New Mexico Trail Running

Coastal Challenge - Just Finshed

2012-01-27T11:12:00.001-07:00

I just finished the coastal challenge on the beach on the pacific ocean. What a great experience! I understand why people do stage races now. That was so amazing. I think this was the perfect way to end my adventure of the last two months.

Somehow I ended up in 6th place despite never finishing above 8th place any day. I was very consistent while others had big fluctuations day to day. The weather was hot, but very nice. The course had short spectacualr trail sections split up by long dirt road sections. Other than some scrapes on my arms, I am completely fine and not sore. The one pair of shoes I have had with me the whole South/Central America trip are hilariously destroyed but they made it through. I'll post a report in a day or two.

Costal Challenge day 1

2012-01-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

The first stage was a quick one - 24.5 kms with 1550 meters of climbing. The day started with an early 3 hour bus ride to La Fortuna. We were greeted with a great view of the Arenal Volcano as we started. The course began with some pavement out of town followed by a super technical and steep climb up to Cerro Chato. The descent down the mountain was equally epic. This was my favorite part of the day. The rest of the course was a little pavement and a lot of dirt road. It was warm and humid but not totally unbareable. I have no idea how long it took me. I tried to go as slow as possible to conserve myself for the tougher days.

We are staying at the Rancho Margot tonight; an off the grid, totally self sustaining hostel/farm/camp... It is very pretty.

The biggest thing I confirmed is that I am out of shape! two months of vacation is not the best for training. This is going to be a tough week, but the course is spectacular so that should pull me through. Tomorrow is the longest day - 62.4 kms with 4280 meters of climbing. I think it will be very important to take it easy tomorrow. the next stages are 20 miles then 30 miles so I can't beat myself up too much yet.

Cipro time plus more Peru pictures

2012-01-21T10:55:00.002-07:00

It looks like something Em and I ate two days ago in Peru was bad because we are both having some problems. I should have known I'd get sick the day before the race given my track record with international races. Luckily this is about 1% as bad as mexico so I think a little Cipro and I will be good to go tomorrow. The weather is absolutely perfect and I am very excited about the race, stomach problems or not!
Here are some more pics from our final few days in peru:

This is what my intestines feel like :)

Nazca flight

Pre-Incan ruins with some great trails nearby

Nazca Lines

This is where we'll put anyone that tries to run with a pacer at deadman peaks this year

1500 year old pyramid in miraflores

Lima, Peru to San Jose, Costa Rica

2012-01-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

The South American part of my trip is officially over. Emilie and I spent the last two days in Lima, but this morning I flew to San Jose, CR and she flew home. Lima was good. We stayed in Miraflores, which is a really nice neighborhood on the ocean. We saw some cool bones in the San Francisco Monastery and a 1500 year old pyramid, but beyond that there wasn't much to see. We ended the Peruvian part of the trip with a great sunset dinner on the ocean.

I had a direct flight from Lima to San Jose so it only took 4 hours to get there. I am in CR to run the Coastal Challenge stage race. Tomorrow is the race check in. I can't wait to get out and run the course and see the country.

Nazca

2012-01-18T11:48:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Nazca at 6 am after a overnight bus ride from Arequipa on Monday. Our hotel was great and let us check in, despite being 10 hours earlier than the normal check in time.
After getting cleaned up and resting a little, we went to the airport to take a flight over the nazca lines. We flew on a little 6 seat, prop plane. The flight took us over 12 different of the famous shapes, like the monkey and spider. The pilot took really tight banked turns so each side of the plane could see each of the shapes. The combination of the high wind, hard turns, and a tiny plane made for a wild ride. I thought I was nervous, but I was actually doing the best of everyone. One woman behind us was puking, the other woman looked like she was about to cry, and Em was fighting not to puke. It was actually kind of funny. By the 8th or 9th shape, no one even cared. We all just wanted to get off the plane.

The lines were fun to see, but no more spectacular than in pictures or TV. The more interesting attractions near Nazca are the mummies at the Cemetery of Chauchilla and the various pre-incan ruins around town. We spent the next two days visiting many of the places. I found some great mountain trails to run on just 1 km from the hotel and a place to work out so I was happy. I didn't have high expectations for Nazca, but it turned out to be a nice, small, cheap, charming town.

We are now on the bus to Lima. Cruz del Sur is great. Wifi, movies, and Super-cama seats. On Friday, I fly to Costa Rica for the last leg of my adventure and Emilie goes home. I am running the Coastal Challenge stage race. I am in ok shape considering I have been on vacation for almost 8 weeks. The race should be fun, albeit really hot and humid. Grad school is starting up again, as is the work for Cedro Peak, so the real vacation is over. I'm glad. I don't know how people do year long trips.

Running in Colca Canyon

2012-01-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

After a great time in Cuzco, the sacred valley, and Machu Picchu, we flew to Arequipa on Thursday. Immediately I was blown away by the huge mountains surrounding the city.

Getting of the plane in Arequipa

Arequipa is a great city. Very clean and pretty. We only stayed one night and then were picked up by our guide for three days of hiking in Colca Canyon. Colca Canyon is the second deepest canyon in the world: over 9,000 feet deep. The elevations range from 6,000 ft up to 15,000 ft. The plan was basically I would go running while Emilie hiked with the guide.

We arrived at Cabanaconde at about noon. We ate a great lunch of soup, rice, and alpaca steak and then hit the trail. For the first afternoon, we headed down to this amazing little refugio down on the Rio Colca. It had hot springs and these cool little bamboo huts for rooms.

The trail down from the canyon rim was very rocky, but well maintained.

The canyon has a lot of similarities to Copper Canyon, but without all the trash, crime, and drug money. The people were wonderful and the trails were amazing and pristine. There were all these little villages that had water, food, and places to stay. There were a few other trekkers out there, but most of the time, we were completely alone. There were only 4 other people at the first night's hotel.

The second day, I ran all over the canyon. I met the guide and Emilie for lunch in Malata and then continued on to a few other small villages before re-joining them at the Oasis. My favorite part was the village of Tapay. It's up this huge climb out of a side canyon. At the top, you pass through this little notch and are greated with the view of the town, big white church, and snow covered peaks behind it. After a nice stay at the Oasys, moring we climbed back out of the canyon and back to Cabanaconde and on to Arequipa.

Colca Canyon really exceeded my expecations. It really was unbelievable. The whole trail system is epic. I could have spent another week there just exploring the miles of trails.

Running the Inka Trail

2012-01-11T13:58:00.001-07:00

When I decided to come to Peru as part of my sabbatical, I knew I wanted to run the Inca trail if possible. The Inca trail is 43 km long and finishes at Machu Picchu. There are two major climbs up to 4,200 meters and 3,900 meters. It is almost entirely an ancient stone path with many steps. The trail was used during the inca times as a sacred pilgrimage to machu picchu.

Actually getting on the Inca trail is a challenge. Due to its extreme popularity with trekkers, it is required to have a permit and go with a certified guide. There are 4 control points on the trail that check to make sure this policy is followed. 99.9999% of people hike the trail as part of a big group with porters over 4-5 days. The only other official running option is to go with Andes Adventures, which offers a couple trips in July that are 2 week rigidly structured tour guide type trips. Since neither of those options interested me, I set out to find a different option. After much searching, I read an article in Ultrarunning about a guy that did the same thing with a private guide.

I contacted him and we eventually worked out a plan to run the trail in one day. To do this, we had to "bend" some laws. I won't go into much detail, but let's just say it made for a few interesting conversations at the check points.

Start

We got an early start at 6 am. The weather started off ok for being in the middle of the rainy season. Mostly cloudy, but dry. The trail for the first 7-8 kms is mostly gentle rolling hills.

First of many ruins on the trail

Because each day 500 hikers start at the exact same time and camp at the same place each night, we were alone for most of the time. We just had to pass a couple huge groups of people. The first group was on the biggest climb from km 9 to 15. It climbs 1,200 meters up mostly big stone steps.

Views on the way up

Throngs of trekkers

Just as we hit 4,200, we passed the last of the "day 2" trekkers and porters so we returned to amazing solitude. But just as that happened, the rain started. It began as a light drizzle, but was quickly a steady downpour.

Just before the rain

Pouring rain

We ran along for several hours without seeing anyone. It was such a unique experience. Any other way to hike the trail, you are stuck with a huge group of people the whole time. The clouds and rain obscured the views, but gave everything a fun, mysterious feel.

Typical trail

The rain did make the smooth stone steps tricky, but they weren't too bad. Finally at about noon, we started the looong downhill towards machu picchu. The rain stopped, and it warmed up.

Last long downhill

We hit the last control point, 5 kms before machu picchu. I felt great and was ready to experience the triumphant entrance into the ruins from the trail. The weather was clearing up and it was going to be perfect. Unfortunately, they told us that there had been a land slide and the rest of the trail was closed. Instead of finishing in one of the most amazing places on earth, we would have to continue downhill for 5 kms to the rail road tracks and then another 5 kms along the tracks to Aguas Caliente. "CRAP!!!" Talk about deflating. Oh well, on to plan b. We ran down to the tracks and into town. We then took the bus up to Machu Picchu, which was absolutely amazing. While it was obviously not the perfect ending to the run, it was still unbelievable so I can't complain.

Machu Picchu

Emilie and I spent the afternoon after the run and this morning exploring the park. It is indescribably spectacular. Now we head back to Cuzco for the night and then make a short flight over to Arequipa tomorrow to start a 3 day hike in the Colca Canyon.

Mmm, guinea pig

2012-01-11T12:42:00.002-07:00

Emilie and I had fun in Cuzco and Olyntamtambu on our way to Machu Picchu. The most memorable thing was probably eating the Cuy, i.e. guinea pig. It tasted like KFC.

Lake Titicaca

2012-01-08T16:29:00.001-07:00

On Friday, I took a bus from La Paz to Puno, Peru. Emilie, in the mean time, was flying there. We ended up getting to the hotel about 20 minutes apart so everything worked out perfectly.

Puno is the Peruvian gateway to Lake Titicaca. Outside the city center, it is a pretty rough town, but pretty none the less. I did this fun run at 5 am up to this big condor statue overlooking the whole town. It had over 1000 steps to get up there.

Emilie and I spent the rest of Saturday on a cruise on the lake. We visited the Islas de Uros which are a group of man made floating reed islands. They were interesting but it was obvious that the only reason why people still lived out there was to get money from tourists.

Reed Island

Walking on the floating reed island

We then continued on to the island of Taquile. I had never heard of it, but found out it is a unesco world heritage site. It has a Mediterranean feel to it with stone paths, terraces, and great views of the giant lake. The people have some unique culture and textiles. It was unexpectedly fun and beautiful.

This morning Em and I flew to Cuzco, which is an amazing town. Tomorrow we go to the sacred valley and the day after that I am running the whole Inca Trail in a day.

La Paz, Bolivia

2012-01-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

I made it to La Paz today after a great trip across the Alitplano and the Salir de Uyuni. It was an amazing trip and I'll post a ton of stuff as soon as I get a better internet connection.
La Paz is an wonderful city. It's at 12-13,000 feet and basically just a bunch of giant mountains with a huge city built on the sides. It is probably the most spectacular big city I have ever seen. It is totally different than Santiago or Buenos Aires. I went to some cool museums, some churches, went running, worked out, and visited the witches market. Emilie is flying out tonight and we will meet in Puno, Peru tomorrow. I can't wait.

Going to the Salir de Uyuni

2012-01-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from my three day trip from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile to Uyuni, Bolivia.

