Old Man Still running

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.