I'm retired from racing. Really.

Just updated my blogspot with a few musings- some of you may be able to relate.

Noonish- trail run with Cody- we intended to run as much of the Bear 100 course as we could.  I scouted this run 2 weeks ago and thought it would be generally passable, but that was before some big snowstorms this week.  We drove up to Leatham Hollow (mile 19.5 of the Bear course).  We ran up the very muddy road to Richards Hollow and turned up the trail, hoping to reach Cowley Canyon 7 miles away, but fearing the snow would stop us.  Sure enough, the trail became unrunnable 1.5 miles up due to excessive snow, so we turned around and continued up LHF road.  Oh, did I mention it was windy?  And alternating rain/sleet/snow?  It was.  

 We ran up LHF, then a little ways up Herd Canyon- 9.5 miles into the run.  I never felt great this run and knew at mile 9.5 that it was going to be a slow return trip.  We turned around into torture.  The next 3 miles were miserable as we were pelted with a hard, wet snow and a very strong head wind.  We could hardly see and were freezing.  Fortunately, the wind and snow abated after 20 minutes and we didn't die, which was in doubt for a few minutes.  About this point my shoelace broke- annoying on a $120 pair of shoes with kevlar laces.  Shortly thereafter, my body completely bonked and I jogged it in, adding a little loop up Leatham.  I ended up with 16 miles, Cody ran ahead at the end for 16.5.  Other than the fact it was on trail, it was a very "blah" run- I felt bad, bonked, the weather was bad, and Cody even accused me of not talking enough.  That's a first.  Just one of those days, but at least it's done.  2500 ft vertical.  With this run, I've now done 71.97232% of the Bear 100 course.  Approximately.

See what you missed out on, Paul? 

Rest week is over.  Interestingly, I felt more tired this rest week then last week with 86 miles.  90+ miles next week. 

AM- 6.  PM- 8. 

Passed the 1000 mile mark for the year with today's run.  Fastest ever- in the past 3 years, I hit 1000 on July 11, May 17, and May 13, respectively.  I guess that's a good sign.  10 days earlier this year than ever before.  And I'm just getting into my normal mileage which I plan to maintain all summer.  Now if only all this snow will melt so I can run the Bear course...

AM- 8.

PM- BW in Ogden.  I started on the canal just north of Weber HS and ran east/south.  The trail was a bit hillier than I expected.  I did 4 miles warmup, then started my 9 mile tinman tempo.  Unfortunately, less than a mile into my tempo, the canal road was blocked.  I was forced to choose between a dirt road or a paved road... so I followed the dirt road up the mountain.  The road soon became a singletrack headed up Coldwater Canyon (one canyon south of North Ogden pass).  Coldwater Canyon is steep.  Very steep.  And technical.  I was huffing and puffing for about 3/4 mile up, then forced to walk due to the grade.  It became unrunnable, then almost unwalkable- kind of a "hold on to the branches so you don't fall backwards" type of climb.  I climbed 1080 feet in .9 mile at 16:48 pace, which is pretty dang fast for that much climbing (23% avg grade, though easily 30+% at the top).  At that point it wasn't worth going up more at such a slow pace into the snow, so I turned around and ran down in 8:35 (yes, that's how technical and steep it was).  Once I returned to the canal, I went south for another 2 miles at tempo pace (around 6:30, which was 6:10 effort plus a bunch of hills and some switchbacks).  I turned around exactly where BST started in Ogden- I'll have to go run that sometime.  I tempo-ed back, skipping my mountain climb, averaging 6:20's for the next 5 miles.  Then 3 miles cooldown with a few strides.  16 miles, 2:04:25 (7:46 avg) with 2000 ft climbing.  Avg pace is 7:04 if you exclude my detour.

Overall a great run.  Definitely the most tired I have been after a BW all year, so it was a good workout.  Essentially a 7 mile tempo with 1 mile super-hard hill climb and 1 mile super-technical descent thrown in the middle.  Fun times.  Now I need a nap!

On a related note, I stopped by Striders and they hooked me up with a Salomon repair kit for my XT Wings.  I'm still ticked the laces broke and am questioning the wisdom of wearing them on long races when you can't easily replace the laces.  Great, great shoes, except I hate the laces. 