Laguna Blanca

Our SUV for the drive

Geyser

Flamingos at Laguna Colorado

Lodging for first night

Expansive views

Salir de Uyuni

More Salir

Salir

Climbing Lascar and Lincacanbur

2011-12-31T19:02:00.002-07:00

The idea of climbing Lascar, over 18,000 feet, and Lincacanbur,about 19,500 ft, with basically no acclimatization had worried me a little going into this adventure. There are some serious things that can happen at this altitude. I even brought some diamox, which decided not to use.

Both mountains are basically walk ups. Lascar is class 2 and Lincacanbur is class 3. The first day began with my guides picking me up at 4 am. We drove for several hours first on pavement, then very rough dirt roads. With the first hint of light, we stopped for breakfast overlooking this amazing lagoon. Usually there is enough wind so it is not clear but this morning was perfectly still so there was a mirror reflection of all the giant volcanoes.

The calm winds did give us one major problem. Lascar is an active volcano and has a constant plume of toxic sulfur smoke coming out of it. Usually there is a constant NE wind that keeps the smoke away from the hiking route, but then it was totally shrouded in smoke. We waited, drove to a couple other view points, and checked out the flamingos on the lagoon.

Finally once the sun rose some more the winds picked up and the smoke moved just enough that we decided to go for it. The first 1000 feet of climbing is the steepest part of Lascar. I could feel the altitude but did not feel very bad and just tried to go slowly. On occasion the wind would die down and we'd get whiffs of sulfur. The guide said put something over your mouth so I tied a shirt over my moth and nose but was having trouble breathing with the high altitude and restriction of the shirt.

Fortunately, each blast of sulfur was only 20-30 seconds long so I was able to uncover my mouth and catch my breath. The rest of the time, I felt pretty good.

It was a quick 1:14 up the mountain. The guides seem to be really competitive about time and I guess my time was amazing. Most people take 3-4 hours. They kept talking about all day. There were some amazing penitentes on the way up that were 4-6 feet tall.

There was a lot of smoke billowing out of the crater. As we relaxed on the summit, the guide and I were talking about the volcano. He said it usually erupts every 5.5 years and the last one was in the 2006 so it could happen any time. I joked that hopefully it waits at least another few more hours. Not long after that, there were several loud explosions. My guide and I both jumped. He said he had never heard that before and we both decided to head back down.

We went back to San Pedro to change transportation and go through immigration into Bolivia. Lincacanbur is on the border of Chile and Bolivia. The chilean side has a large number of land mines so it is climbed from the bolivian side. We drove up to about 14,500 feet to the tiny shack that is the Frontera Bolivian customs. From there we caught a ride to this cool little refugio overlooking Laguna Verde. It didn't have fully running water or electricity but had propane, nice beds, a kitchen and was very nice. I was expecting a little rock shack so it was great. I went for a short run over to the lagoon. We ate a big dinner and went to sleep early for the 2 am wake up.

We had a bolivian guide join us as well for the climb. We drove over, off road, to the starting point. It was a calm night and not too cold. We hiked up in silence enjoying the tranquility of climbing up the mountain. There was no moon and stars were unbelievable. I felt great, even as we got higher. The only time I'd notice the altitude was when I did something that required a quick burst of effort like pulling myself up a big boulder. I'd get out of breath then. For the most part I felt great. I'm not exactly sure why but I think some of it is that my asthma always seems to disappear above about 10,000 feet. Maybe that offsets the effects of altitude.

We were about 75% up the mountain when the sun started rising. There were a few clouds off in the horizon and there were fire red. There were about 20 giant volcanoes visible, plus the huge lagoon, and it was indescribably beautiful. I wish my photos could capture it.

The path was pretty easy to follow. Towards the top there was more scrambling than hiking.

Our time to the summit was 2:40, which the guides were very impressed with. Usually it is 5-8 hours for other travelers. The summit crater was very pretty and the views were unbelievable.

Shadow of the mountain

Getting down the mountain was a little more sketchy. We took a different route, which the bolivian guide said was faster. It was basically at 5,000 ft rock slide. The top pitches were really steep. The bolvian guide was about 50 meters down hill from me for most of the descent and it was tough to not knock any giant loose rocks down towards him. Later, the pitch decreased enough that it was better going.

Half way down

We went back through the 2 hours of drivers and customs to get back to San Pedro. It was a relaxing day after that and I went to bed early. I probably should have stayed up for new years because the town makes all these effigies of robbers and drunks and then burns then at midnight, along with a crap load of fireworks. Today I went for a 25 mile run in some really cool canyons and the valley of the moon. It is funny how different a place is with no one there versus driving through it on a bus stuffed with tourists. Let's hope tomorrow I am going across to Uyuni... I've decided that if the guide is still messed up, I am just going to take a bus from Calama to either Peru or La Paz and be done with it. Flights for tomorrow are $1000 and take longer than the bus.

Happy New Year from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

2011-12-31T18:25:00.001-07:00

I just back into town after two amazing days of hiking up some spectacular mountains. The sunrise on Lincacanbur this morning was probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. This was the highlight of my trip so far. I'm definitely not making it to midnight tonight. We got up at 2 am to start the climb. I had no issues with the altitude and actually felt great today, even scrambling up boulders at almost 20,000 ft. I'll post more on that tomorrow but I wanted to post some shots of Atacama. I am at least 75% confident that my guide company has set everything up and I am leaving on january 2nd for Uyuni including a 3 day tour of the salt flats, geysers, and lagoons on the way...

San Pedro

Lincacanbur looming over the city

Valle de la Muerte

Valle de la Luna

Atacama Desert

2011-12-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

I made it to San Pedro de Atacama this morning. It is a pretty little adobe town in the atacama desert with many 18-20,000 ft volcanoes surrounding it. My first order of business was checking in with my guide. I have had a number of concerns about this guy, and they were, at least partially validated. At least he exists and it's not just a total rip off. I booked and paid for a 4 day private guide to take me from Atacama to Uyuni, including climbing many mountains and pretty much doing whatever I wanted. He agreed to this and said it was no problem. Well, the first two days are good and we will climb several large volcanoes, but my travel to Uyuni is up in the air. It looks like I will return to Atacama on 12/31, and leave for a three day group tour to Uyuni on 1/2. This isn't the end of the world, but it does mean that I'll only spend about 15 hours in La Paz, Emilie will beat me to Puno by 4 hours, and I have to change several hotels, one bus, and one flight at the last minute (ugh).

I went out the the valley of the moon today. It was nice but frankly looks identical to white mesa and the ojito wilderness (plus the big volcanoes in the background). I watched the sunset from this overlook that was on exactly the same type of trail and terrain as the dragon's back at white mesa.

Tomorrow will be better. I climb Licar (18,000 ft) and hopefully another volcano next to it assuming I can drag my unacclimatized ass up the mountain quickly enough.

Suprising Santiago

2011-12-27T17:39:00.001-07:00

Everyone I've talked to while travelling has said Santiago wasn't too interesting. Honestly, I hadn't looked at what to do in the city until the night before I arrived here. Overall, I have had a blast.

Yesterday I was out and about for 15 hours! I had pretty much no plans other than head towards the Plaza de Armas and see what there was to do. On my way I found 5 different art museums, a great little park called cerro San Lucia, a fish market, some cool churches, and a bunch shopping areas. I also went to Bikrams again and worked out. For dinner I thought I'd try a place I saw on No Reservations. This place looked amazing on TV. It was pretty far outside of the main city center and in a pretty bad neighborhood, but the food was good. It's called El Hoyo and I got what the waiter recommended, which was the Lengua con papas (beef tongue with potatoes). The tongue was good, but no better than what I make at home. I also had one of the many interesting drinks of Santiago, the Terremotto. It's cheap white wine and pineapple ice cream.

Today I found some decent trails to run on (for the middle of a giant city) at Cerro San Cristobal. It has a mix of paved and dirt paths with about 1000 ft of climbing to the top. There's a big statue of the Virgin Mary and a church on the top. The views up top were good but obscured by smog. After that I had some great sausage, bean, and pumkin stew. The rest of the day was shopping, working out and bikrams.

I enjoyed Santiago a lot more than I thought I would. I think 2.5 days was the perfect amount of time to spend here. At 6 am tomorrow, I fly to the atacama desert for some epic mountain climbing and running while driving in a jeep across the atacama and Salir de Uyuni salt flats into Boliva.

Punta Arenas, Penguins, and on to Santiago

2011-12-26T18:06:00.002-07:00

After leaving Torres del Paine on Saturday, I went to Punta Arenas. Besides being the southernmost continental south American city and the only airport for 1000 kms, there's not much too it. It's not a bad place, there's just not much there worth seeing. The only real attraction there is the penguins. Originally I booked a boat to the Isla Magdalena, but the water was too rough so instead we went to a smaller colony that was on the mainland, call the Seno Otway colony. It has about 6000 penguins. It was spectacular.

Today I caught an early flight to Santiago. LAN is an awesome airline: they changed my flight for free, didn't charge a bag fee, had free food and drinks, and a movie for a 3 hour flight. Security was awesome too - no removing shoes and laptops and liquids. The view of the Andes for the whole flight was beautiful.

The noise, heat, and chaos of Santiago was a little disorienting after spending three weeks in the middle of nowhere. The first thing I did was go to a bikrams. I really needed it. Coming back to hotel from yoga, Santiago seems really great. It kinda has an LA feel to it because there are big mountains around the city but they are almost invisible because of the smog. It's maybe a little rougher than BA, but not a dangerous place. I only here for three nights, then it's off to the Atacama desert for a week.

Torres del Paine day 2 and 3

2011-12-22T12:22:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was an epic one. I ran for 9 hours and completed the rest of the "W." It was spectacular, tough, and also very crowded. The Cuernos are unbelievable. This morning I was feeling really tired. If I was anywhere else, today would have been a complete rest day but being my last full day in the park I had to get out at least for a little bit. I hiked 4-5 hours this morning north to the Seron Camping area. Definitely not as spectacular as the W, but enjoyable and far less crowded. This afternoon I have been relaxing in the bar which has a spectacular view and finalized some more reservations. Most importantly I have secured a guide to the Isla Magdalena Penguin colony on christmas day! 120,000 penguins should be amazing. All I'll need now is some coca-cola and a polar bear and it will be the perfect christmas moment. I found a super cheap private transport company from calama to atacama ($22 for a 100 km taxi ride) and also finalized some reservations after the coastal challenge in costa rica. I am going to spend 3 days kite boarding in this relaxing little beach town called Bahia Salinas after the race and then go to the monte verde cloud forest.

Here are some highlights from the "W":

Torres del Paine

2011-12-21T17:48:00.001-07:00

This morning I got up early to catch a van from El Calafate, Argentina to Torres Del Paine Naitonal Park in Chile. It was a quick 5 hours to the park. I got to practice my spanish a lot with the driver and was even translating music to him. It was pretty funny trying to figure out how to explain "bad to the bone" to him.

TdP has this amazing network of refugios, basically mountain hut hostels. I originally wanted to stay at them, but the lack of online reservations and questionable availability made me concerned. I didn't want to get all the way out here and not have a place to stay so I decided to stay in a hotel. I also wanted to be able to talk with Emilie every day. There are only two or three of them in the park and they are more like 5 star resorts. It is a bizarre switch going from cheap $10 hostels and public transportation to a $250 per night mountain lodge with private transportation to and from the park. The place is amazing. The trail is litterally 20 feet from my room. The food is unbelievable (and probably overpriced). Having spent 3 weeks in a country where they basically eat a big chuck of meat, a couple pieces of bread, and some wine for every meal, it is great to have fresh fruits and vegetables, seafood, and other great food.

