Old Man Still running

Wow, five straight days without miles and I don't even feel guilty.   The legs are just about ready, but the foot will take a couple more days.  I decided last night to cut off most the dead heel skin....ooooo gross!    About 3x3 inches.  It was sad to see that tough heel skin go and in its place tender wimpy skin.  So the foot is tender but healing fast.  I'm enjoying the vacation from running.   Need to go buy some new shoes.  I've concluded the La Sportive Wildcats that I love only last about 300 miles, given what I put them through.

No miles again today.   Maybe if I keep this string of zero days going, I will finally retire from running.   My legs feeling better.  The heel is still is sore, but taped seems about ready to run.

Mentally, I expect I'm ready because I had another running dream last night.  I get a real kick out of my running dreams.  They make me laugh all day.   OK, this time, I was in some sort of 24-hour race around an oval track.  I was targeting for 100 miles in less than that time.  Of course running in your dreams is frustrating because it is always like running in thick jello...just can't get the speed going.   However, I was keeping up with the group of runners.  I was concerned about how my lap count is being recorded because I don't have a chip on.  I ask someone at the start line and they tell me I've done 25 laps, so I don't worry.  But then I got off course.  How in the world can I get off course on an oval track!!!....pretty stupid, but I did.   Well my delay wasn't too bad, I got back on track.

Well, I kept running, but somehow the track shrunk and of course, as always, my running dream headed indoors.   I now found myself running aournd a huge kitchen with the island in the middle.  I could grab onto the edge of the island to push myself forward faster since the feet are always so slow.   Soon people in chairs and tables are crowding my loop and I have to push them aside and clear out a path.  I then discover that I'm the only one running this loop now.  Everyone else has quit.  Some man starts telling me what I am doing is crazy and rude, that I should stop.   I keep going for awhile, but then decide that this is crazy to be running around a kitchen, so I stop.

OK, so after work, I think I will ease back into running again by running around my kitchen island.   I can see it now, the dog gets riled up and starts chacing me, barking behind.  My wife comes into the room, "....what on earth?"   Ha, ha, just trying to fufill my dreams!

My string of zero mile days only lasted six day. Between conference sessions I ran six easy miles with the dog. My legs started to take me up into the hills, but I reminded them that we need to be focused on the flats for my next two 100s. Pony Express Trail 100 in two weeks and Javalina Jundred in four weeks. The goal for both is to break 24 hours. I need to get the legs used to striding out and getting speed on the flats. The quad and heel were a little pained, but no bad. Next week I'll get some good miles in to loosen up and lose some weight.

Out the door at 4:15 a.m.  Ran out to the ranches and through the Church farm.   It turned out to be much colder than expected, close to 30 degrees.  My finger tips froze in my cloth gloves.   Wow, winter is coming.   The legs felt OK, but I never really warmed up.   Hopefully I'll find some speed this week.

Ran into work this morning.  First 10 miles were good but I pooped out for the last five.  It was nippy, saw frost on the bushes, but I wore and extra layer and warmer gloves, so felt fine.   This is a good run to get ready for Pony Express 100 in 10 days.  Trying to get the legs used to striding out and running faster as opposed to the short stride mountain climbs I have been doing for the past couple months.   Hopefully it will come together in a few days.  I'm still feeling slow.

Highlight of the run was as the dawn was arriving, I was at a small reservoir in Riverton.  There were hundreds of geese on this long narrow pond.   As I approached they started honking.  They were all next to the shoreline near me, but then in a hugle long line, they all moved together and swam toward the other side of the pond.

I might run home from work too....we shall see how I feel.

pm ran home too.  felt much better.  after 10 miles I finally warmed up and the legs no longer felt heavy.

Right ankle pain today.  What is up with that?   That is my good ankle!  I don't remember twisting it recently, but I learned from my serious ankle problem in the left foot that the tendon can flare up weeks after an injury.  Perhaps I twisted it during the Bear sometimes or all the crazy running I was doing to protect the blister and the quad did something to it.  Who knows.   I'm hoping it goes away fast.  It is on the same tendon as the other ankle that has been a problem for six months.   Well, glad my tough trail races are behind me.   I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm still running on worn-out shoes as you can see from me shoe tracker.   I have a new pair of wildcats on the way.