PM- I planned to be in bed by 9:30 pm.  Instead, I didn't start my run till after 10 pm.  I wussed out due to rain/wind and went to the gym for 7 miles at 7:30 pace.  It's now after 11 pm.  My alarm clock goes off in 5 hours.  Unfortunately, this may be the closest I've ever come to being the last person out of the gym and the first person in the next morning at 4:30 am.  Ugh.  I'm exhausted.

AM- I swear my head hadn't even hit my pillow last night before my alarm clock went off this morning.  Ugh.  Very hard to get out of bed, then slogged through 8.5 miles.  At least I got the miles in.  Gonna be a long day.

PM- What a great run.  I drove to Green Canyon in the middle of a May snowstorm.  I had 3 shirts so was plenty warm, except for my legs.  It alternated sunny, windy, and snowy the first 30 minutes, then just turned snowy.  Very snowy.  I'd say close to an inch fell just during my run.  The singletrack was genarally passable the whole way to past the yurt, but was VERY, VERY muddy, sloppy, puddly, and wet.  Slow on the way up- around 9 minute miles with lots of sliding.  The way down was a mini-workout and was an absolute blast- stretches of 5:15 pace, and a few 6:00 miles.  Avg 6:15 for the way down.  I had a few interesting experiences- for the first time ever, I had to slow down on the way down because the trail was so muddy that I couldn't hold to curves at full speed without flying off the trail!  And my legs had icicles form on the hairs, which kind of tickles when they shake and hit each other.  The snow/wind wasn't quite as bad as Saturday, but was semi-blinding once in a while.  Added 1 mile at the end, then had to brush a fair amount of snow off my car- in May!  9 miles, 1:10:37, lots of fun and muddy legs.

AM- 7.75 easy.  I'll round mileage down this time (not often anyone does that!).  Trying to hold off a cold, caused by my lack of sleep.  Plan to catch up this weekend, then during my upcoming vacation to Disneyland.

AM- Cody had a great idea to run part of the Poky 50 course today, and Luke Nelson was kind enough to volunteer to be our tour guide, along with his dog, Pedro.  We started near the start of Poky 50, though added a hair of singletrack at the start.  The course is awesome and is in relatively great shape, minus a bit of snow and mud at the higher elevations.  I loved the whole thing, especially the monster hill climb near mile 9- one of those "hike straight up the mountain, trails-be-darned" kind of things.  We also added a 5 mile singletrack at the end.  I felt good, though my legs were a bit tired by the end with the mileage.  No physical problems.  Beautiful course, good trail, and it was very nice to be able to talk with Luke and have him guide us- we definitely would have struggled finding our way, otherwise.  Cody didn't feel great, but still ran strong.  It gets me very excited for the race in 3 weeks.  And I was amazed by the plethora of trails in Pocatello- trail runners there are lucky people.  Good run.  21 miles in 3:28 (9:48 pace) with somewhere between 5000-5500 ft gain and 5650-6150 loss, is my guess.  Thanks for the company, Cody and Luke.

High mileage for the year, and I feel good.  Next week should be 92-95-ish miles.

AM- 9.

PM- BTW.  Parked at USU Water Research Center and ran up the canyon.  4 miles into the run, just at the end of the singletrack, I started my tempo.  I wanted 8-10 miles of tempo, but wasn't feeling very spunky.  The first mile was the flatest and had a 6:26, but the next ones were more technical and hilly singletrack, and were 7:37 and 8:27.  The last uphill tempo was on the upper mile of the wind caves trail, so was a very slow 12:49, though that climbs almost 800 ft in 1 mile.  I didn't feel great on the steep downs, so went kind of easy.  Once I hit the nature trail again, I picked it up with some 7:XX's.  It started raining at mile 9 of the run, and the wind got rather nasty, but I had brought a long sleeve shirt and gloves so was actually warm enough.  I started feeling better 6 miles into the tempo, so ended up tempo-ing all the way to mile 14, with some 6:00 pace on the flats.  2 miles cooldown in the rain back to the car.  My effort coming down from wind caves was pathetic, so I'll only count 9 miles at MP.  Total for the run was 16.1 miles in 2:07:48 (7:57 avg) with 2300 ft climbing and descending.  Ok run- not great, but not the flop I feared it was going to be.

AM- Sluggish 9.