View from the hotel

After checking in and getting some lunch, I hit the trails. I ran to the Los Torres overlook for about a 12 mile round trip. It was unbelievable.

Las Torres Viewpoint just before it started snowing

Amazing Conger Eel for lunch

El Calafate

2011-12-20T13:36:00.001-07:00

I had a blast last night going out with a bunch of people from the hostel. So much fun, that it made it tough to get up early this morning for the 7 am bus to El Calafate. I'm taking a brief stopover in Calafate today, before going over to Chile to the Torres del Paine national park. It is the closet thing to a major city down here. My guess is there are 25,000 people.

They have a real grocery store, a small airport, and more importantly an ATM. I was down to 10 pesos in Chalten so I really needed some cash! It is a beautiful town with a huge lake and a view of some big mountains in the distance. It is much warmer here than in Chalten. If I had some more time, I would visit the glacier near here and also do this cool looking terra feratta route, but instead I got some groceries, cooked some food, went for a short run, and worked out at a local gym. Today is a day to recharge and get ready for the crazy runs I will be doing in TdP. The hostel I am in is really cool. It overlooks the whole city, the lake, and the mountains. Tonight I think I am going to get one last big parrilla meal in celebration of a great 20 days in Argentina. It is a great, modern, and safe country and blew away my expectations.

Last day in El Chalten, Argentina

2011-12-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

The weather was cold, windy and drizzling when I woke up this morning. Undeterred, I went out for another trail run on my last day in El Chalten; my plan was to head up to this glacier north of Lago del Tres.

I made it up there, but it was sleeting , so I quickly ran back to town and then ran to a waterfall about 6 km outside of town called the Chorrillo del Salto.

There were also some bike trails near the falls that followed the river and were pretty nice and mellow. The sun finally peaked out and it turned into a nice day.

After a nice lunch of lamb stew and some relaxing at the hostel, I went back to the free community center/climbing gym. I climbed for a little bit and did some other exercises. There were some kids playing indoor soccer. I saw they had 9 people so I asked "necicite uno mas jugador?" and I joined the game. It was hilarious. They were probably 8-10 years old and about the same skill level as me. This one kid playing goalie on my team kept throwing his shoe at the other team to mess up their shots. The players kept changing teams too, so I lost track of who was on my team so it was madness. I was laughing the whole game. Of course they were all laughing at me too. It was great. Definitely one of my most memorable events so far in Argentina. I've met a lot of great people in the hostals, buses, and during La Mision, but haven't had as many meaningful interactions with locals as I would like (outside of general travel/eating/shopping related stuff).

I think most people that don't travel a lot assume that solo travel is lonely, but there are so many people that travel solo for months or even years, that it is easy to meet people.

Tomorrow I am taking the first bus out to Calafate for one night there then on to Chile. The only real thing to see is the Glacier there and I am not going because I have seen and climbed on glaciers before and this is about the most touristy glacier ever. Plus I need to get some supplies for three days of running in Torre del Paines, get some cash, and hopefully find a place to do some yoga or lift weights. I also hear there are some trails around this lake in Calafate so I will try to get a little running in there too.

Another great day in El Chalten

2011-12-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

Today I ran out to Lago Toro and climbed up Lomo de P-something peak (I can't remember the full name). The weather was windier and cloudier than yesterday, but still not totally terrible. The wind had to be over 70 mph above the tree line on Lomo. I could barely stand up. In total, I think I did a slow 22-23 miles. The views from Lomo were spectacular. I also did a short hike after the run to two overlooks just outside of town.

After a nice long run, I was enticed by La Waffleria next to my hostel. I ate 6 waffles! I then found about a free community gym that has a indoor rock climbing/bouldering area and went there and worked out and even tried to play a little basketball. I ended my day by cooking lentils, rice, and vegetables and then went out for some beers with people from the hostel. This is actually a really nice hostel.

It is supposed to be nasty tomorrow outside so I am not sure what I will do. I am still planning on some sort of long run, but I may try something with lower elevations if it is a blizzard up high. I'll figure it out tomorrow.

Chalten, Cerro Fitz Roy, and Cerro Torre

2011-12-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

Despite getting in to Chalten at 3 am this morning, I was awake at 6 am. Like a kid on Christmas morning, only my christmas involves giant mountains, lakes, and glaciers.

I ran a big loop with two different out and backs for a total of 24 miles. The primary targets were Lago Torres and Lago del Tres. I cannot even begin to describe how amazing this run was. My pictures do it no justice. Fitz Roy is like 9,000 ft above the surrounding valley and just one sheer cliff. The beauty is indescribable. Easily one of the most spectacular places I have ever visited. This was my favorite day so far in South America. The weather was nice in the low elevations, but the wind was really intense up high. It had to be at least 60 mph with some really strong gusts. One gust was so strong that I had to crouch down because I was afraid It would pick me up off my feet.

Path to Lago/Cerro Torre

Lago Torre and Cerro Torre behind the clouds

Random mountain and lake on the trail from Torre to Fitz Roy

Fitz Roy

Lago del Tres and Fitz Roy

Once I finished, I walked around the tiny town and cooked some dinner at the hostel. El Chalten is about the size of Silverton but with more travellers. Since the road was just paved to town, the number of travellers has sky rocketed and construction is booming. I counted 6 large buildings in construction within 4 blocks of the hostel. My guess is that within a few years it will be a big touristy place.

Tomorrow I am going to run in a different direction and run to Lago Toro and climb one of the smaller, non-technical peaks to the south of Cerro Torre.

The highs and lows of travelling Ruta 40

2011-12-17T11:58:00.003-07:00

I wrote this last night on the bus. Now that I am here, it is one of the mostamazing (and windy) places I have ever been and it was totally worth the three days of bus travel to get here.

I began my trip from San Martin de Los Andes south down toEl Chalten on Wednesday. San Martin isin the far northern end of Patagonia, in the lakes region, and El Chalten is inthe far south. The first day, I only hadto go from San Martin to Bariloche. Thetrip started off badly. First, my hostelbooking was changed from a hostel next to the bus station, to one 5 km from thebus station because of “maintenance” on the first hostel.

Then I missed my bus. When I got my bus ticket, Ispecifically asked the person at the ticket counter which bus was I supposed totake, what did it say on it, and what was the number. She said she didn’t know the number but itwill say “Via Bariloche,” and be the only 1 story via Bariloche bus there. Istood there waiting. The only bus that came and left was an Albus 2 story busthat said it was going to Neuquén. After20 minutes after the bus was supposed to leave, I went back and found out I hadmissed the bus, and in fact, the Albus bus was the correct bus. I also learnedthat the next bust wasn’t for another 4 hours. Still barely able to walk from my La Mision blisters and having mybackpack and suitcase with me, I couldn’t really go anywhere so I sat under a treeoutside the bus station until the next bus. The bus ride to Bariloche was rough. The road from San Martin to Villa de Angostura was not paved and buriedin volcanic ash. It was hot, crowded and hard to breath. Everything was covered with 3-4 inches of ash.In Villa de Angostura, they had to shovel the ash like snow.

Ash piled on side of road

Even Santa needs a dust mask in Villa Angustura

When I got toBariloche at 11 pm, I took a cab to my new hostel, which was loud and rundown. I immediately didn’t like to vibe. I only have a limited patience forhostels. Some of them are great, i.e.the Leadville hostel, and some of them a crap, i.e. the Moab and Taos hotel. Idecided to just upgrade to a private room since I was exhausted and didn’t wantto deal with it. I went to sleep atmidnight and got back up at 5 am to catch the bus again.

From Bariloche to El Chalten is on Route 40, or RutaCuarenta. It is about 1800 km; half paved, half not. It is one of the most remote roads in theworld. I would later, painfully realize how really remote we were.

On Thursday, we travelled from Bariloche to Pertito Moreno,a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. From Bariloche to El Bolson, it was very much like Alaska, but itquickly turned to Patagonian Steppe. TheSteppe basically looks exactly like the desert in New Mexico. I saw my first, of many, guanaco. There aresimilar to a llama. I also had the best, freshly made, empanadas ever in a gasstation in some unknown village of probably 20 people. Beyond that, it was a long and hot trip. After13 hours on the bus, we arrived in time to get some food and walk around town. The hotel/hostel was not too bad and had goodfood.

Patagonian Steppe (yes, it looks exactly like the NM desert)

Friday started with a late start after breakfast. A couple hours into the trip we stopped onthe side of the road for a bathroom break. Everything seemed normal at first, but when we all loaded into the bus;they couldn’t get it back into gear. This is where the “fun” began. For seven and a half hours, we sat on theside of the road, in one of the most desolate places I have ever been, whilethe two drivers worked on the car. Ametal fitting that linked the transmission fluid lines had burst. This is where we all really learned howisolated this road is. First off, therewas at most 1 car per hour passing by us. Then we learned that there our only rescue would be a bus from ElChalten, 10 hours away. There is basicallynothing for 800 kms and no tow trucks or mechanics at all. With only 20 oz of water, and two oranges, itwas going to be a long day. Afterseveral attempts, they managed to repair the metal fixture using a piece of atent pole, tape, and some sort of fix all sealant stuff. This seemed like the most promising attemptyet, but it still failed. At that point they said they were out of ideas. I resigned myself to a long, hungry day whilethey kept working on the bus.

You know you're in trouble when you are trying to use a tent pole to fix a car

The whole time this was going on, there was this one guy whokept bitching how he had to be in El Calafate by Friday and how he wanted arefund. He finally decided to just hitchhike back to Pertito Moreno. He sat forabout an hour waiting for a vehicle to pass. Just as he finally flagged a truck down and loaded his bag onto it, thebus suddenly lurched forward! Everyonewas cheering “Vamos!” hoping it would continue moving. There were a few stutters and quite a bit ofclunking, but we were moving! We alllaughed at the guy hitch hiking back to town and we drove away. It wasdefinitely karma for all his bitching. Everyone gave the drivers a round ofapplause. These guys were awesome. After another hour of rough road we made itto this little hotel/store, where we devoured some overpriced and questionablyfresh sandwiches and chips. It was 50pesos for a dry sandwich, bag of chips, and a bottle of water. But it was food and we were hungry. Starting the bus was interesting again. Itlooked like it would only move if they put it into gear, shut off the bus, thenstarted while in gear, with the gas pedal down. Another hour down the road, we finally ran into the other bus sent torescue us. We switched buses and were on our way again. I saw more guanacos and even a group ofRheas, a type of large ostrich like birds.

Who knows what time we will get o El Chalten? I think it will be about 2-4 am. The sunsetis amazing and the bus is not very crowded so most can stretch out. I have three full days in El Chalten and Iplan to make the most of them. It is the“trekking capital of the world” and has miles of trails leading out in alldirections. The road from the main cityin the area El Calafate was just paved so the town is still tiny. There’s noteven an ATM. I plan at least 20-30 milesper day of trail running. I am glad I droppedat La Mision, although any DNF still stings. I am already plotting my revenge. When I come back, I will have the lightest gear available and not justtreat it as one part of a huge vacation.

Since the airport in Bariloche is closed until January, Ididn’t really have an option to fly, but even if I did, I still think it wasworthwhile to drive Ruta 40. It has been quite an experience – both good andbad.

DNF

2011-12-13T12:56:00.000-07:00

This morning after 19 hours, I called it quits at La Mision at 100k. I was actually doing really well, up to 17th out of 700, but I realized that if I continued on and dragged my blistered, bloody, battered body for another 18-20 hours it would take many weeks for me to recover. As I said before, this race is not worth ruining the rest of my trip. This was 1000% the correct decision and I am happy and content with my decision.

