Old Man Still running

9 treadmill, 5 Legacy Center track.  New month, looks like it will be easy to break my life-time high mile year of 3,148.

Treadmill   14x8x5 with spurts of 18.5% incline at this pace.

As I was running, I got pondering on why I run 100-milers and the affect of DNFs.  I remember when I went to my first 50-miler, 2004 White River 50 in Washington and looked at the very fit athletes there.  I didn't know who these people were then, but I was watching Karl Meltzer, Hal Koerner, Ian Torrence, Nikki Kimble and others. I looked at my plumpy, unfit body and thought to myself, "What am I doing here?  I'm such a poser.  I'm pretending to be something I'm not."   I felt very intimidated.  Well, I ran anyway, and finished in dead last place, in 14:00:02.  The cutoff was 14 hours.  I was given credit for the finish.  I then spent the next hour in the medical tent.  They even hooked an IV up to me.  It was embarassing. Well, I didn't give up.  See 2004 results.  

In another six weeks I ran in my first 100, the Bear 100.  By mile 82, I again found myself in dead last place, experiencing a major bonk, something I had never felt before.  By mile 87, I had to quit.  I would have never made the next cutoff anyway.   At the finish line I watched some runners finish who I had been running with earlier, including Hans Dieter.  I had DNFed, they didn't.  I commented to my family there that this sport was just way over my head.  I would never be able to finish a 100-miler.  For a few days I believed that.  But then my stubborn determination kicked in.   I had over-use injuries, trying to do too much, too soon, and couldn't really run for the next six weeks, but I didn't give up.   I used that DNF to teach me something.

This morning as I thought about that again, I thought about a guy who DNFed my Pony Express Trail 100 this year.   He did go 50 miles but then quit.   For several days after the race he kept sending me emails pleading with me that I give him credit for finishing the 50-miler so he could keep a DNF off his resume.  I refused. The rules were clear to me and others.  I'm sure he still isn't happy with me as he looks at this month's ultrarunning magazine and doesn't see his name listed in the results.  But I really hope he claims that DNF, recognizes it for what it is, and use it for motivation and improvement in the future.  You learn so many good things about yourself depending on how you respond to a 100-mile DNF.  Yes, you have put in so much time and effort and come up short, but that can really drive you to greater heights.  In 2004, it was beyond my wildest dreams that I could ever really be a runer, that I could really rub shoulders with those fit athletes that I watched at the pre-race of 2004 White River 50.   But now, I don't feel out of place.  My "failures" have helped me push to new heights, even though I'm now an old man.   I don't feel old at all and to me that is the best reward for all the hard work.  

Yes, I've DNFed four 100-mile races.  But I've finished 36 along the way.  There is no way I could have done that without embracing my DNFs and learning from them.  Anyway, that is the crazy things I was thinking about while running on the treadmill this morning.

Did an amazing 42-mile run in a very, very remote section of Capitol Reef National Park.  Wow, it was a great experience in this much ignored national treasure.   Details and pictures coming.

See spectacular photos.  What a perfect day.  Started running at 2:30 a.m., did an out and back.  Reached the 21-mile turnaround point at 8:30 a.m. 

Read the detailed report here.

Came within six miles of Lake Powell. Here is my Garmin track, 21 miles down and back.

10 miles on treadmill.  first 10K a tempo run of 43:11.

Treadmill

Treadmill 10x7:45x4

p.m.  Ran the foohills above Bluffdale, 6 miles.

Legacy Center Track

Nine miles on wet pavement, a loop run into Lehi and back, and 22 miles on the treadmill.  That's my 9th run of at least 30 miles in nine weeks.  Soon it will be time to think about tapering.

I also set a new PR today for most miles in a calendar year, passing my record for 2008.  Looks like I'll crush it by a couple hundred.