Ran into work again this morning, 15 miles.   Did it about 15 minutes faster than Tuesday, and felt much easier.   Geese and ducks still on that pond.  They don't like my green light.  I ran half of the run by moonlight.

Mystery solved!!!!   Why did I have such a problem with my right foot during Bear 100, the terrible heel blister?   I bought new La Sportiva Wildcats and compared the new shoes to my old shoes.  I was flabergasted to see how bad the old shoes were....I would call it a complete failure in the shoe, the right shoe in particular.  The heel is compressed more than a half an inch, sloping to the inside and the sole itself on the bottom have huge cracks in them.   The result is that it cause my heel to keep slipping toward the outside of the shoe.  I did very little training in the shoe, saved them for the three 100s I ran during the summer.  I believe the shoe failed about half-way into Wasatch 100.   So that is disappointing.  The shoe feels great and performs great, but the durability is probably only about 200 miles on rough terrain.   Rumor has it that even Karl Melzer, who is sponsored by La Sportiva, throws away his shoes after just one race.   My Montrail Wildwoods that have just as much miles on them don't have any of these problems.   The heel cushion system La Sportiva uses must just be poor.

My ankle pain from yesterday is gone.   I won't worry about it.   My remaining thing to whine about is some PF in my right heel.  I've had that flare up all summer.   So, I have something in common with Eli Manning, the QB of the NY Giants.  Gee he missed practice because of it yesterday, but I sucked it up and ran 15 this morning.  Who is tougher?   I just try to ignore it and eventually it calms down.

pm. ran home from work.  Felt strong. Ready to start a one week taper before Pony Express 100.

I noticed that my 2009 miles are now 33 miles ahead of my record 2008 miles.  October should be another 300+ month.  Below are some silly charts I use:

I went out with the dog.  I planned on just an easy run on the flats, but after a couple miles the legs turn up into the foothills and kept going.  Eventually I found myself in a canyon I had never been in on Lake Mountain.  As I climbed higher into the canyon the maples were amazing, flaming red.  I wish I would have had my camera.  The road we were on finally ended high up on a slope.  It seemed like a strange place for the road to end, but as I looked around, I could tell that it was a hunter's perch.  It was a perfect vista to scan many slopes for deer.  The hunt will start next week.  I could see footprints of hunters already scouting out the location.    We turned around to head down and I was amazed at my little dog.  She blasted down a steep smooth section with amazing speeed.  She would then stop and give a look like, "Come on you slow poke."   Wow, I wish I had her downhill speed.

It was really one of the runs where life seems so incredible.  It was just so good to be out in the amazing autumn sunshine.   We dodged a couple groups of shooters and made out way back down to Saratoga Springs.   I really had to hold back the legs.  They seem ready and eager to race.   Hold back.  Wait for Friday.   The poor little dog was pretty tired by the time we returned home. She did great.

Also, I had to post the top miles on the blog for the week.  79 miles.   Someone probably will best that.  Pretty funny how I had 79 miles this week and only 6 miles last week.  Well, next week I'll top the blog again with over 100.  Come on Jon, try to top it....he, he.  OV50 coming up for you.

Four quick miles with the dog to keep the legs happy and to break in new road shoes that I will try on Friday's race.  They breath too well, letting in the dust, so I will probably duct tape certain areas.  It is worth a try.   I'll probably run in them for the first 30 miles or so while my feet are moving fast.

I'll do a real race report later in the week, but briefly, we had more that 30 runners on the course this year, a huge increase from past years.  It made me very nervous and I worried that something would go wrong while we were out in the remote west desert.  I don't think anything serious did, although I think the back-of-the pack still hasn't finished.  So we shall see if they came in OK.

We run this free race on this historic Pony Express trail in the west desert.  The format this year and last year was an out and back over a 50-mile distance.  Runners must use a support crew driving in a car.  There is really no cost to me to put on this, other than time.

Phil Lowry and I set a blistering pace from the start and he eventually pulled ahead.  I reached the 25-mile mark at 3:53 and was well ahead of last year's pace all day and night.  Phil extended his lead to about three miles but then got sick and I caught up.   Scott Dakus passed us both and never looked back.  I haven't heard officially that he finished, but I beleive he did and shattered the 100-mile course record.   I extended my lead on Phil by about 3 miles but then he recovered and went on a tear. I reached the 50-mile mark at 9:23, about a half mile ahead of Phil who won the 50-mile race.