The race spectacular, both in beauty and difficulty. Seriously, I take back any comments I said about the helmet and required gear, it was totally necessary. I was very happy to have the helmet several times. Much of the course was the most technical,overgrown, hellish "path" I have ever been on. The climb up Cerro Colorado was spectacular. The biggest mistake I made was that my pack was way too heavy. This guy in my hotel had a scale, everyone else's packs were 6-8 kg, while mine was 16 kg! My sleeping bag weighs almost as much as their whole setup. They all had there amazing ultralight $800 sleeping bags that were tiny and weighed 200 grams. Their packs were tiny hydration packs while I was ready for a two week backpacking trip. The heavy pack changed my stride so that I was landing on my heels more. That combined with the abrasive volcanic rock and 10 water crossings per mile, I developed two huge blisters on the bottom of my heels. They started developing at mile 10 and from mile 15 on, I was in pain for every step.

Even with all that, I was doing well for most of the race. From 2-3 am, there was this amazing pass between all there giant mountains. There was almost a full moon and I could see all of them and the snow and it was spectacular. On my decent down it (off trail down a glacial moraine), I followed some other runners down the wrong way. We wound up on the wrong side of a lava rock boulder field and had to scramble for over a mile of the most gnarly stuff ever. I should have just went back and backtracked but the other guys wanted to bushwhack and I didn't want to re climb 3,000 feet of elevation. It took from 3-5 am to get back on course. We got lost one more time before arriving at checkpoint 4 at 6 am, where I quit. Luckily I got a ride after only an hour.

After all the overgrown trails and bushwhacking, I have more cuts, scrapes, and wounds that I have ever had. Sitting here, on my left forearm alone, I count 17 scratches and two large gashes. The skin on my calves is non-existant. I'm walking on my tip toes due to the blisters, but overall my legs feel good.

Tomorrow I head south for three days until I arrive at El Chalten. Parque Naitonal de Glaciers is one of the most spectacular places on earth and I am excited about being able to run all over it. I should be fully recovered by the time I get down there.

La Mision 160 km tomorrow (finally)

2011-12-11T05:31:00.001-07:00

I'm ready to go. My pack is packed, and I'm checked in. I've been hanging out resting for the last few days and I must admit I am sick of resting! For me, this is the hardest part. There are so many cool mountains and lakes around here that I want to get out and explore.
All the runners are in town so it is fun to meet and talk with them. I've met runners from Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, and Ecuador. It's funny, runners are the same everywhere - super nice and friendly.

The weather forecast for the race is hot: 86 F tomorrow, 94 F on Tuesday, and 96 F on Wednesday. Lets hope I'm fast enough to not have to worry about Wed. Luckily there are supposed to be many water sources along the course to filter water. The wind is blowing south so that should keep the volcanic ash away so there should be some great views. I'm super excited about this race. It is going to be awesome. This is a much bigger event than I am used to. They have a helicopter monitoring the race, news crews, and a web cast. I even had an interview on camera, which was really weird. They had flags from every country represented and I counted 14 countries. There are 700 runners.

After the race, the real adventure begins in southern Patagonia. My focus will be to recover quickly on the bus down there so I can do some crazy runs to Fitz Roy and then in Torres de Paine.

I have had some great food in the last few days- a venison steak with pumpkin bisque, a couple huge salads, a lamb and cheese pressed sandwich, a prosciutto and avocado sandwich, a huge fillet of trout, and lots of locally made chocolate. I think my pre-race dinner will be the classic Argentinian meal parrilla.

I didn't get in to the Western States lottery so my 100 mile schedule for 2012 is set. I'm calling it the "obscure slam:" Salt Flats 100, Angeles Crest 100, Superior 100, and Ozark Trail 100. It should be a nice mix of terrain and locations. Two hard mountain races, one moderate but rocky race, and one fast course. Three of the four are point to point runs, and salt flats is basically a figure 8. I always like the smaller races more anyway so I'm happy I didn't get in to HR or WS.

La Mision Gear

2011-12-09T08:36:00.001-07:00

For those who complain about the gear required for UTMB - look the list of stuff I am going to have to drag over 160 kms with 30,000 feet of climbing.
Back pack (required)
Sleeping Bag (required)
Bivy Sack (required)
Trekking Poles
Helmet (required)
Jacket (required)
Gloves (required)
Balaklava (required)
Fleece shirt (required)
Synthetic long sleeve shirt (required)
Arm Sleeves
Tights (required)
Water-proof map case
Rain pants (required)
Water Filter
100 oz hydration bladder
Water bottle
Water filter
Iodine tablets
Safety glasses (required)
Small scoop to bury waste (required)
VHF Radio (required)
First Aid Kit (required)
Compass (required)
Emergency blanket (required)
Mirror (required)
Knife (required)
Whistle (required)
2 headlamps (1 required)
small backup flashlight
GPS
10 extra batteries
extra pair of contacts
Gaiters
15 packs of cliff bloxs
8 flasks of hammer gel and another 10 individual gels
6 packets of chammy butter
Sunblock
40 endurolytes
Big bag of pretzels
Some cookies
Three Salamis
Cheese
8 Apples
Hotel key
200 pesos
Sun glasses
Short Sleeve shirt, shoes, socks, shorts
Hat
Camera

There's only one aid station at mile 60, and the entire course is unmarked, so I have be self sufficient for the full 100 miles. With water my pack probably weights 35 pounds. It looks like the helmet has to be worn the entire race, which is kinda silly, but "when in rome" I guess...

The cutoff is like 4 days, but I absolutely have to be in Bariloche at 5 am on 12/15 to catch the ruta 40 bus south. The last bus from San Martin to Bariloche leaves at 2 pm on 12/14 so that gives me at most 48 hours to finish. I really do not want to walk across the finish line and straight onto a bus so I am going to have to go fast. My goal is to finish in between 30-36 hours. The Parque National de Glaciares and Torres del Paine are some of the most amazing places on earth and a once in a life time thing. It is more important to me to get down there than finish some 100 miler. That being said, even if I walk the whole thing, I don't see how this will take more than 36 hours. Susitna was basically self sufficient and it took me 35 hours and I walked almost the whole thing.

San Martin de los Andes

2011-12-08T11:51:00.001-07:00

This is more like it. My first real day in San Martin started with a great trail run. It started with about a 1500 ft climb up to this amazing overlook of Lago Lacar, then a little loop and back to town. I was having a blast - definitely the coolest and most scenic place I have been so far on my trip. I had to remind myself several times "Jim you are running 100 miles in 4 days, take it easy."

I was also trying to guess where the course would go. We don't get the course until the night before the race. It looks like there are only three real ways to leave town towards the mountains on trail so I'm trying to figure it out. The possibilities are also limited because the chilean border is very close and the race doesn't go into chile. Plus they sent out a picture of the summit of Cerro Colorado in an update email... very fun.

After running, I was trying to figure out what I could do to explore without using my legs too much... Quickly I found a cheap place that rented kayaks. I got one and kayaked for about 3 hours at a really mellow pace. I stopped 4 times at various shaded spots for snacks and to relax. The lake is huge and amazing. The whole area kind of reminds me of North Cascades National Park - big lakes, lots of steep mid-sized mountains, and then a few really huge ones with glaciers.

The town is very cool - Very similar to Breckenridge or Aspen. There are flowers everywhere and they have this really unusual tree. It looks like a big pine tree but the branches are like one long artichoke.

Crossing Argentina by bus

2011-12-07T15:46:00.001-07:00

After spending a relaxing day in acafe and a turkish spa, I set off to the Retiro Terminal de Omnibus for thenext stage of my adventure.Finding the correct ticket booth was more challenging than I had expected.There are 200 different ticket counters, separated by north, south, southeast,etc. Each bus company has a booth in each of the different subsections, but youcan only get your boarding pass at the specific booth for that direction. Afterwalking what felt like a mile with my luggage in the hot, humid,unairconditioned terminal, I was literally dripping with sweat.

It was not the best way to start along trip, and I was questioning my decision. As soon as I stepped on my bus, Iknew everything was going to be ok. The cool air conditioning felt great, theseats were huge, and we had individual TVs. I was taking the Crucero del norte"Super Cama" omnibus; basically the highest class of bus available inArgenintina.

There were two drivers and a waiter.Almost immediately after we left the terminal the waiter (bus-attendant,maybe?) brought around whiskey, then snacks, then dinner with wine and beer,then champagne. The dinner was actually decent. As I sat there watching"the bucket list" overdubbed in spanish, drinking my wine, I was gladI took the bus. Getting out of huge sprawl of Buenos Aires, the stars finallycame out and I watched the countryside pass by until I fell asleep. The pamapaslooks a lot like the San Joaqin Valley in California.

I awoke to more familiar sights:yuccas, sage, and rugged, tree-less mountains. It looked a lot like thechihuauan desert just south of Juarez. The mountains were part of a nationalpark and were called the Sierra de la vida. The rest of the trip was good -more wine, food, a few stops at other bus stations in Rio Negro and Neuquen,and a nap. Soon the Andes started were peaking through the haze.

Overall taking the bus was not that bad. I think it was good for meto be off my feet for 24 hours too.

San Martin in beautiful. It is so nice to be out of the big city. The race starts on Monday at 11 am so I have lots of time to explore. The volcanic ash is there but not bad. It makes it look like los angeles with smog but I can't smell anything or feel it when breathing. It is supposed to rain so hopefully that clears up the air to see some of the glaciers.

Fugazzetta and Bikrams

2011-12-05T18:32:00.001-07:00

On my last full day in Buenos Aires, there were no more sights I wanted to see, so I set out to find some more good, cheap food.

I had some good empenadas for lunch, but the main food I wanted to eat today was the Fugazzetta. Apparently Portenos (people from Bueonas Aires) are crazy about pizza. Pretty much every cafe serves pizza. It seems like there are more pizza places than parrilla and asado places. The most Argentinian pizza there is is the fugassetta - the onion pizza. It is an interesting double decker pizza with thin crust, followed by cheese, followed by another thin crust, followed by at least an inch of solid onions. Seriously,it is a insane amount of onions. Not being one to shy away from halitosis, I got two slices for dinner.

The first few bites were really good, but then the onions overpowered me. I managed to eat both slices, but am suffering the ill effects from eating a cup of onions. My breath, my skin, my sweat, everything just wreaks of onions. To complicate the matter, I ate them right before going to a bikrams class.

Bikrams is a world wide chain of sauna yoga studios. They have cheap first week deals so I like to go there when I am travelling. I feel bad for the people around me. I was wreaking of onions. To make matters worse, I am pretty much the palest person in world so everyone was probably thinking "great, this stupid freakishly white American is stinking up the yoga studio."

Tomorrow I take a 24 hour bus to San Martin de los Andes. Ioriginally booked a flight, but the only airport near there is now closed for renovationsdue to damages from a volcano so all flights were cancelled until the end of themonth. The other option was take an hour bus to the airport, fly to this othercity, niquen, then take an 8 hour bus, splend the night, then another 4 hoursbus. Technically it would be a little faster, but it just sounded like more ofa hassle than the 24 hour bus. The seats fold completely flat into a bed and they have movies. I also think it will be fun todrive across the pampas and talk with people on the bus so it isn't going to be too bad.

Mellow Day in BA

2011-12-04T12:25:00.001-07:00

After a huge meal last night and tons of sight seeing, I just wanted a more mellow day today.

