50/50/50

Have had this idea in my head for several years now, just never really talked about it.  Most people are aware of the 50 States Marathon Club.  Though I don't think I'll actually pay the dues to join the club it is a goal which I'll pursue over the rest of my life.  I have a few under my belt already:

Pennsylvania (Chambersburg 1992, Pittsburgh 1997, Philly 1997)

Texas (Austin '05 and '09, Rocky Trails '05)

Wyoming (Rocky Mountain '07)

Colorado (Salida '06 thru '09, Pikes Peak '06)

Luckily the 50 Club allows ultramarathons to count, so I have adopted that rule as well.  

Of course, since I always love piling lots of crap onto my road trips, on top of running at least a marathon in each state, I plan to bag that state highpoint and hash in the state as well.

I only have two state highpoints on my peak list, Mt. Elbert in Colorado and Guadalupe Peak in Texas.  I could have many more here, but I didn't catch the mountain climbing bug until I moved to CO.

Next up on the state highpoint list will be Mt. Davis in Pennsylvania.  Not a hard hike, which will be nice since I'll be going there right after the Oil Creek 100 in October.  Of course, I'll hit Mt. Greylock when I run (and hash!) Boston next April.

I'm much further along with my state hashing goal.  The very first thing I do when I find out I get to travel is look up the local hash.  Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, South Dakota, and North Carolina (the Army had a lot of help with those travels).  Some of these states will require a return trip for the marathon/high point goals, and of course the hash will be revisited!

Nothing to do with this post, but since I have the list out, here's my current lifetime count for marathon and beyond races:

marathon - 12

50K - 6

50 miles - 8 (and one this weekend!)

100K - 1 (sure wish there were more of these out there)

100 miles - 2 (3 attempts)

Sawatch 50/50

$100 and Mookie and I took off in the van for Chaffee County this weekend.  She did some hiking and fishing, I took on the Sawatch 50/50.  West Line Winder 50k on Saturday, Sawatch Ascent 50k on Sunday.

I wasn't fully recovered from Pikes, but I got the job done.  Ran 6:15 on Saturday on the nice trails behind Buena Vista.  Loved the Ascent course, but it was rough and I finished in 8:11 for the 33+ mile course.  Was running well on Sunday but there is a long, technical downhill just after halfway that I really struggled with.

Not much else on the schedule before the Panama City Beach marathon, so I'll start gearing towards that.  3:30 or bust.  Will be driving down there, hitting some state high points along the way.

For the week:

run - 71 miles, 16 hours

ride - 32 miles, 3.5 hours

hike - 21 miles, nine hours

2010 resolutions

Holy crap, it's already a new decade! Been working on this for a few weeks now. Here's what I got so far for 2010 goals.

Running - I had one of my most fun filled years of running in 2009, chasing 3000 miles. It was a perfect balance that allowed me to get into great shape while having time for a social life. I'm gonna shoot for 3,100 miles in 2010. I'm already over that in '09. Have some other goals in mind for certain races, but I'll get to those later.

Yoga - Started dabbling in this in '09 and it has done wonders for my hamstrings and lower back. And I swear the reason I keep returning has nothing to do with all the hottie CC gals. Going to go to at least 100 classes in '10.

Books - In an earlier post I set the number at 10. I've already cheated on this, as I've started "The Last Season" and since I won't finish 'till next year I'm gonna count that as book #1.

Commuting - Every day I drive to work I put 20 miles on my truck. About 14 to and from the office, and another six to and from the gym. That's just short of a gallon of gas. In 2010, I'm either gonna run, pedal, or take the bus to work at least 20 times. That will save me just over a full tank of gas. One less car!

Diet - This area is always a struggle for me, as I loves me the junk food. But as I have slowly improved in this area, I feel worse and worse every time I give in to fast food. So I'm giving it up. Besides, the fact that I make fun of fat people and then think nothing of going to McD's or Burger King makes me somewhat of a hypocrite. This is a very difficult goal for me since the only places open late at night when I'm drunk are fast food joints. Note: this does not include the ocasional frosty from Wendy's or a blizzard from DQ. And it certainly doesn't include King's Chef or any research into the ongoing Burger Wars.

Other lists - Yeah, I keep a lot of lists. I've currently bagged 25 of Colorado's 14ers, and I'd like to get that to 30 in the next year. That's very doable, since there are still some of the Collegiate Peaks I haven't hiked. My 50/50/50 plan? Due to my schedule I'll probably only add Massachuettes and hopefully Arizona. Possibly Wyoming. Maybe more if I get into JFK. One last thing I've notced is that my push up ability has gone to crap since I traded the climbing gym for a normal gym. So I'm gonna go back to my old standby of 100 push ups a day.

upcoming races

In a last ditch effort to regain some of my old leg speed, I've decided to start doing more shorter runs (half marathon and below). I'm certainly not giving up on ultras by any means, as today I will be mailing in my rego for the Oil Creek 100 in October, but lately I've been missing the days where I could easily run a 5K in under 17 minutes. By contrast, today that's a good time for me at the two mile mark of a run.

I'll be running the PPRR Panoramic 4 miler this Saturday at Bear Creek Park. Not a goal race by any means, and I'm gonna run for two hours before the race, run the race hard, then run another hour until it's time to help with the monthly trail clean up (9AM at the 8th street wal mart).