We had an early start this year and nine runners took that option.  It ended up working great because the slower runners were able to finish 50-miles close to the faster runners.  The crews were not as spread out this year.

During the night, the 100-milers who continued past 50 were spread out all over the course on the return trip.  At one point from past Simpson Springs I could look back and see runners lights about 16 miles behind.  The stars in the moonless sky were amazing.  We could see shooting stars all night.

We saw plenty of wildlife.  I came very close to stepping on a coiled rattlesnake.   Thankfully I caught myself in time.   Then I worred and slowed down for the next hour, worried that other runners would run into the snake.

After the 50-mile mark I continued a strong pace until the return to Riverbed at mile 75.  I then got lazy and lost motivation.   I had been chasing the first-place runner and believe I came within two miles of him before Riverebed on the return trip, but then he must have but on the afterburners. (Nope, turns out he was resting in his van when I passed him around mile 73.)  I thought I coudn't catch him.   And the runner behind me was at least 3-4 miles behind and fading fast.  So I got lazy and just took it easy for  the last 25.   I even called into the KSL Outdoor show at mile 98 at their request.  It cost me 25 minutes because I got put on twice had to stand still with the phone in order to keep the signal in the valley.  Gee if I knew I was in 1st place, I would have really pushed hard and probably come in over an hour earlier.

I finished in 22:58 in 1st place which is still a PR for me for a 100-mile race.  I have run faster for a 100-mile distance in a 24-hour race on a track (only 10 minutes faster).

This is a first draft of an article I will submit for December's Ultrarunning Magazine.  I'll add comments from other runners and crew as I receive them.

Pony Express Trail 100

The Pony Express Trail 100 is one of the most unique 100-mile races in the U.S.  It runs on the historic 1860 Pony Express route in the western desert in Utah.  This very remote section of the country has been untouched by modern development, except for the wide dirt road we would run on.  Herds of antelope are seen on the course.  This year runners even got a treat in seeing wild mustangs galloping in the desert.  They are believed to be descendants from the original Pony Express herd of horses.

I dreamed up this race four years ago after doing an adventure run on the historic route.   To me, it felt amazing to be out in the beautiful desert, far away from civilization.  I could look around me in every direction and not see a single man-made structure.   Here I was, Davy Crockett, in the Wild West.  All I could see was low mountains, sage brush, huge ant hills, and jack rabbits hopping away from me.   I went away wishing that I could share that experience with others. 

For the 2009 race, thirteen 100-mile and nine 50-mile runners assembled at the starting line at Lookout Pass (6570 feet).  This pass received its name because Pony Express riders and stagecoaches were often ambushed here by Indians.   They were told to “Look Out!”   To avoid any such dangers along our long run, we would each have a crew vehicle providing support along the entire route.  This is the most popular feature of the race. Family and friends can witness an entire 100-mile race, and get out at any point to pace their runner. While this is a very fast 100-mile course, it is deceptively tough with a finishing rate of less than 50%.  There is only about 5,000 feet of climbing along the way, but during the night, with a nice warm car driving near you, mentally it is tough to continue when those low points arrive.

Nine runners took the two-hour early start at 6:00 a.m. and the rest of the pack started at 8:00 as the sun just started peaking over the mountains.  Phil Lowry (running the 50) and I (running the 100) led the pack through a beautiful winding canyon dotted with cedars (junipers).  After three miles at a 7-minute mile pace, we spilled out into the wide-open Skull Valley where we could see for miles to mountain ranges to the west.   In the 19^th century this area was known as “Piute Hell” named after the Indian tribe there and because the desert was blazing hot in the summer and frigid cold in the winter.  On this day, we had perfect running temperatures all day with not a cloud in the deep blue western sky.

Near Government Creek, the location of an 1860’s telegraph relay station, we spied two lone antelope watching us.   Last year I counted a herd of 50 antelope here.   Several runners reported seeing some wild mustangs near the 16-mile point at Simpson Springs where a historic pony express station has been reconstructed.  We caught up with many of the early starters and it was quite a scene to look out and see the crew cars along a stretch of dirt road that extended across the desert for miles.   For many miles as crew cars leap-frogged me, waiting for their runners, I could estimate how far they were behind.  Most runners would send their crews ahead about 3-4 miles to wait for them.