PM- I was planning to go running when I got home from some church meetings at 8:30.  But, my 2 daughters apparently had found an entire container of vaseline and spread it all over our bathroom- all over.  Have you ever tried to clean up vaseline?  Not easy.  So I spent the next hour cleaning rather than running.  I guess I'll have to add some extra mileage later this week. 

AM- 8 easy.  My bathroom floor was still a bit greasy and slick this morning.  I'm tempted to leave my girls home as punishment, with only Marci and I going to Disneyland this week.  I still can't believe how big of a mess they made.

PM- I hadn't run PW in a long time, so I did 2.5 laps on it for 7 miles total.  Saw Cody.  Legs are tired.  Leave for Disneyland tomorrow. 

AM- I was planning to run with Cody this morning, but 2 straight days of 5 hours of sleep, combined with going to bed after midnite last night, caught up to me.  I ended up sleeping in and running PW 4.  I'll definitely be more awake for our drive today, now, which is a very good thing.

AM- No run last night with all the travel.  I set out early this morning from my sister's house in Las Vegas.  May I say, I hate concrete!  I'd like to have a long talk with the guy who decided all sidewalks should be made of concrete, rather than asphalt, rubber, wood chips, or silly putty- anything soft.  Anyways, after 4 miles on the concrete I reached the west edge of town and proceeded to run up very, very rocky jeep trails to the base of Blue Diamond Hill.  Running through the desert beats the city, but doesn't compare to what I am used to- it is a completely desolate desert with no trees, just barren dirt and rocks.  I really wonder what in the world caused the first pioneer traveling through here to say, "This looks good- let's settle here."  He was nuts.  I wish I had a pair of trail shoes with good rock protection rather than my road shoes.  Turned around near the top of the trail with a great view of the city.  Ended up with 17 miles in somewhere around 2:20, including 1500-2000 ft climbing (best guess).  Now drive to LA.

AM- 12 on the Santa Ana river (concrete spillway) trail.  Not the nicest run ever, but it was a run.  About 7:25 avg pace.  Ended up missing a few runs this week with all that was happening (vaseline, travel), but 82 is still decent.  Not the 90+ I hoped for, but oh well.  It is what it is.  I just want all the stinking snow from the past month to melt up in the high country.

Been on vacation for a week, but finally have time to update my blog.

AM- Ran 3 miles from my hotel near Disneyland to the Santa Ana bike trail, then ran on the dirt trail.  Gravel trail paralleling a paved bike path.  Flat, except for the many road underpasses.  Started a tempo 4 miles into the run.  4 miles upriver (with a headwind) averaging 6:18 miles.  Then turned around and ran back 4 miles averaging 6:05 miles.  Threw on 1 more tempo mile for good measure, though a bit slower due to some freeway overpasses, stoplights, etc.  3 miles back.  16 miles total at 6:44 avg pace.  Nice weather, cool, humid, a bit breezy.  Spent the next 12 hours walking around Disneyland- that's gotta count for something, right?  Fun time with the wife, kids, and extended family.

AM- 14 mile easy run on the Santa Ana trail.  Oh my heavens to Betsy, my Achilles is incredibly tight and killing me!  Too much walking around on hard pavement for the past few days while pushing a heavy stroller.  7:28 avg for 14 miles.

AM- planned on 10-12 miles on the Santa Ana trail, but my Achilles was even more painful today and limited me to 6 miles at 8 min pace.  Hmm, I don't like this.  Not good, not good at all.  I was only planning on a 3 day mini-taper for Pocatello 50, but it looks like I need some major rest and rehab, so may up that rest.  No running for a few days.  The good news is today is the last day at Disneyland, so no more walking on concrete all day.

No run- rest the Achilles and drive home.  Stopped by St. George Running Center to grab some stuff.  Good to see Steve and Nick there.  Lots of good gear, including getting a new bright red singlet.  Now I'll look like a Christmas ornament with a red singlet and green shorts!

Back in Logan last night, just in time to get rained and snowed on at a church campout.  Still had a good time.  Planned to run with Cody and Paul today- looking forward to that.  Then Cody flaked out due to sickness.  Then my stomach really started... umm... how do I say this in a family-friendly way... acting up.  I bailed, too.  Sorry, Paul.  My Achilles probably needs the rest, though.  Hopefully I can get in some decent mileage Mon-Wed next week to test it out after 3 full days of rest prior to the race next weekend.