Of course the Triple Crown starts soon, and the Garden 10 miler is already upon us. Hope to run 66 or so this year. The Summer Roundup follows shortly, and despite what this article had to say about last year I will be there this time around, as I need a finish there to run in the Pikes Peak Marathon. Pikes Peak and Leadville in back-to-back weekends, woohoo!

Saw some other goofy shit out there I thought I'd try. Saw this pic and immediately knew I had to run this race:

The Denver Gorilla Run is on October 31st. Real steep rego at $100, but you do get to keep the gorilla costume they give you. As a bonus, the run starts and ends at Wynkoop Brewing. As a double bonus, I'm guaranteed a PR as I have never run a 5.6K race before.

Another one that looks pretty cool is the Fans on the Field 10K on September 13th. You start at Invesco field, run to the Pepsi Center where you run across the floor, head over to Coors Field for a lap along the warning track, then head back to the finish which is on the turf at Invesco. Being from Pittsburgh, I'm not a Denver sports fan by any means, but that sounds like a cool run.

Would like to get back to the point where I can qualify for the A wave at Bolder Boulder. Need an 18:20 5K (which I can easily get), a sub 38 10K (which I would like to run next year at BB), a 1:24:05 (I'll go for that at Platte River next year) and/or a 2:55:34 marathon (Boston '10!).

Oh yeah, and as part of my 50/50/50 goal, BLOS and I (and Katie, though she doesn't know it yet...) are gonna go run the Route 66 marathon in Tulsa this November. We'll hit the Black Mesa on the way home. Oklahoma's state highpoint is a not too shabby 4,975 feet above sea level, but they kinda cheat as the point is just a few feet from the state border with Colorado.

50

Registration opens (and closes a few hours later) this weekend for the San Juan Solstice. I feel like I'm betraying an old friend but I won't be signing up this year. 50 miles has become my favorite distance, I really get to push my limits but I don't approach the horrible suffering I go through during the night portions of 100s. And no 50 miler is more awesome than San Juan. I've run very well there (last year when I finally joined the Cannibal Club) and, to be nice, I'll just say not so well there (2007 - I beat the cutoff by a scant 13 minutes and only beat two other runners), but all three of my trips to Lake City were great adventures.

I have to go to a wedding on race weekend this year. I usually hate weddings and think they're a farce since most people will go through more than one in their lifetime despite going into a church and swearing that this is it. But the wedding is for a great friend and it's being held on Pikes Peak, with the night before in Barr Camp, so I've made an exception.

Not a total loss, however. Instead of San Juan I'll be checking out something new, the Jemez Mountain 50 miler. Heard some cool things about that race, so it'll be nice to finally get down there.

Still, come mid-June, I'll sure be missing San Juan.

Next year...

run commute 1/2017

Ended with 122 bike commutes to work last year.  Not too shabby.  But this year I'll be looking to add some running to that.  The goal is 50 run commutes and 50 bike commutes.

Ran to work on Tuesday.  Six miles there, four miles back.

Since I'm on the topic of new year numbers, here are some other goals I've laid down:

-Less than $10 per visit to CityRock.  In mid-December I threw down $536 for a one year pass to the local climbing gym.  I went 31 times in '16, and I want to up that to 54 times in '17.  Already went once this year.  The $10 goal also applies to Accolade, but that's a lot cheaper and will only require 34 visits, with visit number one coming this morning.

-Bike 3000 miles, run 2000 miles.  Last year those numbers were 3653 and 1890.  A far cry from what I used to do, but the times they are a changin'.  No bike races, but I do have an eye on come longer routes that I'll need to be in shape for.  And while I wasn't planning on zeroing in on Pikes, that looks to be the biggest race on my schedule.  No pressure, as just finishing will be a big improvement over last year, but I'd like to put together two good days there.  The goal at San Juan will be to get to the Packer Saloon with enough time before the cutoff to pop in for a brew.  I'm also going to try to go sub 18 in the 5K, though I think 18:15 is a bit more realistic.

-Hike 600 miles with the dog.  The miles only count if I have a pack weighing 25+ pounds on.

-Beat the 2016 count for nights outside (I count my van in this number).  Hit 15 last year.

-Beat last years Incline count.  41.  Every year I set a goal of 50 and I fall short.  So I'll change the game (note: this is a psychological ploy to get me on my way to 50).

-Listen to every single Phish and Gov't Mule show they play in 2017.  Luckily, their shows last roughly the time it takes me to do the Incline loop from Memorial Park...

2017.  Let's get 'er done!

HPb 12 - El Paso out and back

Nice, easy run out and back along El Paso blvd.  Still sore from the half, but feeling much better than yesterday.  Don't especially like this run but it's about the only thing I can do to not hafta tackle any big hills, though Stop Sign Hill does always kick my ass on the way back.  Katie got me a Garmin 405 for x-mas so my mileage estimates should be a little more on from here on out.  Of course, I've always called this run 5 miles, and my new Garmin backs me up with the run being precisely 5.00 miles.

I'm now streaking again, having run every day over the past ten days.

Start time - 5:30 AM

Distance - 5.oo miles

Time - 50:50

Pace - 8:08 per mile

Weather - summerlike, was 50F at 5:30AM (even though the high today was listed in the mid-30s)

Weight - 172 lbs

Exeter Marathon

Think I've found my marathon to cover Rhode Island in my 50/50 quest. Just got some info on the Exeter Marathon. Tougher standards than Boston, and they don't allow posers to buy their way into the race via fund raising. I'll put it on the extended schedule for 2012.