Rose House at night

Tripe, Chorizo, Blood Sausage, Pork wrapped dates, and steak from last night's dinner

I went for another run at the Constaterna Sur this morning and then went to starbucks for breakfast. Yes, I know that's a little lame but sometimes it is nice to have a comfort of home.

After that I went to the San Telmo Market. Most of it is just one big tourist market, exactly like most other tourist markets. Since I already have all the incense, sandals, and jim morrision T-shirts I need, it was not the most interesting place. There was a small sub-section that had antiques that was kind of cool and there were a few fruit and vegetable stands so I got some good stuff to eat. I also saw some cool street performers.

I found a guy selling some amazing salumis and cheeses and relaxed in the shade of a big park and had a nice little lunch.

The weather forecast looks great so far for La Mision. I take to overnight bus to San Martin de los Andes on Tuesday and then have a few days to relax in the mountains before the race. I should be ready; I think. Walking miles and miles all over BA this week isn't probably the best taper, but who cares. It's only 100 miles.

What a surprise! I did not get into hardrock or even on the wait list. I couldn't see that coming at all. Good thing my odds decease every year I don't get in.

Day two in Buenos Aires

2011-12-03T15:13:00.001-07:00

Priority one my first full day in BA was find some trails to run on. OK,not really but it sounded like a good way to start the blog post since this is a running blog. I slept in and then went for run in the Reserva Ecologica Constanera Sur. It is the closest thing to trails within 30 miles of here It is a wildlife refuge about a mile from my hotel and it was great. 8 miles of dirt paths on the ocean and marsh land with tons of birds and trees.

After the run I had a nice lunch in a cafe and walked to a couple of art museums, the first was the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, which was ok - mostly old, classical art.

MALBA

The second one was way better. The MALBA was all modern art and really cool. Lots of very interesting stuff. The layout reminded me of a smaller version of the Contemporary arts center in Cincinnati. After that I walked to a few different parks and had some more tasty street food.

Choripan

There was an urban adventure race going on. It had two people with one bike scavenger hunt kind of thing. It looked like fun. The start was right outside of my hotel and they were running and biking around all day as I was sight seeing.

Urban Adventure Race Going On in BA today - I think it says "use the mind in order to arrive with the legs"

Futuristic Toilet Add

I'm not sure what I am going to do tomorrow...maybe visit the San Telmo market and a yoga place.

Alright enough for now, time to stuff my face with beef at Siga La Vaca...

Hola Buenos Aires y hola el vernano

2011-12-02T19:02:00.001-07:00

I made it to Buenos Aires this morning. Hello Summer! It is in the 80s here. After passing customs, I had an adventurous drive from the airport in a cab. I love the way they drive here: total disregard for all laws, signals, and traffic. I guess it's pretty much the way I drive in the US :)

My hotel is right next to the plaza de oblesco so I am right in the middle of everything. It also has a fitness center and a turkish bath, which are both very nice.Once checking in to my hotel, I set out to explore. I visited the plaza de mayo, avendad de Florida, and the Pink House where the Argentinean president lives ( I think). I also just relaxed a bit under a big cyprus tree in a park enjoying the warm weather. I've had some good food so far - choropan is a sausage sandwich thing that was good and I had a steak for lunch. I'm in BA until Tuesday and don't have any real plans other than taper for La Mision and have fun.. It's a refreshing change from the usual 10,000 things to do, hectic life I like to keep. I think I may go for a run at a nearby park and then an art museum or two tomorrow. For dinner I am going to check out Siga La Vaca, which came as a recommendation from my cousin. It is all you can eat meat, but high quality and every part of the cow so it should be good.

Overall, BA seems like a great city, very European and modern, so the next few days should be fun. I still can't wait to get into the mountains though...

Here goes: Sabbatical day 1

2011-12-01T15:49:00.006-07:00

I'm sitting at the ABQ airport right now, ready to catch my flight to houston then buenos aires.

I must admit I'm feeling nervous about this whole thing. Saying goodbye to Emilie was tough. I am going to miss her. Plus there's 50 mph winds in ABQ and my flight is delayed so it's not the best day for flying. Of course once I get there it is going to be amazing so I should quit my whining. Between all the running and camping stuff I am taking way more stuff then I would have liked. At least it should lighten up after La Mision, where I'll eat most of the gels and stuff, plus get rid of the helmet.

On a much more exciting note, I finally got confirmation from a guide in Peru about getting permits for a one day run of the inca trail. There are quotas and you have to have a guide to go on the trail so this is great news. He got it so on january 10th, I am running the whole 30 mile trail to machu pichu! Em will take the train and meet me there.

Now the adventure begins...

White Mesa 64k and South America Plans

2011-11-17T19:00:00.005-07:00

Over the weekend, stupidity prevailed as I was the only person dumb enough to do the full White Mesa 64k fat ass. 25 people that showed up, one person finished a marathon, 6 people did the 50k, and one did 41 miles. We even had an impromptu aid station and packets this year (all left overs from DP50). We got lucky on the weather: they were calling for bad weather. It was cloudy and sprinkled a few times, but never rained too much so it was good running weather. I was in shorts and a t-shirt pretty much the whole day. My time was 6:35ish. I took about 1:20 off my time from last year, so I was pretty happy with the run.

Now my focus is just getting everything at work and school finished up before December 1st when I leave for Buenos Aires.

Here's the run down of the 10 weeks.
Buenos Aires, Argentia
San Martin de los Andes, Patagonia, Argentina
La Mision 100 miler
Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina
El Chalten, El Calafate, Fitz Roy, Parque los Glaciers, Patagonia, Argentina
Torres de Paines Parque National, Chile
Puenta Natales and Puerta Arenas, Chile
Santiago, Chile
Calama, Chile
San Pedro de los Atacama
5 days overland across the Atacama desert, Salir de Uyuni, and altiplano into bolivia
climb a couple 18,000 ft mountains
La Paz, Boliva
Puno, Peru
Lake Titicaca
Cusco
Machu Pichu
Arequipa, Peru
Backpack in Colca Canyon
Nazca Lines
Lima, Peru
San Jose, Costa Rica
Costal Challenge Stage Race
plus 1 more week in Costa Rica with no plans... not sure what I am going to do. I may just relax (ok, yeah right, more like I'll run up some big volcanoes).

I'm probably not in the best shape for La Mision, but whatever, it will be amazing even if it takes me 48 hours. Em will join me for the Peru poriton of my adventure, but the rest will be solo.

Me gusto cuando yo viaja solo unas veces. Me deseo es que yo hablaria espanol muy bien despues me viaja. Yo necesito practicar me espanol menudo porque el esta mal ahora.

When I'm down there, I'll actually post frequent updates and photos on the blog.

Being me, I have already planned another trip after this one to hawaii with my wife in March. I had enough frequent flier miles for 2 free flights so it will make a nice trip. There's even a road marathon there that weekend that I stupidly signed up for. I can feel the pain already :)

I also signed up for the Salt Flats 100, and already have put the bulk of my 2012 schedule together (assuming I'm not living in Israel), including a tour of random, off the beaten path races like the Ozark 100 and Superior Sawtooth 100. I put in for the HR and WS lotteries, but doubt I'll get in. I'm thinking Angeles Crest would make a nice mid summer race instead, but am still debating on my non-lottery plans.

Getting back to normal

2011-10-29T19:44:00.009-06:00

Today I finally put away the last of the Deadman Peaks gear! I still need to write a couple articles and finish uploading the 750 pictures our great photographer took, but life is starting to get back to normal.

I think everyone had a great time out at the race. I know I had a blast. There were no issues to speak of so it was a quiet day for me and the search and rescue folks, which is always a good thing. All the volunteers and runners were amazing. When I started this race, I wanted a fun, unique, low key, family style race that was still well organized, had great support, and swag. I think this year we really pulled it off so I could not be happier. Of course, I already have a list of improvements for next year so we'll fine tune it even more. The only snag is that I may be living in Israel next year for work so we'll see... I already have a list of folks who can help co-direct if needed so the race will happen regardless of where I am. Thanks to everyone involved!

Today was the first day that it really sunk in that my 10 week South American trip is really going to happen. I'd been so busy with everything that it seemed a long way off, but as I trudged up and down the Sandias during my first heavy pack run today I realized that it is only 31 days away!

The heavy pack is for La Mision. La Mision is a 100 mile race in San Martin de los Andes in Patagonia, Argentina. It is a weird event. It is kind of like a hybrid between an Argentine hardrock and an adventure/trekking/fastpacking event. It is completely unmarked, requires compass navigation, has only two aid stations, 30,000 ft+ of climb, big snow fields, and high river crossings. The course changes every year, and has a 3 or 4 day cutoff. Some of the required gear includes a sleeping bag, bivy sack, radio, and a helmet! There are 500 people registered for it and I think many of them do it as a fast pack and just camp at night. It's also strange that everyone seems to wear their helmet the entire race, even when they are running through town on a paved road?? The winner still does it in 30 hours, which with a heavy pack and no course markers is screaming fast. Right now, I am planning on just running it straight through like any other 100 miler, but we'll see how my night navigation skills are. If I'm totally lost, I'll stop and camp until morning. The other strange thing is that there's an active volcano that is spewing ash near town and every day the weather forecast is "Volcanic Ash." It is so bad that the airport I was going to fly into is completely closed so I have to take a 24 hour bus ride from Buenas Aries.

On a non-running (and possibly disgusting) closing note - A couple weeks ago I bought a whole pig head and made head cheese. My wife's reaction was hilarious. It turned out pretty tastey.

Hello

Final Product

Arkansas Traveller 100 - 20:48

2011-10-04T19:28:00.003-06:00

This one's going to be short - I had a wonderful experience down in Arkansas over the weekend. I managed to tie for 5th place out of 107 starters at 20:48.

AT100 is a great, old school race, put on by some wonderful people. It is a fun and challenging course. The weather was great. I could only imagine during hot years (90F with 80% humidity) that it would be a beast of a race.

I ran almost the entire day alone but as soon as the sun set I caught up to greg g, who I ran about 40 miles of Cajun Coyote with in December. We went back and forth about 100 times - me passing at the aid stations and the up hills, while he flew past me on the downhills. In the end we ran about 30 miles together, along with his pacer Josh, and finished together. I had a blast. The rest of the trip was really fun too. The central high school museum was very moving and hot springs NP was great.

Paatuwaqatsi Run - Water is Life 50k

2011-09-11T20:36:00.008-06:00

Ultrarunning to me is about visiting amazing places and having great, unique experiences. This year, especially; I really wanted to focus on different, out of the way events. The Paatuwaqatsi Run in Polacca, AZ is definitely one of those events. Entirely on Hopi land, the 50k goes through Native Villages and ruins. They call it a "prayer run," so it is designed to be more of a celebration of Hopi running culture, and a prayer for rain instead of a competitive event.

Getting to the start was an adventure in itself. A big rain storm left the road to the start area super muddy so everything was moved around at the last minute. We didn't know that when we got there in the dark. Planning to camp at the start, we drove out there and came upon a big tent with people standing around with tables, food, etc just about where the map said the race start was supposed to be so we assumed it to be the pre-race dinner and went up and started hanging out. They had some native dancers and singers performing and it was really a beautiful ceremony. Looking around, it seemed a little weird that no one looked like a "runner." After the performance, I asked someone where the packet pickup was. They looked at me like I was crazy. OOPS! It turns out it was not the pre-race dinner at all, and was some camp for a volunteer home-building charity. We then proceeded down the very muddy road. It was super slick and we almost got stuck. We eventually figured out the pre-race had been moved and tracked it down. We camped in the parking lot of the pre-race dinner with many of the runners. On race morning, we found out that the race was delayed about 80 minutes to re-mark parts of the course and to do a re-route the course around the main village because of the death of one of the village's elders the night before.