Fly to South Carolina early tomorrow morning.  Short trip with the wife. 

PM- 8 easy.  New shoes, which I may wear this Saturday.  No Achilles pain, which is good, and my legs weren't as sluggish as I expected given the time off.

AM- 9 miles on the Swamp Rabbit bike trail in Greenville.  Included 2 MP miles with about 4 min rest between, as a little warmup for Saturday.

PM- PWx2, nw, tptp.

PM- PW 5, with 6 strides.  Stomach pretty upset from something.

PM- 2 easy.  Ready to roll.

Quick report- more to follow after a nap.  Race was cancelled after 3.5 hours due to blizzard like conditions, including 40 mph winds and sleet/snow/hail over much of the course.  I DNF-ed myself at the second aid station (mile 17) three hours into the race due to being very concerned for my well-being- I was only wearing shorts, singlet, and arm warmers.  My legs, GI, et al. felt great, but I had gotten semi-hypothermic, dizzy, etc for a while and wasn't sure I was going to survive.  Only a borrowed jacket at the 2 hr 30 min mark saved me.  I have never been so cold in my life.  Race Directors cancelled the race 30 min after I DNF-ed due to so many hypothermic runners, plus a large number getting lost on top of the mountains due to white-out conditions.  They were still looking for lost runners when I left.  

More info to follow after a nap.  All in all, not what I was expecting, but will definitely be a memorable race. 

Full (and very long yet hopefully entertaining) report- I had been looking forward to Pocatello 50 for a long time.  It is a very challenging 52 mile loop course with almost 14,000 ft of climbing.  Pre-race reports said 6-9 miles of the last section would be completely on snow, including some steep glissading.  There were 100 solo runners and 50 relay teams.  Cody and I had even run the first 17 miles a few weeks ago with Luke Nelson.  I'm not in my "A+" racing shape (probably "B" to "B-"), but felt like a sub-10 time and top 10 place were doable, despite a stacked field.

We stayed at Kory's house last night- many, many thanks, Kory.  Friday night weather reports said there was a 50% chance of rain from 5-9 am, clearing and sunny the rest of the day and 55 deg- perfect!

It was a bit drizzly but warm during warmup, so I stripped down to just my shorts, singlet, arm warmers, and stretchy gloves.  This weather during the warmup was deceptive and would prove critical later.  Cody and I had planned to stay together for the first 20-30 miles and to go out at a very reasonable pace.  The first 8 miles were very nice- the weather was a bit windy with mixed rain/snow/sleet, but nothing too bad.  Cody and I had joined up in a nice little pack of 4 with Nik Gurney and Dusty Pena, and Nik offered me his unused jacket, which I declined.  The trail was very muddy in places, and it was definitely a slippery mud.  There were long stretches that I felt like we were ice skating more than running.  We went through the first aid station a few minutes ahead of schedule, but definitely felt good and like the running had been very easy.  My legs and GI were feeling great and I was thinking this would be a fantastic race, as long as the mud didn't get too bad.

After the first aid station, however, things turned south.  The first 2 miles were on a very slippery uphill singletrack, followed by an off-trail climb which gains 1400 ft in 1.3 miles up Slate Mountain.  The weather drastically and rapidly worsened during the ascent, with sustained winds of 30-40 mph and stronger gusts that at time almost flung us off the ridge.  The snow turned to ball-bearing size hail that flew sideways and stung every exposed piece of skin.  My singlet and arm warmers were far from adequate- I was still optimistic but a bit miserable.  I was doing rather well ignoring the pain and cold for a while, but doubt started creeping in.  I passed some runners dressed in many layers of clothes, including the lead woman, Joelle Vaught, a Montrail runner.  She looked at me in absolute shock and exclaimed, "How in the world are you still alive?!?"  All I could get out was a mumbled, "Keep moving to stay warm."  However, the seriousness of my situation fully struck me as I began stumbling around, my vision and thinking became blurred, and my sense of balance disappeared.  I knew I was becoming hypothermic, and for the first time in my running career was seriously worried about my safety.  