Mt. Lemmon

Holy crap, think I found my Arizona marathon as well. Screw the Tucson marathon, check this one out! In my mind I don't need an AZ marathon, since I've done the Grand Canyon R2R2R, but if I ever want to play by the rules of the official 50/50 club, I gotta do an organized marathon.

life

Running, or any physical activity for that matter, has definitely taken a back seat to life lately.  A visit from the in-laws, some crappy winter weather, some travelers from the warmshowers site, the weekly brewery visits, and an injured dog have all conspired against me.  Maybe I was too quick to call out my out-of-shape co-workers for having to huff it up the mini-incline, at this rate they'll be beating me in no time.

Had a goal of keeping 50 mile weeks until the Salida marathon.  Only got in 40 last week so that's out the window.  Hope to squeeze in 50 somehow this week if I'm able to get more than three feet away from my ailing dog.

Not too worried about it though.  My two big goal runs this year will (hopefully) last less than three hours.  This week I signed up for the NYC marathon (yes, for the second time).  I'll head there with a goal of 2:59, a time I haven't run in a while.  I'll definitely need to change up the training from the past few years when I was concentrating on surviving Hardrock or finishing Leadman.  And I hope to do it on 50 miles per week, giving me more time to ride the bike.

And of course I'll be taking my annual shot at a sub three Pikes ascent.  On paper this shouldn't be too hard for me but I've never got my shit together on race day.  I have added motivation, GZ recently called Pitt a community college so I'll be looking to crush him on America's mountain as well.

Two or three months ago we noticed our dog starting to limp a bit.  We didn't think much of it because when we went on long hikes or runs the limp went away.  But it continued to get worse, especially when she would get up from sleeping, so we finally took her to the vet.  Fears confirmed, she tore a ligament in a back paw and would require surgery.  Surgery went well and she will be back to normal in ten weeks.  This first night/day has been rough though.  She's coming down off a lot of pain medicine and she has definitely had a bad trip.  Here's what I've been dealing with constantly since 5PM on Thursday:



Probably going to be rough throughout the weekend, and then the big challenge of keeping her off her legs begins.  Going to be rough for me to go the next few months without my favorite hiking partner.

Jemez

Awesome run at Jemez. Going in I thought I could be just under 12 hours. So to go 10:44 was a nice surprise. Don't think I'm in any better shape than years past, but for some reason I've found myself really getting after things in the second half. My old 50 mile plan was to start slow and then hike the final 30 miles. My past few races have, for some unknown reason, actually had me in a hurry to get to the finish line.

Still down with the slow start, however. Had to take a dump about 3.5 miles into the race, allowing tons of folks to pass. Not worth the effort to get by them on the singletrack, so I strolled into the first aid station at five miles in almost one hour.

Didn't start passing people until the climb up Caballo Mountain. Ran a lot of that and hiked hard the rest of it. Reached the top in 31st place and started down in 34th place. Had to spend some time taking in the view up there. A bunch of folks flew past me on the way down, was probably in 40th place at Caballo Base, mile 14.

Very steady over to Pipeline (mile 17) and Valle Grande (mile 21). Probably about 30th place at VG, but as I looked out over the huge open field I could see runners lined up. Hammered the next section, the big climb up and over to Parajito Canyon (mile 28.7). Passed at least a dozen runners, including the top female. Ran that downhill section as hard as I've ever raced in a 50 miler. Finally dropped the top chick for good about a mile before the PC aid station.

Decided to keep it going after Parajito. Ran the entire way from Parajito to the Townsite Lift, most of which I had walked two years ago when I ran this race in 13:37.

I had been climbing strong all day, so I really wanted to hammer the final big climb of the day up the ski hill. Hiked as hard as I could, getting a huge boost when I passed Rick H. The decent down to the ski lodge wasn't pretty, I'm horrible at steep downhills, but I didn't let it ruin my day.

Left the ski lodge, mile 36, 8:15 into the race. Nick was on his first beer by this point. As was I, since $100 was at the ski lodge with PBR, but Nick could enjoy it a lot more since he was finished with the race. Started having thoughts about a sub 11 here, but I had given a lot to get up and over the ski hill and was hurting pretty bad at that point.

Ben Woodbeck, who recently wrote an article on pacing Diana Finkel at Hardrock for TrailRunner magazine, was right on my tail shortly after leaving the lodge. Normally I'm not in this guy's league but today I decided to drop him. Ran hard all the way over to Pipeline (mile 39). He was still there. Really hammered over to Guaje Ridge (mile 43). He was still there.

Ran out of my mind, as hard as I could possibly go, down to Rendija Canyon. Several times I told myself, "sprint for the next 10 minutes and get rid of this guy." I would do that, and at the ten minute mark would think to myself that there was no way he was still there, then peak back to see him still there. Ugh.

Finally broke him at the Rendija Canyon aid station, mile 48.1. I chugged a Fat Tire and started to head out, and he didn't answer the bell. Can't believe how hard he pushed me from the ski lodge over to this point, taking me from wondering if I could be close to eleven hours to allowing me to slack the final two miles and finish way under that mark.