With a Hopi prayer, we were finally off. The race was supposed to only have aid stations every 5 miles, but pretty much the whole village came out and was out on the course with water for the runners. There were some stretches with water available every 1/2 mile. All the people were so nice and cheered us on in Hopi! The course is kind of a figure 8, going up and down several big, rocky mesas with some sandy dirt paths/roads in between. I think there's about 4500 ft of climbing. The terrain/ecosystem is similar to DP50, just more sand and dirt roads. The heavy rains really helped keep the sand down. I can only imagine what the course would be like in a super dry year.

The view as we climbed the first mesa was just spectacular; the mesa top was covered with old pueblos. The village is supposed to be the oldest continuously inhabited village in North America. The rest of the course was also amazing - there were some cool scrambles up and down the mesas, great single track, and native ruins. I knew between CC100 and my overall lack of fast running this year, that I wasn't going to be super fast so I just settled in and enjoyed the day. After 25 miles, my body decided to remind me that racing a 50k two weeks after running a hard 100 miler is not too smart. My climbing legs were shot and I was just worn out. I slowed down quite a bit and hiked a lot of the last section. I have no idea what my time was - somewhere between 5:00 and 5:30. Emilie, as usual, was helping out at the finish. We grabbed some tasty traditional hopi food - a mutton and posole soup and this blue corn thing, kind of like a tamale, but with no stuffing - and hit the road.

We left Polacca and drove to Chinle, AZ to get a hotel room and go visit the Canyon de Chelly National Monument. We spent the afternoon and the next morning visiting the canyon and ruins.

Canyon de Chelly

This race was a really amazing experience - I know my race report doesn't do it any justice, but this is a great race. There's a 100% chance I will return many more times.

Cascade Crest 100 Report

2011-09-01T19:47:00.012-06:00

The Pacific Northwest has always been good to me when it comes to running. I ran my first marathon in Seattle, fell in love with trail running in Forest Park in Portland, ran my first trail race at Hagg Lake, I won my one and only race in Seattle, and have had plenty of other great experiences there and generally seem to just run a whole lot faster when I'm there. Maybe it's the altitude or the type of trails just suit me better... I don't know.

I hoped that good luck would continue when I signed up for Cascade Crest back in February. Cascade Crest is a single 100 mile loop through the Cascade mountains starting and finishing in Easton, Washington. It has about 20k ft of climbing and is about 75% single track. The course has a few very unique things, most notably it starts at 10 am, and in the middle of the race there's a down hill so steep they have fixed ropes set up and then there's two mile long tunnel that you run through. One of the tougher aspects for me in race planning, since I didn't have a crew, was the long distances between drop bags. The first one isn't until mile 33, and the second one is at mile 53, then there are two at 68 and 72, and no more until the finish.

About a week before the race, I unexpectedly got an offer to have someone pace me for the last 32 miles. OK, I'm not usually a pacer kind of guy, but I figured why not... It should be fun to have someone to hang out with through the long night.

I flew out to Seattle on Thursday morning and immediately headed to Salumi, an amazing meat shop in downtown Seattle. The line was out the door and around the block, but it was totally work the 40 minutes wait. I got three different sandwiches and ate them at the nearby waterfall park, which is a cool little park with a big ass waterfall (imagine that) coming off the side of a building.

I then hit the road up to North Cascades National Park for some sightseeing. After a very beautiful afternoon, I spent the night in Winthrop, WA a very cool old town in the rain shadow, high desert. The next day I drove down to Cle Elum and started getting ready for the race. I had an unusual pre-race meal at some pancake house with an old friend, Brandon, and was ready to go.

The race started and I felt pretty good. It was a little weird starting at 10 am and it took me a little time to get into the groove of running. The climb up goat peak was easy. That was followed by some steep ups and downs until the second aid station. From there it is a few miles of down hill on dirt roads followed by steeper uphills on roads. The weather was forecasted to be a little warm, but I figured I'd be fine considering how hot ABQ has been so I only brought two water bottles. Well, that was my first mistake...

I ran out of water a couple times and got behind on hydration. I knew I was getting into trouble. By the time I hit the mile 15 aid station I was not feeling that good and was getting dehydrated. Luckily at mile 17, the course joins the PCT for the next 30 miles. The PCT was considerably less steep and in the shade through beautiful old growth forests so my mood picked up a little. I was still pretty dehydrated when I came in to the tacoma pass aid station, mile 23. I chugged about 40 oz of water at the station and ate a bunch of food and started hiking. With so much water, I was pretty bloated and still didn't feel too good. At the next aid station, I chugged even more water and eventually it started cooling down and I was able to catch back up on hydration and picked up my pace.

I can't stress how beautiful the PCT section of the course was. As the sun was setting, I passed by a small water fall and then this amazing mountain lake in this big beautiful bowl called mirror lake (I think). Right after the sun set, I started the crazy descent down to the tunnel. It starts with a super steep and rocky dirt road and then the bushwhack with the ropes. The steepness is about similar to "Nate's nemesis" at Jemez, but it's a lot longer, the rocks are looser, and it's in the dark.

That dumps you out on a rails to trails path that goes through a 2 mile old train tunnel. Going through the tunnel was a little crazy, there's all this water dripping down and it is super humid. It was definitely one of the weirdest and coolest things I've experienced in a race. Towards the end of the tunnel, it was so damp that there was so much steam coming off of me that I couldn't really see in the light of my headlamp.

Once I got out of the tunnel, I was feeling great. After hyak, mile 53, it's a gradual 7.5 mile climb on dirt and paved roads followed by a 7.5 mile downhill on dirt roads down to the Kachess Lake aid station. This is starting point of the "Trail from hell" where I picked up Bruce, my pacer. I was ready for the worst, but to be honest, the trail from hell was a piece of cake. There are some tricky down trees, some little stream crossings, and a couple short steep climbs, but it was not very bad. It's nothing compared to zane grey, massanutten, or even jemez. It's mostly hiking, but there are a number of very runable spots and I was having fun talking with Bruce.
I had a bit of a rough spot on the long climb out of the mineral creek, mile 74ish. I was in a "it's 3:00 am, this hill sucks, I'm tired, and have hours and hours to go until I finish" kind of grumpy mood. Bruce was great with positivity and telling stories, but I was just slogging away.

We hit the mile 80 aid station with the faintest glimmers of daylight off in the distance and my mood picked back up once he hit the great single track again. The rest of the course was just incredible. A lot of it was along this ridge surrounded by big, beautiful mountains and one spectacular sunrise. We passed the "cardiac needles" which were all pretty easy. Then we hit Mnt. Thorpe. This is a very short out and back to the top of this mountain. The sun had just crested the mountains, the wildflowers were everywhere, mount Rainier loomed in the distance, and it was just about the most beautiful place ever. It was also good to see some other runners, there were 3 just in front of me.

On Thorpe Mnt. (OK, I am not the most stylish runner around) Photo Bruce Hoff

The next few miles went by quickly, and by the time I got to french cabin I was feeling pretty good. I knew there was one really short climb over this notch and then 7 miles of down hill and then 4 miles of flat. I said "ok, if I average 4 miles per hour, I will be at the next aid station at 9:40 so I'll be able to finish under 26 hours." I went easy on the climb and started running easily at the beginning of the downhill. After about 10 minutes, something happened that I can't fully explain...

All of a sudden all the soreness went away, I was filled with sheer joy, and felt the best I had felt all race. I really started running.. I mean really running, like 7-8 min miles. I was just having so much fun. When we hit the steepest part of the down hill, I told my pacer to run in front of me and go as fast he possibly could and we flew down that mountain. It was pure trail running bliss and I forgot about the race and was just having fun, doing what I love, on a spectacular trail.

We ran straight though the last aid station without breaking stride just yelling out my number to cheers of volunteers and crews. After that, the trail flattened out and my pace slowed but I still felt great and we made great time. I ran across the finish line in 23:35 or so, in 16th place out of 140 starters.

Wow, what an experience. What a great race. The RD and volunteers did a spectacular job. CC100 is seriously a classic race that everyone should try. I was pretty surprised by my time.. I really pulled that one out of my ass. I guess baking in the sun across the rocks of petroglyph national monument with 160 oz of water in 102F when the forest was closed paid off. 4 days later, I feel 100% recovered. Time to get ready for Arkansas Traveller. A huge thanks to Mike for tracking me down to see if I wanted a pacer and Bruce for pacing me. You guys rock.

Cascade Crest 100 Time!!

2011-08-17T18:02:00.003-06:00

Next week I am running the Cascade Crest 100. I must admit that I am more excited about this race than I have about any race for a long time. The cascades are so beautiful and I just heard the tunnel is back open, so it is going to be awesome!

As far as training, I'm in ok shape. I think I can run 26-28 hours. Considering I've had as many races cancelled this year as I've finished, it will be nice just to do a race and finish it. I've had a great year other wise, it's just not my year for racing.

This weekend Em and I are going up to telluride so I'll have a nice altitude advantage for the low course :) Then I'm going up early to Washington to screw around, spend some time in the North Cascades national park, and stuff myself with some really good food in Seattle. Beyond that, school starts up again next week and DP50 prep is in full swing so life is as hectic as always. I'm taking 8 credit hours of MBA classes this fall, which is probably more than I should take with work and everything, but oh well, it's free...

One more person needed for team NM at the AT100

2011-08-01T20:04:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd throw this out there: We're trying to put a team together for New Mexico at this year's Arkansas Traveller 100. Three of us are already signed up, but we need four people to have a team.

Basically how it works is, each person runs the full 100 miles and lowest total time wins. www.runarkansas.com\AT100.htm There's supposedly a trophy involved.
For the Team challenge, the results are normalized by age and sex, so for example Ian M. ran 26 hours last year, but his age adjusted time was 21 hours since he's 69 years old. Make sense?

It will be a lot of fun so sign up! It's one of the oldest 100s around and a fast and scenic course.

Now a Married Man...

2011-07-18T10:07:00.002-06:00

I am now a happily married man! We had a wonderful wedding on Friday in Albuquerque. Now it's back to work...
My CC100 training has been pretty good given everything that is going on. The petroglyphs have become my main training ground since everything else is closed within a 45 minute drive.

Random Races in Random Places

2011-06-06T23:43:00.003-06:00

As you may have noticed, I have already used up about 5 weeks of vacation this year and still need to get married, direct DP50, and run a couple out of state 100s so I am pretty much staying in town this summer to conserve what little vacation I have left. I'm also working a weird Thurs to Sun, afternoon/night shift schedule so doing races on the weekend means loads of sleep deprivation and rushing back to quickly shower and start working. This has allowed me to try out some interesting local races that, while not my forte, looked really cool.

The first race was supposed to be the Q50k, but it was postponed so I ran 20 miles in the San Pedro Parks instead.

The next race on my agenda was the Acoma Seed Run; an 8.3 mile run out in the acoma pueblo at sky city (the real city, not the casino). Having slept about 6 hours in the last 3 days thanks to on-call and getting up early for other running non-sense, the 5 am to drive out to Grants was painful. I had no idea what to expect, and will admit that I was completely blown away. Sky city is this ancient city up on top of a beautiful sandstone mesa surrounded by more breathtaking mesas and native ruins as well as their modern dwellings and a museum. The race consists of this really cool, but super steep and sandy climb up a mesa, through a neat notch with 1000 year old hand cut steps in the stone, down the back side followed by about 5.5 miles of sandy dirt road and a couple miles of pavement. Running this fast is seriously painful compared to say, 100 mile pace, but I made it and had a great time. I think this one will be on my schedule for a long time to come.