At mile 25 we dipped down into an amazing dry ancient riverbed and passed by the site of a Pony Express station that 19^th century visitors believed was haunted.  There were no spooks to bother us today, but I knew that I would be returning in the night and needed to be careful.  By mile 33.5, at the 5:38 mark, Scott Dakus of Henderson, Nevada, caught up to me and took the lead.  I told him he was now in first place.  He laughed, slowed down to let me pass, “now am I in second?”   “Yes.”   He yelled to his passing crew car, “Look, I’m in first, now I’m in second, now in first.”  We had a good laugh.  I watched him become a small figure far down the straight road heading toward the Dugway Mountains.

By mile 40, I had run up and over Dugway Pass and now felt very isolated.  My crew was three miles behind helping Phil Lowry as he struggled with stomach problems.   Scott was now about three miles ahead.   All the other runners were miles behind, spread across the massive desert valley.  As a race director, I started to get very worried feelings.  What have I done?  I’ve led about 60-70 people (including crews) out into the wild remote western desert, a place most had never seen.   The responsibility seemed daunting.  Just at that moment I almost stepped on a coiled snake in the middle of the road.  It too was surprised and only started to rattle as I passed by.  Wow, that was a close one.  We were about three hours away from any hospital.

I soon rounded a low mountain range and could look out clear to the horizon across salt flats.  Near the 50-mile turnaround, where I arrived at 9:23, a relay team who had arrived a couple hours earlier set up an amazing aid station with a party atmosphere.   My spirits were perked as their cow bells rang out across the expansive remote desert.   The turn-around point was marked by a “Slow, Children at Play” sign.  It seemed quite appropriate.

I now turned around and headed back, greeting all of the runners over the next six miles.  The all had wonderful smiles on their faces and thanked me for the incredible experience.  The sun went down and I was presented with an explosion of stars.  Without any light pollution from cities, the Milky Way was incredible.  At times, I would turn off my light and run along the road with my head pointed to the skies.  Shooting stars were seen continuously through the night.   After climbing back over Dugway Pass, at the 64-mile mark, I could see the first place runner’s crew vehicle light ahead on the long straight 18-mile stretch of road.   How far ahead was he?  Two miles?  Five miles?  It was hard to tell.   All I could do was push the pace faster and faster.

At around mile 73, at about 11:00 p.m., I passed Scott’s crew van.  Where was Scott?  Little did I know that Scott was now snoozing in the van.  I had retaken first place.  However, I didn’t realize it because I thought two crews were helping Scott.   Behind me I could tell that the next runner was about 4-5 miles behind.   Along this stretch, the story is told that during the 1860s a lone woman passenger on a stagecoach awoke to find the horses and coach standing still.  Her driver had an arrow in his heart.  She drove the team ahead to my next destination, Simpson Springs.  I had no such dangers to deal with.  Many of the 50-mile runners drove by and cheered me on as they returned to their homes.

For the last 25 miles, I took it somewhat easy, thinking that I had no chance to catch Scott.   The nighttime temperature was strange.  There were pockets of cold air dipping down into the low 30s, and just a mile later it would jump into the 50s.  Layers on, layers off.   It was a lonely feeling running in the dark desert at night.  But looking behind me I could see crew car lights up to 18 miles away stretched across the dark desert floor. 

I had agreed to use a Satellite phone to call into an outdoor radio show at 6:00 a.m.   So, at about mile 98, I paused for 25 minutes to make the call.   After the call, I attacked the final climb back up to Lookout Pass.  I looked at my watch and pushed very hard to finish in a faster time than last year’s course record.   I knew there was still a chance that Scott had not finished.  I finished in a new course record time, at 22:58.  There was no sign of Scott at the finish and I didn’t find out until two days later that I had indeed won the 2009 Pony Express Trail 100.   My desert run was finished.   It was an experience that I would relive in my dreams for days. Five other runners would cross the 100-mile finish line later in the morning.  Join us next year in mid-October when we plan to transform this race into a premier 50 and 100-mile race. 