Passed one last 50 miler over the final 1.9 miles to finish in 10:44:36, good for 12th place overall.

Now begins the taper for the Arkansas River Bluegrass Marathon...

Greenland thoughts

Not much to say about the race. Kinda figured I'd do well since I've been training so hard lately. Not sure of my official time, but it'll be somewhere around 4:23:50. My current PR, and the time I so badly wanted to beat, was 4:22:55, set at the Rocky Raccoon 50K (Huntsville, TX) in 2005.

Ran my first three loops almost perfectly. All of 'em were in the 62 to 64 minute range. Wasn't wasting any time at the aid stations. Drank some water, threw down a salt tablet (took one per lap), and I was off. But even though Greenland is pancake flat compared to the stuff I usually run, there are some hills out there and they really grind you down lap after lap after lap. Add to that a fierce headwind you had to deal with for the first four miles of the loop and by lap four I was really hurting.

Though it sucks to miss your PR by less than 60 seconds in a race so long, I'm happy with my performance. Easily the hardest I've ever pushed during an ultra. For once, I wasn't just worried about relentless forward motion to the finish, I was actually pushing for a good time and trying to keep a quick pace. Probably ran over 90% of the race, only taking a few short walking breaks on the last lap when the wind was deflating my spirits. Most ultras, I'd guess, if I were having a good day, I'd run 60% to 70% of the race.

Another unusual thing about this race was that I didn't carry anything on me. No camelbak, not even a water bottle. They had aid stations about every four miles, and that was fine for me. Finally got a little parched at the top of the final hill, about three miles to go, so I grabbed some snow and chewed on it just to wet my throat. Had a hammer gel at the halfway mark and some twizzlers at the final aid station, and that was it.

Think I hit the marathon mark in under 3:30, so I was happy about that. Started falling apart immediately thereafter, but it was a nice comeback after my 5+ hour debacle at Salida. The guy who I outkicked over the last two miles at Salida, Bob from Boulder, wasn't too far behind me this time, and we laughed over beers afterwards how our times at the 50K were a lot faster than our Salida times.

Also happy with how I toughed out that last lap despite how bad I was hurting. Nobody passed me, and there were quite a few folks trying. The top female surged real hard on the last hill, and got within shouting distance of me. But once we crested the hill I surged and she couldn't hang. She still ran a great race considering it was her first ultra. After she finished we were talking and after I congratulated her on a great race I told her, "I knew you were coming, but I didn't want to get chicked today." This pissed her off, and she gathered her stuff and left almost immediately. Probably home to give her man a blow job and cook him supper, I guess.

Congrats to Ritz who finished the 25K, the longest she's ever run. I should blame her for the lack of a PR for me, since she wouldn't move over when I lapped her and made me go around her wanker ass.

Anywho, I'm hurting today much worse than after any other ultra I've done, including Leadville. Next up is the Collegiate Peaks 50 miler out in Buena Vista. My current 50 mile PR is 8:47, run on a Sunmart course that is a lot easier than BV. But I've run BV in under ten hours before, and I'm in much better shape now, so I plan to attack my PR out there too, and I'll be disappointed if I don't get it.

2016

2016 is falling into place nicely.  I haven't had much physical activity since the NYC marathon on November 1, and I'm looking forward to getting my ass back in shape.  Here are the big ones I have planned for the next year:

March 12 - Salida Marathon
April 16 - Rattler 50K
May 7 - Collegiate Peaks
June 4 - Dirty Kanza
June 25 - Lake City 50
Aug 20/21 - Pikes Double (sub three hour Ascent!)
Sept 3/4 - Grand Traverse
Oct 16 - Mount Desert Island Marathon

I will be racing a lot due to the Brewers' Cup.  Tons of low key, local, shorter races.  Nielsen Challenge, Winter/Fall Series, Full Moon Runs.  And I'll be running the Triple Crown (GOG 10 miler, Summer Roundup, Pikes Peak) again.  Lots of 5Ks as well, as I want to get back down below 18 minutes.

Total numbers goals will be 3650 miles biking and 2263 miles running (10K a day).  And, of course, 50 Inclines.  I know I have that goal every year but 2016 will be the year I finally make it!

I'll also be looking to try 50 different types/brands of whiskey and documenting that on the blog.  This will start over x-mas on the trip to Florida, as we are opening a bottle of the Stranahan's Snowflake!

There's also this:

Sept 10 - Pitt/PSU

Making a trip back to the 'burgh to watch my beloved Pitt Panthers crush PSUcks.  Will be the first time I've ever seen these two play.  Can't friggin' wait!  My early prediction: Pitt - 432, PSU - 16.

Will also be making a trip back to Wisconsin.  Might be the last time there for me, as the in-laws are in the process of retiring to Florida.  Driving back, so I'll be bringing home a lifetime supply of New Glarus and Surly beer.

2011

Not a whole lot going on right now. October is a down month, taking some much needed recovery time. Though the month will see state marathon #9 and, hopefully, my feet and legs are providing the bulk of my transportation as opposed to my truck.

So naturally I've been thinking of what to do next year.

Going to spend Nov, Dec, and Jan trying to finally get a Bolder Boulder A wave qualifier, as well as getting ready for the NOLA marathon on Feb 13th.

Here's the very early tentative plan so far, which is all based on once again striking the lottery at Hardrock. I'd like to finally knock out the 33 hour HR I think I have somewhere in me, I realize I ain't getting any younger.