On Saturday, I once again found myself getting up after 3 hours of sleep to drive up to Fenton Lake for the second race in the NMARC adventure race series. Adventure Racing has always interested me, and way back when I did an adventure race in Moab, but it's just one of those sports that never seemed to catch on. Jemez gets 500 people and this race gets 20... I've never understood that. These races are really a lot of fun. Maybe it is the compass navigation or the large amount of gear that scares people. The NMARC is trying to turn the tide of popularity for adventure races, and is doing an awesome job. They put on four races as well as many clinics and low key training sessions. I entered this race knowing that I had a slim chance of finishing in time to make it back to Rio Rancho for work. I needed to be back at work at 1pm so I was well prepared to bail out if the race took too long. I really just wanted to check out all the trails around fenton lake since I have never spent any time up there.

The race started with running, then biking, then kayaking, and ended with a mystery event. I was doing great and finding the checkpoints easily, but I got a little over-confident and tried to take a short cut - on the map it looked perfect and there was even this nice game trail to follow, but the dirt road on the map connecting this short cut to the checkpoint didn't exist and instead it was a 700 ft scramble between some loose, very sketchy tent rocks. There were two other races who made the same mistake. We wasted way too much time trying to find the road that didn't exist and making our way back. At that point I knew I wouldn't have enough time to make all the checkpoints so I ran back to my bike and started getting those checkpoints. By the time I got about half the bike checkpoints, it was already after 1 pm so I had to leave and skip the kayak and the rest of the race and drive as fast as possible back into to town. It's never great to have to DNF, especially at such a short race, but I still had a blast. I mean really, how many people can say they did an adventure race in the morning before work!

The next race is the valles caldera marathon. I've started ramping up the miles for cascade crest training and I am not planning on tapering so this will be just a training run. I figure 4 hours or so will be fine.

Judgement Day at Jemez 50 a.k.a. how to run 50 miles with pneumonia

2011-05-22T20:31:00.007-06:00

Yesterday, the Dr confirmed what I was afraid of as I coughed my lungs out running Jemez - I have pneumonia and a sinus infection. I had been sick with a cold for the last two weeks but I had thought I was finally getting better. Oops, I guess not.

Needless to say, between that, getting off course, taking a really hard fall on "Nate's Nemesis", and a missing drop bag, it made for a tough day. That's the way it is sometimes in ultrarunning. Sometimes everything goes wrong. The crux is figuring out how to continue; how to fix your problems. Sometimes you just have to suck it up, check your ego, accept that you are not going to make your goal, and be ok that you are going to be passed by 40 people.

Instead of focusing on the negatives, I focused on what always draws me back to this sport - amazing scenery, killer trails, great people, the special camaraderie of ultra-runners... It didn't hurt that the weather was absolutely perfect. I guess I could also say that I got a great ab workout from all the coughing :)

Eventually, I finished. I think my time was around 12:20-12:30 or so. Honestly, I wasn't really paying attention. I was just happy to be able to participate in such a great event. I'll take a day of running in the mountains, even with pneumonia, over sitting around watching TV anytime. As always, Bill G. and company did a spectacular job with the race. Jemez is really one of the best and hardest ultras in the country. I've started the race every year except in 2008, when I did massanutten, and it's permanently on my race calender from now on. It's the only race I could ever see myself doing 10 or 20 finishes.

I think next year I will actually train specifically for this race instead of using it to kick my butt into gear to train for a 100 miler. OK, that settles it, I'm calling my shot one year in advance- sub 10:40 next year! (Crap, why am I posting this...what a terrible idea...)

Now I just need to load up on antibiotics and dust off my mountain bike and kayak so I don't kill myself at the fenton lake adventure race next week.

Reno, Nevada

2011-05-10T21:01:00.005-06:00

Today I am going to watch the love of my life walk across the stage to receive her PhD in Material Science and Engineering. For those that don't know, She an I have been in a long distance relationship for the last 4 years while she completed her PhD At the University of Nevada.

Well, she's finally done and is coming home to New Mexico, starting a great job at Intel, and we're getting married in July (after almost 6 years together)! It's very surreal how everything worked out perfectly. Words cannot express how happy I am right now.

I've been in Reno for the last week. We are leaving for Albuquerque on Sunday, taking the scenic route over 5 days through Central Nevada, Great Basin National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Kodachrome SP, Capital Reef National Park, and Monument Valley.

She's still finishing up dissertation re-writes and writing journal papers so I have been left to entertain myself during the days. Fortunately, Reno has 100s of miles of freaking awesome trails around the city. She lives next to Peavine Mountain (where Silver State 50 is held) so I have been running there most days. Lake Tahoe still has a ton of snow so there's no way to go running up there, but I did do a little hike and scenic drive on Tuesday.

With the wedding, two out-of-state fall 100s, and my 10 week South America Trip coming up, I am focusing on local races for the summer. Once I get back into town, my summer kicks off with a bang: Jemez 50 mile, the MNTRNR Q50k, the Acoma Seed Run 8 miler, Fenton Lake Adventure Race, and the Valles Caldera Marathon all within 4 weeks. Then, I have another MTB race, the Cochiti adventure race, a few more MNTRNR races, and even the La Luz Trail Run. I've run up and down the La Luz about 40 times per year since I moved here and never considered doing the race before, but what the hell - I might as well try it.

Canyon Running Trip Photo Report

2011-04-28T22:57:00.013-06:00

What do you get when two mildly deranged trail runners head out into the desert for a 4 day running trip? Well, here's the short list:
Antelope Canyon
Water Hole Canyon
The Wave aka Coyote Buttes
Wahweep Canyon
26 mile run/hike/swim through Paria and Buckskin Gulch
Bryce Canyon NP
Zion NP
39 mile run from the grotto to kolob canyon in Zion

There's too much to say and not enough time, so instead here are some pictures.

Coyote 2 Moon 100 Cancelled

2011-03-21T09:53:00.007-06:00

This weekend I participated in the coyote 2 moon 100 mile race. It's a wonderfully irreverent yet extremely challenging and superbly directed race in the mountains outside of Ojai, California.

I was in the 3 am start group. It had rained most of Friday night but luckily stopped shortly before we started. I felt great the entire race and was making surprisingly good time. The weather was really nice up until around mile 50 when the weather started turning. It was snowing and windy on the ridge, but only lightly raining in the lower elevations during the afternoon. Once the sun set, conditions deteriorated. It was a white out on the ridge with strong winds and very heavy rain at the lower elevations.

Just to give you an idea how much it was raining, I left gridley bottom with 4 long sleeve shirts, a fleece, 2 rain coats, 2 trash bags, tights, a balaclava, and rain pants on and I was soaked to the bone in 4 miles. As I hiked up, I was trying to figure out how I was going to make it the 8 miles along the ridge soaking wet and in blizzard conditions. I had decided that I was going to take a break at the top and dry out my clothes a little and just go for it, but by the time I got within sight of the aid station (mile 88ish), runners started coming down the trail saying the race was cancelled and I should turn around. That began the long hike back down to gridley bottom to evacuate the course.

This was definitely the right call for the RD. With the long, exposed section along the ridge at the end of race, they would have had 30 hypothermic runners stranded up there. If something happened between aid stations, someone could have died. I was extremely impressed with how they handled the cancellation. Chris and crew definitely know what they are doing.

It was still a little disappointing. I felt great and could have easily finished 26-27 hours. I guess it was a great 90+ mile training run. I'll have to come back next year. Between this and Copper Canyon, I guess this just isn't my month for ultrarunning...

Back from Copper Canyon

2011-03-11T14:48:00.005-07:00

I got back on Tuesday night from an amazing trip to copper canyon. Everyone was great and it was unbelievable. Unfortunately, I got some horrible food poisoning two days before the race and spent the race in the Urique medical clinic instead of running. It was obviously a bummer, but shit happens I guess. I still had a blast and it was totally worth it even without the race.

With C2M next week, I have been trying to get healthy after not being able to keep food down for 3 days. I lost about 10 lbs while sick so I'm eating as much as possible to re-build my fat stores before the race. I still think 26-29 hours is doable, but am feeling less confident after being so sick.

It's coming... Cedro Peak Ultramarathon

2011-02-19T11:38:00.004-07:00

Obviously I need the forest service to give me a permit, but I'd say there's a 97% chance the Cedro Peak Ultramarathon is going to happen next year on 4/7/12. In the end I decided to go with the trails I liked the most instead of trying to hit a certain distance so there will be a 44 and 28 mile race. Both courses are almost all single track. It is a nice mix of terrain. The total elevation gain is around 6,500 ft. It will be $44 to enter either race.

In other news, in one week I am going down to Mexico for the copper canyon ultramarathon. I'll spend 9 days there. I am super excited. Of course 13 people were murdered in Juarez last night so I'm also a little nervous. I think once I get away from there, it should be smooth sailing.

After that, Em and I are doing some backpacking in Grand Gulch in Southern Utah and then going to Ojai, California for the Coyote 2 Moon 100. I've been a bum today, but in general my training has been great. I think 26-28 hours is certainly doable even with the 28k ft of climb. I love the idea of this race: The start is staggered so everyone finishes within a 4 hours window on Sunday. Miles ~55 through ~85 are a series of out and backs up a mountain so you have lots of company through the night.

My race season is set since I struck out on the lotteries - C2M 100, Cascade Crest 100, Arkansas Traveller 100, and La Mision 150k in Argentina plus some other short races. La Mision kicks off my 10 week sabbatical in South America. The plan is to spend 2.5 weeks in Patagonia, 2 weeks in Northern Chile, 1 week in Bolivia, 3 weeks in Peru, and 1.5 weeks in Brazil. My trip ends by running the Brazil 135 (assuming I can get in - it's an invitation only entry like Badwater).

The Desert Skunk Stride 14.5 Hour

2011-01-30T16:55:00.004-07:00

As I found myself driving miles down an unmarked, single land jeep path at four in the morning, I was really starting to question my sanity. I had left work at midnight and drove all the way down to Mesquite, NM to run a free, unsupported race that started at 6 am. I made it to what I hoped was the start about 4:15 am, and settled in and tried to get a little sleep in my car. Since a Chevy Malibu isn't exactly the most comfortable bed and that the trailhead felt like a great place to be murdered, I slept for about 10 mins.

The race was the Desert Skunk Stride 14.5 hour put on my Mark D. from El Paso. He puts on a bunch of races down there and I have wanted to do one of them since I moved to NM in 2005. I was even down there last year when the Dry Rock Ridge Race happened but it was the week after RR100 and I was still too sore to do a 50k. This year, there were no more excuses.

The course is a collection of out and backs on the Sierra Vista Trail and some jeep roads. I think about 10 people started including a number of familiar faces and DP50 alums. Mark actually had marked the course, had some aid at the turn arounds, and even provided maps and directions for each section and it was a great race. The trail was super rocky and had a bunch of short ups and downs but no major climbs.

I was in the lead the whole time I was out there and felt great considering the 10 mins of sleep. The weather was amazing but somewhere on the fourth out and back, I just lost my motivation. When I made it to the cars, I sat down and took in the views and the ridiculously nice weather. It was like 65F, sunny, with a light breeze. After 15 mins, I decided I was done and took some photos and then drove back to ABQ. I was hoping for at least 50 miles but only made it 27 or so. Oh well, it was still fun + you can't DNF a timed race, so it was well worth the sleep deprivation and long drive. Thank you Mark for the fun day!

