Old Man Still running

Tapering now, just staying loose and trying not to gain too much weight.  I put together a scatter graph of my last year's ATY 48-hour run to study the pace of my laps.  Each dot is a 1/2 km lap.  There are about 12 dots that are off the chart, slow, some long stops, 15-minute+.   Pace (Y-axis) is minute/mile pace.  It is interesting to consider, that at 160 miles, if I would have just walked a 15-minute pace to the finish, I would have reached 200 miles.  But I was hammered, it was very cold after that cold front came in.  So I quit for 4 hours until I decided that was stupid and went back out and ran 27 more miles.

Training for ATY is done.  No more will help.  Just staying loose.

Here is my seeded contender list for this year’s 48-hour Across the Years.  It is interesting to see that the top contenders are all over 50 years old.  It is an old-man’s event.  I think to be a contender to win this year, you have to have the ability to run a sub-22-hour 100-miler, and able to run a 110-mile 24-hour.  Most of the contenders will be starting on day two.  I will be starting on day one and need to post a big number to mess with their heads. Here’s the top contenders.

1.       Me (age 53) – Yep pretty bad picking yourself to win, but that keeps the pressure on me to dig in.  In my favor, I have the experience of two previous years at ATY, and the 48-hour win last year with 187 miles.  I know what it takes to reach 200 miles.   My training has been good these past couple months.  I have the fastest 100-mile PR in the field (19:46) and the highest PR for 24-hours (116 miles).

2.       Matt Watts (age 55) – Matt could put up a HUGE number.   His height and stride is perfectly made for fixed time races.  He has good ATY experience and won the 24-hour men’s division last year with 112 miles.  He is steady and never takes long breaks.  He isn’t speedy, will never run faster than 9:30 pace, but he is very efficient.  I’ve run together with Matt for many miles.  When he power-walks, I have to run.  On the downside, Matt tends to DNF often, but I expect him to go the full 48 hours.  He said he hopes to have a running gear at least for the first 40 hours, which for him is the ability to turn 11-12 minute miles.  Last year he started walking every step at mile 75.   Matt will start on day two, so he will have an advantage of seeing what I can do.

3.       Leon Rothstein (age 54) – At NorthCoast 24-hour in September, which is the premier fixed-time race in the country, he finished a respectable 16^th with 112 miles.  His PR is 116 miles.  This will be his 10^th fix-timed race, so he has a ton of experience doing them.  He will start on Day one with me.

4.      Kermit Cuff (age 53).  He has a ton of experience including a Badwater finish this year in 33:31.  In 2009, he beat me by an hour at Moab 100.  He has good fixed-time experienced with a 111-mile PR for 24 hours last year.  He’s a steady runner.  He will start on day two.

5.      Randy Ellis (age 59) – Randy finished a strong 3^rd last year with 163 miles.  So he has good experience and has a 24-hour PR of 112 miles.   He’s 59, so age could be slowing him down, but I bet on his experience.  He also will start on day two.

6.      Jamie Huneycutt (age 53) – Look for Jamie to win the female division.  Last year she finished the 48-hour run in 4^th overall with 155 miles.  In 2008 she finished with 160 miles.  She has a ton of experience in fixed-time races and has good speed.  She will start on day two.

7.     Tom Jackson (age 51) – Tom is a good friend.  He married the sister of my best friend from high school.  Tom has beat me in several 100s.  He has good speed but doesn’t go out fast. We ran the Plain 100 together for the first 40 miles or so until he crumbled on a massive climb.  I waited but finally went on ahead.  He continued on but DNFed during the night because he got lost.  He ran a good Western States 100 a couple years ago.  This is his first fixed-time race attempt and he jumped right into the 48-hour event after watching me do it on-line last year.  He’s a busy doctor, so at times doesn’t have enough training.

8. Luis Miral (age 37).   He’s a youngster, so a wild-card.  He has speed, an 8:03 50-mile two months ago and a 21:10 100-mile last year.  He lacks experience but could figure this out.  Look for him to keep pace with me for quite awhile on day one.

Easy treadmill.  Did some power hiking training, trying to get used to power walking at about 4.3 mph.   Lots of walking in ATY.