Mar 15 - Salida Marathon
Mar 26 - 24 hours of Moab
April 15 - Desert Rats 50
May 3 - Collegiate Peaks 50
May 21 - Jemez 50
May 30 - Bolder Boulder
June 4 - Golden Gate 50K
June 15 - San Juan Solstice
July 8 - Hardrock
Aug 20 - Pikes Peak Ascent
Sept 16-18 - Telluride Blues & Brews
Oct 24 - Wisconsin Dells Marathon

Much less racing, and far less traveling, than 2010. Somewhere in there would be the Zion crossing. And everything after August would be geared toward finishing up the rest of the 14ers.

But it's early, so who knows.

hell yeah!

Just took a peak at my calender, here's how I'm gonna spend my next four Saturdays:

April 11th - Grand Canyon R2R2R
April 18th - Desert RATS 50 miler (Fruita)
April 25th - Three Peaks Fat Ass (Manitou)
May 2nd - Collegiate Peaks 50 miler (Buena Vista)

Then it's a much needed weekend off (maybe I'm getting old?) before heading down to Los Alamos for the Jemez Mountain 50 miler!

Woohooo!

bike commute 48

Tues - run commute 49.  4.2 miles to work, 5.6 miles home.  CityRock 89 at lunch.

Wed - had to take the van over to Wayfarer world HQ to get a rooftop fan installed.  Then rode 2.7 miles from there to the office, and 2.7 miles back after work.  Then rode an hour in Red Rock Canyon before dropping by Trails End.  And CityRock 90 at lunch.

Thurs - run commute 50.  4.1 miles to work, 4.2 back home.  When I started the year I set a goal of 50 run and 50 bike commutes, and it looks like I'll get there for both.  CityRock 91 at lunch, and then later that evening $100 and I went back for some more climbing.

Fri - bike commute 48.  4.2 miles to work.  CityRock 92 at lunch.

We are headed over to Chaffee County this weekend to hang around the Colorado Trail.  Some friends are running from Twin Lakes to Cottonwood Pass and we will be tracking them while helping out any other hungry/thirsty hikers.  Should be made even more interesting as we'll have two dogs, or one dog and a Moose.

February

Good month.  Lots of hours doing stuff, ticking off the days before we head off on the Colorado Trail.  We are already worried about the lurking fire danger this summer.

Biking - 176 miles, 18 hours
Running - 146 miles, 28.5 hours
Hiking - 60 miles, 21.5 hours
CityRock - 14 trips
Accolade - 6 trips

Signed up for the JFK 50.  Other than Pikes, I hope it's the last big race I sign up for.  Besides some smaller local races, here's the rest of the year:

March 4 - Pueblo Ten Miler
March 10 - Salida Marathon
May 20 - Colfax Marathon
June 2/3 - Elephant Rock
Aug 18/19 - Pikes
Sep 22 - Royal 50
Nov 17 - JFK 50

Another trip is shaping up for March as we will be bringing back the Tour de Left Hand.  Leaving from Red Leg Brewing on Friday, March 23, we will ride up to Golden, crash for the night, then finish the trek to Left Hand's Hops & Handrails early on Saturday.  Of course there will be lots of breweries along the way.

race schedule

Upcoming race schedule looks like it's falling into place:

Mar 18 - Salida Marathon
Apr 29 - Greenland 50K
May 6 - Collegiate Peaks 50 miler
June 17 - San Juan Solstice 50 miler
July 1 - Leadville Marathon
July 16 - hopefully pacing Moogy at Hardrock
Aug 19/20 - Pikes Peak Double
Sept 9 - Imogene Pass
Oct 7/8 - Durango Double
Oct 21 - Palo Duro 50 miler
Jan 13 2007 - Bandera 100K

Should be a blast, these are all very tough trail races and, except for the last two, I'll hafta be dealing with long climbs and high altitude. Aggressive schedule, but hopefully it gives me a good base for my Western States 100 mile training, assuming I get in.

Jemez Mountain 50 miler

The big mistake of the race came on Friday afternoon. While filling up on gas and coffee in Walsenburg, somehow I managed to lose my right contact lens. This is OK for driving, but it does mess up your depth perception, which causes all kinds of problems if you’re trying to run on technical trails. So as if running 50 miles up and down mountains wasn't hard enough, I was not going to do it half blind. Oh well, as I always say, I love it when it sucks!

Part I: Start to Mitchell Trailhead, 4.9 miles
Did what I could during this section, running at night with messed up depth perception. Just did my best not to trip on all the rocks and roots. After about 40 minutes the sun was up and I could ditch the flashlight, which helped things a lot. Came into the aid station right around 52 minutes. They had 120 people start the race, I was somewhere in the middle of ‘em at this point.

Part II: Mitchell TH to Guaje Ridge, 2.2 miles, 7.1 miles total
First major climb of the day. Lots of switchbacks up the side of a big hill, but nothing too bad for a Manitou resident. I settle in with a pack of four and maintain a decent pace up to the aid station.

Part III: Guaje Ridge to Caballo Base, 3.0 miles, 10.1 miles total
After the climb the trail drops pretty quickly here. Eventually we hit a concrete dam and climb a ten foot ladder to continue on. Really nice singletrack here, through a beautiful green forest. It’s chilly, as the canopy is blocking out the sun, but I wore the Moeben sleeves I stole from Pete and they’re working fine (though I may have to contact the company about making a custom pair of lightweight titanium sleeves - it's pretty hard to contain my guns!).