I shouted to Nik ahead and finally managed to gain his attention just before the top of the mountain.  He gave me his soaking wet jacket as we huddled behind a lone tree, and it only took us 2 minutes to get it on with our frozen hands.  However, the zipper wouldn't work, despite a number of people trying to zip it up (including Cody biting it with his teeth, since his hands were too cold- sorry about the mental picture on that one).  I finally just held the hood on with one hand, held it around my chest with my other hand, and waddled on.  The jacket saved my life- while it didn't protect me from the wetness, it provided a large measure of protection from the wind and a little heat.  Grasping it with numb hands was challenging, though.  The weather at the top was stunning in its severity, with the hail and wind.  Whiteout conditions made finding the course difficult, despite our familiarity with the route.  After the longest, most miserable mile of my life on top of the mountain, we blessedly reached the descent on the far side, with Cody watching over me.

The weather gradually improved as we descended, feeling gradually returned to my extremeties and my thinking cleared.  However, I knew the race had changed for me- I only had one long sleeve shirt at the next aid station, which would not be adequate for the coming re-ascent of Slate Mountain.  If I had lots of warm clothes to put on, I may have continued, even though I knew that the struggle with the cold had severely weakened me and the rest of the race would have been much slower than previously planned.  I believe I could have finished, though- I felt I had run very conservatively up to that point and had a lot left in me.  But, alas, no such saving clothes awaited, so I knew I was done.  Cody and I sped our descent as I improved, and we reached the second aid station in 2:59, exactly 1 minute ahead of the planned split for a 10 hour finish despite the mud and weather adventures.  My legs and GI still felt great, but I told the race officials that I was dropping out.  Cody took my long sleeve shirt from the drop bag and continued his run.

Once Cody left, Nik and Brian Williams put me in their car, where I shivered for the next hour.  We drove back to the start and I hoped in Cody's car, which I started to warm up.  I hoped out to go to the bathroom, and returned to discovered the doors locked.  Nuts.  Brian and Nik very kindly drove me to their apartment, let me shower, dressed me in their clothes, and let me call a locksmith.

As we returned to the start, I felt well enough that I planned to put on my warm running clothes (many, many clothes) and join Cody for his last 20 miles.  However, just as we returned we learned that they had cancelled the race 3.5 hours into the run, stopping all runners at the aid stations.  Many people were wandering, lost on the mountain, and many were hypothermic.  Conditions on Scout Mountain, 2000 ft higher than Slate Mountain, would have been extremely dangerous- running on snow with whiteout conditions would make it difficult to see the horizon and the course markers, and the consequences of wandering off-course (a real probability) could have been tragic.  I completely support the RD's in their decision to cancel the race, though many were understandably disappointed.

The locksmith showed up, and, $109 later, Cody's car was unlocked.  Cody showed up a few minutes later after finishing up to the aid station at mile 33.  We ate some food, talked to some people, and drove home.

All in all, today was not what I was expecting but was very memorable.  So many people helped me (Kory, Cody, Nik, and Brian) before, during, and after the race, and quite possibly saved me from a real danger on top of Slate Mtn.  Thank you, everyone.  It is unfortunate that the weather didn't cooperate- I guess the weather turned sunny and relatively nice by dinner-time.  I'm a bit disappointed, of course, because I felt great and really think both Cody and I were going to have a great race.  But, it is what it is, and we just hope no one was seriously injured and everyone made it off the mountain ok.  Would I run this again next year?  Yes- I really want to experience the rest of the course.  Hopefully the weather will be a bit friendlier next year!

PM- Since I didn't get my planned 50 miles on Saturday, I figured I should do a long run today.  I started at 2 pm and ran from my house to First Dam, then BST to Green Canyon.  Then I ran 6 miles up GC, just over 1 mile past the upper parking lot.  I started to hit big patches of snow just as I turned around.  Lots of bikers in the canyon.  Then I ran down GC and over to Paul's house via the canal.  I realized around mile 12 that my legs were more fatigued than previously suspected from the race on Sat, plus I bonked around mile 17.  But, I still averaged 7:10-7:30 for the last 6 miles despite feeling very tired.  Finished at Paul's for a nice Memorial Day BBQ with the Peterson's and the Campbell's.  I wore my new Nathan hydration pack today and it worked great.  Good investment.

25 miles total, 3:19:55 (7:60 avg according to my Garmin Training Center, which I guess means 8:00 pace), with just over 3000 ft climbing and lots of trails.  Not a bad day.  I plan to really push the mileage the next few weeks, especially since I don't have to recover from my ultra last Sat.