tried to do 10-minute miles to the finish, and maybe break 4 hours.  That would still be pretty good on this very hilly course.

Kelli, Seth, and Steve Piccolo passed me at mile 20, going strong.  I couldn't keep up, just didn't have the speed anymore, so enjoyed the morning.

As I approached the finish line, the RD announced that I was the first Half Marathon finisher.  I laughed, shook my head and he made the correction.  I finished in about 4:02.  Funny.  It took me 2:02 to go up, and 2:00 to go down.  Pretty slow down hill.

It was great fun and nice to see a bunch of bloggers and other friends.