Part IV: Caballo Base to Caballo Summit, 2.0 miles, 12.1 miles total
Climb number two. Up to the summit of Caballo Mountain (10,496 feet) and back down. Pretty steep, I get into a fast hike and make my way up. About halfway up I see something moving in the bushes. A bear? A mountain lion? An alien (Roswell isn’t too far away…)? Nope, it’s a chick taking a dump. Stupid contact lens. I’m sure the gal thinks I was watching her drop her deuce and thinks I’m a pervert.

Part V: Caballo Summit to Caballo Base, 2.0 miles, 14.1 miles total
As I’m at the summit of Caballo the lead runner for the 50K passes me (50 milers had started an hour earlier than 50Kers). I begin the trek down the mountain at a decent clip, though that’s hard to maintain due to lots of rocks and roots, as well as all the runners coming up. It’s a fun out and back, as I get to see a lot of friends, including all the Texans who have made the trip to the mountains.

Part VI: Caballo Base to Pipeline, 2.8 miles, 17 miles total
Fairly uneventful stretch. I’m still running well here, though not feeling great. But instead of a feeling of impending doom, I have an idea that things are going to get better soon. I continue on and soon hear Robert H talking smack. He’s volunteering at the Pipeline aid station and has my drop bag ready for me. I drink a ton of coke, eat some turkey, and dig my iPod out of my bag. Robert tells me, “jt, you’re literally going to run off the side of a cliff to start this next section.” Whatever. Crazy Texans, always exaggerating stuff…

Part VII: Pipeline to Valle Grande, 4.0 miles, 21.0 miles total
“Seriously, I hafta go down this? Where’s the rope?” Guess Robert wasn’t exaggerating after all, leaving Pipeline you take a straight drop down a cliff. You just kinda go and try not to kill yourself in the process, reminded me a lot of some of the sections of Hardrock. Once I finally reached the bottom I fired up the iPod and was energized by the tunes. I ran a great pace the rest of the way to Valle Grande, mostly jeep roads, and passed quite a few people, including Shannon.

Part VIII: Valle Grande to Pajarito Canyon, 7.8 miles, 28.7 miles total
Time for the big climb, to go along with the longest section between aid stations. The early part of this section is pretty cool. You’ve been running on singletrack and jeep roads through the forest for most of the day and here everything opens up and you head across a field through the Valles Caldera National Preserve. The first mile or so was slightly uphill, nothing too steep, and I was still running while most people were walking. Did a great job of not breaking an ankle here. Again, I passed quite a few runners. Eventually things got a lot steeper and I was forced to hike, but I kept a good pace. Even got to do a little bit of class IV scrambling through this section, reminded me of hiking a Colorado 14er. Soon I caught up to a runner who made a wisecrack about my young age (compared to him, anyways) and we got to talking. Turns out the guy had spent time in central Pennsylvania and knew the area, including Sunbury and even Kratzerville, very well. As we finally got to the top of the climb I told him “can’t believe I let an old fart hang with me.” We would continue this banter the rest of the day. Soon after, right around 25 miles, Shannon caught up to us. She said to me, “hey, I remember that hat from Fruita.” I had run behind her for several miles out there, and I was afraid she’d slug me if I told her what I remembered about her from that race, so I just congratulated her on her strong finish out there. I ran down the hill with those two for a bit, but eventually hit a rock wrong and wrecked my right ankle. I stopped to walk while those two took off. My ankle didn’t hurt for long, but for some reason that slip up had taken all the gas out of me. I was suddenly dead tired and had to walk for a while. But good times and bad times come and go in races such as these, and after about two miles I got a surge of energy and took off once again. I started running very well, quick enough that I thought I’d catch the old man and Shannon within no time. I was running so strong here that I started to think I could rally over the second half for that 11:09 I needed to win a six pack of beer. Guess I was thinking way too much at this point, because I soon realized it had been a while since I saw a course marker. FUCK ME! A conservative guess was that I had run a mile straight through an intersection where I shoulda made a left turn. Made even worse by the fact that I had to climb back up to the intersection. While it may not sound like much, what’s running two more miles if you’re already running 50?, psychologically this was a killer for me. Instead of being two more miles closer to the finish, I had run two miles and made it no closer. I was crushed. I found the intersection, which was very well marked, and slugged my way to the aid station. The longest 7.8 mile stretch made almost ten miles due to my own stupidity. I pretty much gave up after this point. Once I saw they had Fat Tire at the aid station, I took a seat against a tree and enjoyed a cold brew.


Part IX: Pajarito Canyon to Townsite Lift, 3.9 miles, 32.6 miles total
After sobbing in my beer for what seemed like hours, I finally left the aid station to continue on my way. Mentally I was defeated after the extra distance, but physically I felt decent enough that I thought about walking it in from here just to get the finish. But that’s a long way to walk, so I settled into my usual airborne shuffle. This entire section is a climb, but nothing too rough. I run some, I hike some, I stumble over some roots and rocks like the half blind half mind I am. I’m very tired by now, but as much as I’m suffering I’m having a good time, enjoying the beautiful scenery and exploring new trails. I soon come upon the aid station at the bottom of a ski lift.