Results

Race date:  October 16-17, 2009

near Faust, UT, dirt roads

100-mile – 13 starters

1. Davy Crockett, 51, Saratoga, Springs, UT, 22:58:19 (course record)

2. Matt Watts, 53, Broomfield, CO, 23:31:54

3. Scott Dakus, 45, Henderson, NV, 26:09:00

4. Don Landry, 64, Montreal, Canada, 28:05:00

5. Olaf Questereit,  41, Murray, UT, 28:45:36

6. Gary Stosich, 53, Sandy, UT, 29:18:00

50 mile

1. Phil Lowry, 43, Mapleton, UT, 9:30:30 (course record)

2. Jarom Thurston, 35, Payson, UT, 9:42:00

3. Matt Ricks, 32, Bountiful, UT, 10:42:49

3. Craig Lloyd, 36, Holladay, UT, 10:42:49

5. Rand Nielson, 49, Sandy, UT, 11:54:00

6. Frank Bott, 52, Asheville, NC, 12:39:00

6. Pablo Riboldi, 41, Saratoga Springs, UT, 12:39:00

8. Quintin Barney, 50, Salt Lake City, UT, 13:12:02

8. Marilynn Phipps, 15, Layton, UT, 13:12:02

10. Leslie Peterson, 54, Cottonwood Heights, UT, 13:19:00

11. Gary Horlacher, 41, West Jordan, UT, 13:25:00

12. Steve Gray, 48, Henderson, NV, 13:30:00

13. David Loveland, 48, Jessie, UT, 13:57:00

I've recovered fast this time.  Ready to start running again.  Need to get in some good runs to loosen up again.   Javalina Jundred is in only ten days.  I want to finish the 100-mile race season with a strong performance.   Then, after that, it will be off-season fun.   Planning a Grand Canyon R2R2R on Nov 21 with my brother, brother-in-law, and probably others.

Easy run with the dog on pavement, just to do a recovery run and get the kinks out.  After two miles the kinks were out.  That is good news.  I'll step it up a little before my JJ100 taper.

Ran into the work this morning.   A nice steady pace. I didn't push it too hard.  Legs feel great, no soreness.   My right knee (my problem knee) was aching a little, so I'll need to be careful.   Best part is that mentally, I enjoyed the run.   Good, no burn out, ready to push forward.   Looking forward to again trying for a 100-mile PR next Saturday.

PM - Ran home from work but DNFed with about five miles to go, called my wife and she picked me up.   24 miles was plenty today.  The knee started to hurt so no reason to push it.  I'm ready to start tapering for JJ100 in a week.  Pretty funny, Recover and Taper times come together with just 24 miles in between.

I'm being terribly lazy, in my taper for JJ100 in Fountain Hills, AZ this Saturday.  No running going on at all.   Healing up from some minor stuff.  

You will be able to follow results online, updated every five minutes at: http://www.javelinajundred.com/webcast/live_results.html

With my sub-23 finish at Pony Express, I'm setting my sights higher, for a sub-22 finish.  I'm a little worried about the warm afternoon tempertures near 80 degrees.  I'll have to concentrate on keeping cool, using ice.

For a 21:30 finish, I'll need to average 3:15 laps.   Each lap is about 15.5 miles.  The last lap is partial.  Too bad it goes 1.4 miles over 100.

My pace goals for the laps are:

	miles	Split	clock goal	Goal
Start	0	0	6:00 AM	0:00
Lap 1	15.5	15.5	8:35 AM	2:35
Lap 2	30.9	15.5	11:20 AM	5:20
Lap 3	46.4	15.5	2:25 PM	8:25
Lap 4	61.9	15.5	5:45 PM	11:45
Lap 5	77.3	15.5	9:30 PM	15:30
Lap 6	92.8	15.5	1:30 AM	19:30
Partial Lap 7	101.4	8.6	3:30 AM	21:30

Fighting sinus headaches.  Was goint to get up and do some miles, but opted for sleep.  Need to do a little miles because the phantom taper pains are starting to arrive.  This winter stuff outside is strange.   Looks like the high for my race on Saturday is now forecast for 82 degrees.  Bummer.   Too bad the race isn't on Friday because the temp would be much cooler.   With 82 degrees, that will probably slow me down a good hour or more.  Not much I can do at this point.