Out at 3 a.m.  35 degrees and pleasant.  Ran a 10-mile pavement loop on Jordan River trail into Lehi and back.   Then did 8 miles on the treadmill with long stretches at 15% incline.  Feeling strong and fast.

Ran on the Jordan River Parkway, started at Bluffdale, ran to 106th South and back. 9:00 pace.

Out at 3 a.m.  16 degrees F. Ran ten on the pavement, 9:15 pace.  Water bottle was turning to slush.  Then did nine miles on the treadmill at 7:50 pace.

Ran a chilly run out to Eagle Mountain, Ranches, and back.  Wind chill was tough for the last few miles.  Averaged 10:00 pace.  The dirt roads were frozen hard.

Thinking back at my long runs this year.  I really think doing runs over 30 miles has helped me condition for 100-milers and making it possible for me to recover from them quickly.  I went back to see how many runs of 30 miles or more I have done lifetime:

2002	2
2003	2
2004	13
2005	21
2006	22
2007	20
2008	16
2009	19
2010	25
Total	140

I'll probably have a couple more this year, so it has been a good year for these ultra-distance runs.

A nice long easy-paced run, early morning in the snow.  I love running at night in fresh snow.  It snowed a couple inches while I was running. The wind chill got frigid for that last few miles as the storm got worse.

Map of run

p.m. 11 miles on treadmill while watching Kona Ironman coverage/documentary.  Looks like I came out on top of the mileage board this week.  I think I've done that about ten times this year.  Good tough training week this week.  Pleased that I toughed it out and got outside for about half the miles.

More than a foot of snow fell overnight.  I ran nine miles on the treadmill.  I'm officially tapering now, turning my attention to Across the Years 48-hour race in Arizona, in 8 days from now.  Looking at the competition, a top-3 finish isn't totally unrealistic.  Two of the runners are world-class or at least on national class.  I don't think I can touch them.   But the rest of the field are possible to beat.  In past years, 180-190 miles usually wins the race.  I'm hoping to at least go over 150, but hoping for 170.   It all depends on how the feet hold up and avoiding over-use injuries.  You just never know will happen.   Two years ago when I ran the 24-hour race, I watched a world-class runner (who must hold many records) break down and slowly walk around the track for hours and hours.

I'll likely go out kind of fast and will lead for awhile, I know I can't hold back in the beginning.  The race favorite will start 24 hours after me.  I chose to start with the first group on Dec 29th because if you start the second day, there is far more passing going on because of the slow runners on the track who have been at it for 24 hours.  Instead, I'll be one of the slower runners on day 2 that the second group has to pass. Hopefully I'll be at least 100 miles ahead of the second group when they start.

Crazy, crazy, crazy.  But I think I'm ready.  I run lots of flat miles the last couple of months and my legs seem to be happy doing it.  I'll be bringing my son Kevin with me and he will crew and pace me.   We'll have a tent set up inside a huge heated tent.  Hopefully I won't have to do much snoozing in it.

I expect to finish out this month with about 450 miles total.  My PR month was 400 miles in 2008.

p.m. 6 more easy treadmill miles.

Treadmill.  Just maintaining, tapering, trying to keep the weight down.

Treadmill, weights, core.

Easy taper treadmill run.  Totaly tapering now.  Just keeping the taper pains away.

You can follow my progress online at Across the Years 48-hour run starting Wednesday, 9 a.m. You can also send me messages through the website.  Every hour or two, they print these out and deliver them to my mail box.   So send me rude messages or anything to make me know you are watching and that I need to stop being a slacker and run.   It helps to know someone is watching me.

The website is at: http://www.acrosstheyears.com/

The track is a custom soft track that goes acournd the property at Nardini Manor.

An interesting FAQ about the race is found here: http://www.acrosstheyears.com/faq.html

Nice tuneup run.  11 miles at 8:55 pace.  All systems go.   Good taper week, just 45 miles.  One more short run Monday morning and then the real fun starts on Wednesday.