Part X: Townsite Lift to Ski Lodge, 3.6 miles, 36.2 miles total
Time for the final climb. Back and forth across a ski run to the top of Pajarito Mountain (10,441ft - the 149th highest peak in New Mexico). Shortly after leaving the aid station, my mouth and both hands filled with food, I pass a guy barfing out a lung along the trail. “Dude, that’s pretty epic, you gonna be OK?” I ask. And in the most polite voice ever, he replies, “Oh yeah, I’ll feel much better after this.” A few switchbacks later I’ll look down the hill and give a yell of encouragement to the guy, who would continue on (unfortunately, I would find out later he dropped at the next aid station). Anywho, wow, did this climb ever suck the life out of me! I knew I was well ahead of the cutoff so my pace continued to slow down with each step. The climb reminded me a lot of the final climb at San Juan, not really that bad but it just knows the perfect time to come at you. And the whole time I was being taunted by the ski lift, making me wonder if I should take up another activity that requires no physical effort to get to the top of a mountain. To make things even worse, this part had quite a few false summits. Sheesh, I was tired. Eventually I did make it to the top, only be greeted by the one thing I hate more than climbing – a retardedly steep descent. I could see the Ski Lodge from the top of the mountain, but in between was a straight shot down a double black diamond ski slope. Too steep to run. Too rocky to slide. This was gonna take a while. But I trudged on and eventually got to within earshot of the deck at the Ski Lodge, where Robert was waiting and yelled out, “JT, you run like a girl.” That didn’t sit too well with the dozen or so females hanging out at the lodge.


Part XI: Ski Lodge to Pipeline, 2.9 miles, 39.1 miles total
Only 14 miles to go, once again I’ve come to peace with the fact that I can walk it in and still finish. But this is a short, flat section, so I begin my shuffle. Lo and behold, I pass a few people – one of them being the Old Man! “Where the hell have you been?” he asks. I put on a fake game face and say, “I don’t wanna talk. Where the hell is that chick?” “HA! She’s finished by now!” The old guy and I come into the Pipeline aid station together.


Part XII: Pipeline to Guaje Ridge, 3.7 miles, 42.8 miles total
I chug what has to be two liters of coke, eat a few turkey wraps, and begin to head out. The old man waves me on, saying he is taking a break. About two steps later some of the aid station volunteers point to a blow up sheep and tell me I can’t leave the aid station without having my picture taken with the sheep. Of course, being a hasher, I immediately begin molesting the poor thing, and the riotous laugh from all the volunteers leads me to believe this will be the photo of the day. There are two small climbs on a jeep road along this section, and they reduce me to a crawl. The old man rallies and passes me on the second hill. I’m now dueling with a runner wearing a UCLA shirt, and we’re going into an extensive history on the life and times of Ben Howland. Eventually the road turns to singletrack and I’m forced to slow down, a victim of my physical fatigue and poor eyesight. Eventually I hit the Guaje Ridge aid station. God bless those volunteers, they’ve been sitting on top of a ridge all day, enduring the dropping temperatures with no shelter from the wind.


Part XIII: Guaje Ridge to Rendija Canyon, 5.3 miles, 48.1 miles total
Leaving Guaje Ridge I decide to walk the final five miles to the finish, and this time I mean it. My legs are cooked from the past six weeks of huge mileage, I’ve been having trouble staying upright all day due to my vision, and frankly, I didn’t feel like running anymore. About two miles later I get passed by someone. And for some reason, this lights a fire under my ass. I begin running, pass the runner, and continue on. This section is somewhat technical, but for some reason I’m not having any problems anymore. I continue running and even pick up my pace. I begin to pass other runners. And there, up ahead, it’s the old guy! And he’s walking! And he hasn’t seen me! I pick up the pace yet again, and at this point of an ultra I feel like Usain Bolt, even though I’m probably running ten minute miles. I pass the old guy shortly before the final aid station.


Part XIV: Rendija Canyon to Posse Shack (finish), 1.9 miles, 50 miles total
The final aid station has a Christmas theme. As I run through without stopping someone asks, “you need anything?” “Yeah,” I reply, “where is the eggnog with booze?” Less than two miles to go and I’m now running like a madman. I run through a tunnel that we had passed about 48 miles earlier and now realize I’m within the final mile. I see someone ahead and go after him. After I get him, I see someone else and get him. I actually passed five people in the final mile, pretty hard to do in an ultra where people are usually spaced out. Soon enough, I round the corner near the horse stables and I’m at the finish line, crossing the in 13:37:58.

Part XV: Conclusion
Definitely not my best race ever. But after completing three 50 milers and a Grand Canyon double crossing in less than six weeks (and, let me remind you, also winning a 5K race in a course record time!), it’s about what I expected. My body is completely broken down right now, though that was the plan all along as I have plenty of time to get healthy again before Hardrock. Learned quite a bit from this race, like to remember to bring extra contacts to the next race, that I can go ten miles just using the two water bottles from my Nathan pack, and that I can’t tell the difference between 10,000 feet and 6,000 feet. It sure has been one helluva stretch and I will be getting to Silverton this year in much better condition than last year….

And for the record, this course is nothing compared to the San Juan Solstice!

Hardrock 2010

The past two years I've done Hardrock I posted VERY long race reports detailing the course, so I'll keep this one a bit shorter, maybe one beer long...