I held my first Pony Express Trail 100 race committee meeting last night via conference call.  We have a lot of enthusiasm and should be able to organize a great race for next year.  The conference call worked out great.  We got business done in 45 minutes.

For the first time in months, I hit the treadmill to just inform my legs that they need to wake up and get ready to run 100 miles starting in 48 hours.   The muscles all feel great, didn't feel any kinks. 

The only concern is my problem knee. After three miles it started to hurt again.   This is the knee that was scoped back in May 2003, before I was a runner.  The cartilage is now low and after the operation the doctor told me to not run anymore.  Since then I've run 14,000 miles on that knee.    I suspect that I bruised some cartilage from the pounding and speed on the Pony Express Trail hard dirt road.   No swelling going on, but aching in the location where the doctor carved on my knee.   I've been lucky for the past year and not had any problems with the knee, but I always know that I'm one race away from retirement or another knee scope to put me on the sidelines for a long time.   I'm hopeful that the soft uneven trail at JJ100 this weekend will be fine.   I just manage the pain.  For the first two years of my ultrarunning  career, I thought I could never be speedy because the knee would always slow me way down.   For the last couple years it hasn't been a problem.

Wearing my coonskin hat right now at work.   I'm looking forward to spending all of Jalloween running in the Javelina Jundred in Fountain Hills, AZ.   Online progress and results will be at http://www.javelinajundred.com/webcast/live_results.html

Some people run this race in full costumes.  I'll have the hat with me.   I should run with a rifle too.

I think all systems are go.  I've gained several pounds over the last couple week.  Oh well, I'll shed some of those fast.

	miles	clock goal	Goal	2009 actual	place
Start	0	6:00 AM	0:00
Lap 1	15.5	8:35 AM	2:35	2:15:58	11th
Lap 2	30.9	11:20 AM	5:20	5:10:24	22nd
Lap 3	46.4	2:25 PM	8:25	8:26:13	24th
Lap 4	61.9	5:45 PM	11:45	12:12:54	23rd
Lap 5	77.3	9:30 PM	15:30	16:20:53	23rd
Lap 6	92.8	1:30 AM	19:30	21:35:47	39th
Partial Lap 7	101.4	3:30 AM	21:30	23:46:59	35th

I'll write a detailed race report later in the week.  This race was held at a desert park in Fountain Hills, AZ, northeast of Phoenix.   The 15.5-mile laps were run in alternating directions.  As you can see I started at a blistering pace, keeping the front-runners in view for the first 5.5 miles.   I wanted to bank some fast miles before the weather got hot, high around 82 degrees.  During Lap 2, I settled into more of a sustainable 100-mile pace.   Lap 3 was hot, hot, hot.  I still managed to stay on my goal pace.   Things cooled down nicely during Lap 4.  I was able to run the loop before it got dark.  Things fell apart during Lap 5.  During hot-weather races, I tend to go into a major bonk after sunset.  The first year I ran Wasatch this happened.   For about eight miles of the loop, I was thowing up over and over again.  When I finished the loop, because I had been running without taking in enough calories and sodium, I went into a major bonk.   My pacer from Gilbert, David, met me and the poor guy had to endure a 5-hour loop.  At the aid station around mile 87, I finally had to lie down on a cot with a warm blanket. I stayed at least 20 minutes and watch runner after runner pass me.  I felt very helpless.  I wasn't generating body heat and was stilll bonking with a terrible pit in the stomach.   Finally, still on the cot, I drank a double packet hot chocolate.  That warmed me up and put calories in  my system.  Within a couple miles I finally started to run again.  I shifted my goal to do everything I could to break 24 hours.  It would be very close.  During the Partial Loop 7 I was able to pass several runners, running the hills with strength and the downhills with speed.   Despite my huge challenges, I earned the sub-24 belt buckle.   That was the roughest six hours I had spent running in a very long time.  But somehow I fought through it.  Most runners would have DNFed.   250 runners started, and 125 finished.  Despite the easy course, this race is tough.   I like the alternating laps, because I could greet friends and see how far they were behind.  Some were as much as 20 miles behind me.

Dave James won the race, crushing Karl Melter's course record.  He finished in 14:20. Amazing.  He double-lapped me during his partial lap 7.  I was on lap 5.  He was 32 miles ahead of me.   I was able to keep up with him at that point because he backed off to save something for the JFK 50.