Tested some Kinesio Tex tape that the running foot expert recommends.  I'm sold on it.  It is better than Elastikon.  Nice stuff, stretches great, breaths well, and attaches to skin and holds on.  It is also smoother than Elastikon, so you can even use it on toes and not worry about rubbing.

I'm getting very mentally ready for Across the Years 48-hour run. Just three days to go! I've worked on my race strategy.  Two approaches, steady pace, vs. fast start and then slower later.   I've read reports and looked at splits of the best in the sport and decided to stick with the approach I usually use, run fast, bank the miles, and then hold on.  For me, if I start slowly, I tend to stay slow, and then later on just go even slower, losing the hope for a dream race.

So, I've worked on a pacing strategy that tracks each 10K.  For each 10K, I can decrease my pace by 2 minutes. My dream goal is 170 miles.  My ultra dream goal is 200.  So the pace chart zeros in on the ultra dream goal and we will see how I do.  When I ran Pony Express 100 in October I was ahead of this pace until about the 50-mile mark when the heat was slamming me.  Good news!  No heat at ATY.  A cold front is coming in.  High temp will be 62 and low of 27.  Some chance of rain.  This is ideal for me.  At night runners will slow down because of the cold. I need to use all my cold night training and keep the pace going.

There will be a few world-class runners starting on the same day as I am.  It will be fun to try to keep up with them for awhile.

I'll focus on my lap times.   Each lap is 500 meters (or 1/2 K). I'll try to keep my lap times under 4 minutes for the first 75 miles, and then under 5 minutes for the next 60 miles.  The only time I should go over 6 minutes is when I need to stop for some reason (bathroom, clothes change, short rest, etc.)

In 2010, my lap times went way down during the night.  I didn't dress warm enough and got very drowsy.

In 2008, I ran the ATY 24-hour race.  You can see how I did then against my 2010 pace goals.

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Kilos	Miles	Lap #	elapsed	clock	lap times	mile pace	2008
10K	6.21	20	0:56:00	9:56 AM	0:02:48	0:09:01	0:50:52
20K	12.43	40	1:54:00	10:54 AM	0:02:54	0:09:20	1:47:26
30K	18.64	60	2:54:00	11:54 AM	0:03:00	0:09:39	2:45:17
40K	24.85	80	3:56:00	12:56 PM	0:03:06	0:09:59	3:54:15
50K	31.07	100	5:00:00	2:00 PM	0:03:12	0:10:18	5:02:09
60K	37.28	120	6:08:00	3:08 PM	0:03:24	0:10:57	6:23:55
70K	43.50	140	7:18:00	4:18 PM	0:03:30	0:11:16	7:39:11
80K	49.71	160	8:30:00	5:30 PM	0:03:36	0:11:35	8:56:32
90K	55.92	180	9:44:00	6:44 PM	0:03:42	0:11:55	10:14:54
100K	62.14	200	11:00:00	8:00 PM	0:03:48	0:12:14	11:54:06
110K	68.35	220	12:18:00	9:18 PM	0:03:54	0:12:33	13:21:38
120K	74.56	240	13:38:00	10:38 PM	0:04:00	0:12:52	14:57:09
130K	80.78	260	15:00:00	12:00 AM	0:04:06	0:13:12	16:42:14
140K	86.99	280	16:24:00	1:24 AM	0:04:12	0:13:31	18:56:24
150K	93.21	300	17:50:00	2:50 AM	0:04:18	0:13:50	20:48:14
160K	99.42	320	19:18:00	4:18 AM	0:04:24	0:14:10	22:37:59
170K	105.63	340	20:48:00	5:48 AM	0:04:30	0:14:29	23:59:12
180K	111.85	360	22:20:00	7:20 AM	0:04:36	0:14:48
190K	118.06	380	23:54:00	8:54 AM	0:04:42	0:15:08
200K	124.27	400	25:30:00	10:30 AM	0:04:48	0:15:27
210K	130.49	420	27:08:00	12:08 PM	0:04:54	0:15:46
220K	136.70	440	28:48:00	1:48 PM	0:05:00	0:16:06
230K	142.92	460	30:30:00	3:30 PM	0:05:06	0:16:25
240K	149.13	480	32:14:00	5:14 PM	0:05:12	0:16:44
250K	155.34	500	34:00:00	7:00 PM	0:05:18	0:17:04
260K	161.56	520	35:48:00	8:48 PM	0:05:24	0:17:23
270K	167.77	540	37:38:00	10:38 PM	0:05:30	0:17:42
280K	173.98	560	39:30:00	12:30 AM	0:05:36	0:18:01
290K	180.20	580	41:24:00	2:24 AM	0:05:42	0:18:21
300K	186.41	600	43:20:00	4:20 AM	0:05:48	0:18:40