In a nutshell, I ran strong until Grouse Gulch, bombed up and over Handies, and recovered well until the finish. I had run smart into Telluride (mile 27.8), then pushed the pace a bit over to Governor (mile 36), then crushed the downhill into Ouray (mile 43.9). The competitive juices were really flowing here, as I was running to beat my good friend Brooks, who had been struggling over some of the early climbs.

I picked up my pacer, Shad, at Ouray just after chowing down my first King's Chef bacon cheeseburger and downing a PBR. Shad worked me like a rented mule up and over Engineer Pass and down to Grouse (mile 58.4). It was shortly before midnight at Grouse when I arrived, and though I was very tired I still had visions of running my dream time at Hardrock, somewhere in the 33 hour range.

Katie was waiting at Grouse and gave me the update on my friends in the race. Unfortunately, this was the end of my "race" and the beginning of my hike/run. When she told me Brooks had dropped at Ouray, it sorta took the wind out of my sail. Instead of fueling up and heading up and over Handies, I decided I needed to rest for a while in the back of my truck. Ended up spending an hour at the Grouse aid station.

Time-wise I was still good after leaving Grouse, but a horrendous stretch between Grouse and Sherman ended any hopes of an impressive time for me. The Z monster had jumped on my back, and I just couldn't shake him off. Shad was trying his best to keep me moving, but I just couldn't summon any energy. Took several breaks along this stretch, one of them a full hour, and was passed by dozens of runners.

Finally rolled into Sherman (mile 71.8) at 7:40AM, after a period of nine hours had passed. Ouch. Now in "just finish" mode, I once again bedded down, spending half an hour in a tent before hitting the aid station. Spent a total of 50 minutes at the Sherman aid station. But right before I left, a volunteer gave me a handful of bacon, which definitely improved things.

Gotta give a huge thanks to Shad here. I believe Shad thought he was going to be finished at Sherman. He was kind of surprised when he found out my crew wasn't going to be there to pick him up. He ended up dragging my ass all the way to Cunningham Gulch (mile 91.3), a stretch of almost 24 hours for him. He wanted to kick my ass over this SNAFU, but I kept telling him it was good Leadville training, which shamed him into biting his tongue and continuing on.

Shortly after leaving Sherman I started to get my second wind. The stretch from Sherman to Pole Creek (mile 80.9), to Maggie Gulch (mile 85.2), to Cunningham went very well and I was able to keep a decent pace, passing lots of runners who had crushed me up and over Handies.

I finally dropped Shad off at Cunningham. Had another Pabst here to the amazement of some of the aid station workers. Had a great climb up and over the final section, running the last nine miles to the finish line in 3:06, which included passing a bunch of runners up the final hill and passing another two or three over the last two miles of the course.

Ended up kissing the rock at 7:31PM, for a time of 37:31. For as lousy a stretch between Grouse and Sherman I had, I was somewhat happy with the time and really glad to keep the Rocky Mountain Slam attempt alive. I smoked my victory cigar and immediately headed over to the Silverton Brewery to celebrate.

Feeling pretty good as I write this. I got a cut on my right foot from a rock that hurts, and a nice scrape on my forehead from a Pete Rose impression I did coming down a steep hill, but other than that I think recovery will be quick. I feel not only like I'll be able to recover for Leadville, but should be able to get in some quality workouts before then. I'm amazed at just how bad I felt during my Boston/Jemez meltdowns versus how good I've felt during Bighorn/Hardrock.

Two down, two to go...

Some other observations:

-What a weird start. Karl, who I think of as the King of Hardrock, made a wrong turn about 50 meters into the race. The beginning pace was very slow, allowing Brooks to take the lead up the first climb (about 200 meters into the race). I was in 10th place at the top of the first hill, the Shrine of the Miners, right behind Karl. I knew this was no good for me, so I walked the following downhill until another 20 or so people had passed me. I could tell that Karl wasn't having a good day, and would later tell Brooks that I thought he would DNF.

-There was lots of excitement back in the middle of the pack over Diana Finkel's run and the possibility of her winning outright. We were told at Pole Creek that she had indeed taken the overall title, to which I responded, "this is a bad day for us male chauvinist pigs." Luckily, this was bad info and Jared Campbell was saving the day for us guys. Wonder if it was tough on Jared's pacer over the final section (I believe it was his wife) to lead him back to the win over another woman? Big kudos to both, however, and I loved both their speeches at the awards ceremony. Well deserving champions, both of 'em.

-Kudos to my buddy Greg Hartman for a strong finish. Shad and I passed him on the way up to Engineer Pass and he was among the walking dead. He told me he hadn't been able to keep any food down and was basically trying to make it to the next aid station to drop. I gave him a snickers bar and moved past him, thinking I wouldn't see him again. He would suffer for a bit more, but would recover to finish in a strong 33:22.

-Strong finish by my pacer last year, Paul Smith. He was one of the many who passed me on the way up Handies. I would close on him over the final third of the race, but he was able to hold me off and finish in 36:50. This puts the pressure on Shad to run strong when he strikes it rich in the Hardrock lottery.

-Big kudos to the rest of my crew, Nacheaux and Katie. I'm always astounded at how they will put up with me, especially during some of the rough moments a hundred miler can bring out in me. I'm also jealous of how much more they get to drink than I do during the race.