Long-range forecast looks perfect.  High 68, Low 43, much warmer than last year with 0% chance of rain.  Hope it holds.

Easy treadmill.

Easy treadmill.  Last day of running until ATY in six days.  I'll just do some power walking.  I need to try to heal up a bruised inner knee cap that has been a bother for a couple months.  It is managable, but gets painful running a 8:00 pace or faster.

OK, what are my crazy plans for 2012?   Most of it is tentative.  I've decided to skip Wasatch this year, and let someone else take a turn.  I have four finishes there.  It is fun to run with friends, but I can run that course anytime. 

February - Rocky Raccoon 100 - Going for my 5th finish and the 500-mile award. Last year I did very well, placing 3rd in my age group in that huge field.  I look forward to running again with Karl Meltzer (after he laps me).  I hope to run further with him this year.

March - Buffalo Run 100 or Barkley.  Barkley is the toughest 100-mile race in the world.  It really isn't a race because only a handful of runners have ever finished it.  It is more like a cruel self-supported adventure run.  I would be pleased to finish two loops, 40 miles.  With my experience doing solo-adventure runs, I think 60 miles is possible.   I need to decide by Sunday if I'm going to apply for the lottery.  Right now I'm leaning toward waiting until 2013.  Even seriously considering doing Barley is amazingly insane.  I have two friends who have done 60 miles of it who are pushing me to join then.

April - Grand Canyon Tonto Trail end-to-end.  I'd like to be the first person to run the entire Tonto Trail from Garnet Canyon to Red Canyon end-to-end, about 100 miles.  Others have backpacked it, but no one has been known to run the entire thing in one stretch without camping for the night.  Last year I did South Bass to Cottonwood Creek.   I'd like to go back and do it right.   This is all inspired by John Annerino's classic book, "Running Wild" when he ran through the Canyon several times.   But he never ran the entire stretch of the Tonto, he left it at South Bass.  Also, it took him several days to do the section I want to do in 30-35 hours.  To do this requires additonal 45 miles getting to and from the start/end points.  Crazy.

April - Salt Flats 100 or early May - Northcoast 24-hour (USATF national championships).  If I do very well at ATY, I'll be tempted to shift my efforts this year to fixed-time races.  It would be fun to run with the very elite runners at NC24.  I'd go if I think I could go over 120 miles.

May - Zion 100.  I would skip this if I go and do NC24.

June - Squaw Peak 50.  Going for my 8th finish

July - Grand Mesa 100

August - Skyline Drive end-to-end 100+.  Need to go finish that one.

August - Cascade Crest 100 (lottery).  I really enjoyed that race last year, super course.

September - Pace at Wasatch or Plain 100.  If I don't get into CC100, I may instead go do Plain 100 again.  I love that challenge and I know I can always do well there.

September - Bear 100???  I'll always be tempted to run it.  (if I don't run Plain 100)  I have six Bear finishes.

October - Pony Express 100 - What I may do, is run it the week before the race, running an end-to-end from Simpson Springs to the Nevada border - a much tougher course.

December - ATY???

I certainly will sprinkle in adventure runs along the way.

Absent this year is Bighorn 100 (6 finishes) and Tahoe Rim 100 (5 finishes)

Easy treadmill....well it felt easy.  A couple months ago, this would have been really hard.   I did seven miles, at an easy jog 12:00 pace, but it was at 20% incline (holding on to the front).  The machine thinks I climbed 7,000 feet.  Taper week of 60 miles.  Hmmm, earlier this year that wouldn't be a taper.

Feels like I'm in the best shape of my life right now....pretty sad since I'm 53.  Been working on my core for the past month or so because those really long runs can kill the lower abs.  Did more situps in one stretch this morning than I ever did as a kid.  Also been doing weights, working on "arm swing" muscles.  They feel stronger.   With all the miles I ran over the past couple months (850), it is interesting that I've gained 5 pounds.   I think it is muscle, so no biggy. 

Well, I think I'm ready.  Just relax now.   For Across the Years, they will have real-time results and webcams, but may not have the mail delivery set up this year.