My son and I ended up driving all the way down to Arizona yesterday, ariving at 10:15 p.m. Now I'll have the entire day to relax, get set up and focused.  The weather will be fantastic today but could rain all day tomorrow.  The weather will be a huge factor, it will seperate the tough from the wimps.  I hope I'm not with the wimps.  I have plenty of rain gear, tarps, etc. I just worry about the shoes because I know the Hokas don't do well when they become very wet.  But I have four other backup pair of shoes.  On Thursday, the rain goes away, but the cold comes in.  Over night, the temperature could dip to 25.  I have penty of cold weather gear too.   Cold could really slow people down.  This could be the coldest ATY race in years.   So, the elements will be a major factor and this could be an epic race.  I think I'm prepared.

Race time is 9 a.m. on Wednesday.  Track me online at http://www.acrosstheyears.com/ They will have realtime results showing my pace for each 1/2 K lap.  They will also have a webcam.  During the first day I should be wearing a yellow shirt.  But when in rains, I could put on a garbage bag first.  If it pours, I'll switch to rain gear.   You can send me messages that get printed out every couple hours.  Short messages that get my mind off of the pain are great.  I don't plan to have down time to sit and read essays, but my son can run along with me reading them.  Even at night, messages can be fun.  Just knowing that someone is watching me helps motivate me to not be a slacker.

p.m.  Wonderful walk in the warm sunshine.

 Detailed race report here

Had the race of my life this week.  I'll do a detailed race report tomorrow.  I started fast, held a lead for all the races for awile and held the 48-hour race lead until the second night when I thought I had given up at mile 160, at 11 a.m. and went to bed for four hours.  But a 3 a.m. I got up, discovered I was behind Debra Horn by 10 laps (5K).  She had a good trot going, but I still had a very fast running gear, so the race was on.  A guy looking at the standings board smiled broadly when he saw me show up.  All I said to him, was: "The chase is on!"  Others gathered around the board to watch the fun.  For the next 1:53, I ran very hard and eventually passed Debra.  All she said was "good job."  After that, she put on a great fight with her crew to try to get back the lead for the next couple hours.  I ran scared because she is a terrific runner, on the US National 24-hour team.  But I pushed my lead bigger and bigger and eventually just ran behind her for many laps, keeping her in my sights so she couldn't surprise me with a chase. I could tell that her crew wasn't very happy about the turn of events.  Soon she gave up the fight and I slowed to walk with all my new friends and accept their kind complements.  For the last two laps, I still had amazing speed and finished off strong with 187 miles.

I didn't expect to win.  World-class runner, Philip McCarthy was in the second group and finished the first 24 hours with almost 116 miles, must a half mile behind what I did on the first day.  But he had medical issues and didn't run day two.  Two other runners could catch me, but it looks like the cold night is taking its toll and they are fading, so I might have the win.

I PRed at distances 50K, 50-mile, 100K, and 100-mile.  Wish they would have published the first day split times.  My 100-mile time was about 19:42.  Finally broke 20 hours.