I went out today and spent about 3 hours mapping part of a possible race I am going to put on in 2012 at Cedro Peak. Right now I have about 21 miles of sweet, rocky single track mapped out and am trying to work out either an out and back or loop for 50 miles without having any long stretches of jeep roads. I figured out a "T" course that would make a nice 100k, but I kinda prefer something more continuous vs multiple out and backs. I'm planning for March/April 2012 for the first race assuming I can get a permit. This one is going to be a partnership with the ABQRRC instead of me doing everything like Deadman Peaks. This was where I had originally wanted to do a race last year, but opted for the DP50 course because the BLM was easier to work with.

I might as well announce the other project I am planning with the ABQRRC - the 2011-2012 Albuquerque Fat Ass Series. In addition to the White Mesa race, we're going to do a 50k in the ABQ foothills on NY's Day and another one in the Placitas foothills in Feb. I also want to try one north of Cochiti in the Jemez Mountains but am not sure that one will work unless we mark the course and provide aid because it would be epic in the snow.

The Ghost Town 38.5

2011-01-17T20:13:00.003-07:00

For the 4th time in 5 years, I found myself heading down to Hillsboro, NM to the wonderful experience that is the Ghost Town 38.5 ultramarathon. I say "experience" because Susan, the Race Director (and phenomenal DP50 AS captain), hosts much more than a race: months before the event her detailed and thoughtful emails come pouring in sometimes 5 or 6 per week, telling us all about the race planning, her family, her life, travel info, and so much more. The race weekend is full of meals and entertainment staged at her home. The race is so unique... she really makes it feel like a family reunion vs a race.

This year was bittersweet because it was the final Ghost Town. I guess last year she had a number of inconsiderate and bossy runners, plus some other issues, that made her want to move on. Hearing about the problems, I probably wouldn't want to continue either. She originally wasn't going to do this year, but in the end she made it invitation only and cut back of the max number of entrants.

When I signed up many months ago, I really wanted to run fast this year. I thought I'd be super motivated and in great shape for the race. well, a couple of months of slacking off and the holidays and I knew that this wasn't going to happen. I also almost didn't make it down because I got stuck with oncall this weekend. At the last minute, I decided to just go for it. I was up all night working in my hotel room the night before the race, but at least I was able to run.

The course is basically an out and back with a extra little spur on the way out. The first and last 6 miles are pavement, and the rest are varying degrees of rocky dirt roads/paths. It's mostly uphill on the way out and mostly down hill on the way back.

The race started off warmer than past years and it was nice enough that I wore shorts without being completely uncomfortable. The fastest 3 runners took off into the distance and then a group of about 5 of us grouped together and followed. The sunrise was just spectacular - blues, oranges, pinks, and purples striped across the canyons.

I ran every step of the 6 miles of uphill pavement and pretty much everything up to the spur. The spur had a crusty, hard snow the entire way that made it especially tough.

Once I crossed the creek and started the tough, more technical section on the way to the turn around, my legs started reminding me that I hadn't done the training to be running this fast so I slowed down considerably, hoping that I could save what energy I had left for the long downhill to the finish.

The sun finally came out at the turn around and it started to warm up. I stripped down to a T-shirt and shorts. I think I was in 8th place at that point. I kept the pace conservative up to the top of the hill right before the stone hut aid station. At that point, it is 95% gradual downhill to the finish. I started running pretty fast but just didn't have the motivation to really push it. I managed to pass one guy at the last aid station and another one on the road. I thought I was doing great until here comes blaine for maine flying past me doing sub 7 min miles! After that I stopped really caring about pace and just enjoyed to joyous day and the warm, sunny weather.

In the last 2 miles or so, I tried to just soak in the moment and savor all the great memories from the race, knowing that this would be the last time. I finished in 6:31 for 6th place. It was a little slower than my 2009 time, but I think that considering my lack of training, sleep deprivation, and snow on the course I did reasonably well. With work on-call, I had to hurry up and head back home, but I wish I was able to hang out the rest of the day and watch everyone finish.

Thank you Susan for all the wonderful years!

I guess now can try some of the other interesting races that weekend like the Hurt 100, Big Bend 50k, and Avalon 50m, but it still feels like there is a big hole in NM ultra calendar. One which I may try to fill with some more races :) ... more on that later.

Cajun Coyote 100k

2010-12-08T19:08:00.002-07:00

Down in the swamp of Ville Platte, LA, there's a new 100k from the Coyote 2 Moon folks. It was 3 loops of rolling single track around the lake in Chicot State Park. The trail is mostly hardwood forests with some pretty cool looking cyprus swamps. My guess is there is about 3500 feet of climb.
I flew into New Orleans on Thursday. I needed my trail running fix, so I drove out to the baratavia nature preserve south of town. There are a about 8 miles of some nice trails. After that I went up to the french quarter and bourbon street and got some good cajun food and sea food. On Friday, I took the scenic route up to the race start, going around the cajun coast, the Tabasco sauce plant, layfette, and some other places. I had a bunch of random cajun food along the way, like Boulin and Pickled Quail Eggs.
The pre-race dinner was at a cajun buffet so I was thoroughly stuffed with cajun food for the race. The RD rented out a really nice cabin at the park where I got a bunk.
It was about 55 at the start and it warmed to a very uncomfortable 75 (with high humidity) around noon. I had some delusions of grander for for the first 10 miles and tried to race, but my lack of fitness caught up to me and I slowed down to a more reasonable pace. The trail was sort of similar to rocky raccoon but with more climbing and less used trail. There were these cool long boardwalks that go over the swamp areas.
The heat started getting to me on the second loop, but fortunately some clouds came in and the wind picked up so it cooled down a bit in the afternoon. The rest of the race was pretty uneventful. I ran with Greg from MS for much of the second half of the race. I really wanted to finish before the sunset and just barely made it at about 5:20 pm.
I had enough fun that I signed up for their main race out in CA - the Coyote 2 Moon 100 miler in march. It should be fun.
Now I'm up in Ohio freezing my ass off :) There was a foot of snow on the trail at the cayahoga valley national park when I went running today.

San Francisco Thanksgiving + Quad Dipsea

2010-11-30T19:39:00.002-07:00

Em and I spent the long holiday weekend out in the Bay Area for a mini vacation. I lived there for a while in 2004 so I played tour guide to Em and showed her around all the requisite tourist locations - Big Sur, Monterrey Bay Aquarium, Santa Cruz, China Town, Alcatraz, Marin Headlands, Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods, Big Basin Red Woods, Fisherman's Wharf. We had a great time.
On Saturday, I ran the Quad Dispea. It is a classic ultra; not just because this was the 29th year, but because the course is great (and tough). It's a double out and back. In 28.5 miles there are over 9k ft of climbing, plus 671 stairs each pass of the trail! Starting in Mill Valley, it passes through Muir Woods and on the Stinson Beach for the turn around. We had a wide range of weather from wind, fog, light rain, heavy rain, and even some sun towards the end. The stairs were tough on the downhills in the pouring rain. The rest of the trail was mostly non-technical, muddy single track with several sections of pavement and double track. I finished around 5:30 I think. When I finished, I grabbed a quick bite to eat and Em and I headed out to go do some more sight seeing.
I flew back to ABQ yesterday and fly out again on Thursday for an 18 day trip to Louisiana and then Ohio. I'm running the Cajun Coyote 100k on Saturday, and then spending a couple weeks with family in OH. I'm excited about the trip but it's been a little frantic trying to unpack and repack simultaneously.
BTW, Em got the job in NM! She'll be home for good in June!

Thesis - done!

2010-11-21T19:37:00.002-07:00

After 3 years of late night studying, doing homework on my lunch break, watching classes on the weekends, and a bunch of hard work, I am basically done with my EE master's degree! All I need to do is proof read my thesis tomorrow and submit it and I'm done. Luckily I don't have to defend it (one of the nice things about online degrees). This feels really good. I was nervous when I first applied that I wouldn't be able to have a life with my job and going to school in my spare time. It turned out that it wasn't that bad. I actually enjoyed it and learned a lot that is very useful in my job. Taking the classes online, even if it was from ASU, never made me feel like I was in college. I've still never even been to the ASU campus :)

I may get my chance because Em just got a really sweet job offer in Phoenix. She's coming out tomorrow for an interview where I work too. Let's hope she likes this job more than the one in AZ or this may become the AZ trail running blog :( Whatever makes her happy I guess. I can transfer to the Intel site there and do the same exact job I do now so it could be worse. I could also still direct DP50.

I told her if she makes me move to Phoenix, she has to pay for me to do Badwater :) Living in that heat, BW will just feel like a nice long jog around the neighborhood.

Running 40 miles at white mesa 7 days after a tough 100 was not the best idea. It probably added another week for me to recover from Pinhoti. I just finally ran a few miles today. I'm taking it slow so I will be healthy this weekend for the quad dipsea. My right foot is completely healed. My IT band on the left leg is still kinda tight so I am being cautious. I'll take the IT band strap with me to CA, but I really don't want to have to use it.

I have a ton a vacation in the next 4 weeks - 2 days of work then 5 days in NV and CA with Em, then 3 days of work, then 4 days in Louisiana for a 100k and then 15 days in Ohio to visit my family. This will be great.

White Mesa 50k..or.. um.. I mean 40 miler

2010-11-13T18:17:00.004-07:00

As I've recovered from Pinhoti over the last 6 days, I was pretty certain that there was no way I would be able to run White Mesa. Even yesterday morning my left leg still felt like crap. Last night I felt a little better so I thought, hey, I might as well pack enough stuff for the race, that way, if I feel good I can at least hike a couple laps. Well, this morning came around and I felt reasonably good so I figured, what the hell, let's run a 50k today.

Since there was no registration for the race, I had no idea how many people would show up.
From the site stats and some comments I figured at least 4 other would show up. As I drove out to White Mesa, I told myself if there were 5 starters, the race would be a success. I ended up with 10 starters, and there may have been an 11th who I think did the first lap only and started a little late. At least I think I saw someone, but who knows....

The race was 4 loops, in alternating directions, of the amazing White Mesa bike trails and then an out and back. According to the BLM map, the total distance should have been about 33 miles. I'm not really sure the total elevation gain. My guess is about 5000 feet. The area is really unbelievable. I don't think I could give it justice here, so you should just check it. I think it is one of the most unique places in NM.

I brought the ITB strap that I got a pinhoti just in case. About 1/4 mile into race I had to stop and put it on. The wind was blowing hard and it was a little cold heading out onto the dragon's back section, but the sunrise was very beautiful. It was nice to catch up with some folks. Most of the runners were DP50 alums.

I was going slow on the first loop to test out my weary legs. Bobby K was running with me. This was his 5th ultra in 5 weeks, including DP50, Cactus Rose 100, and Ozark 100, so I really couldn't complain about having run a single 100 last week. What a bad ass! It was cold enough that the alkali water that seeps out of the volcanic vents had formed ice on parts of the trail.

The first loop was over in 1:35 and I headed out in the opposite direction for the second loop. I was in 3rd place. Somewhere in the middle of loop 2, my right foot started hurting. After Pinhoti, I kinda thought I could have a stress fracture in my foot because of some strange bruising and soreness, so I was a little nervous. It hurt on and off for the next 1.5 laps, but eventually the pain went away and I felt better. There were a surprising number of MTBs out. Usually when I'm out there, I don't see anyone so I guess word is finally getting out about the awesome trails.

During lap 4, I started realizing that the race was way longer than a 50k. When I came into the turn around another runner with a GPS confirmed this. It turns out each loop is about 8.4 miles vs 7.2 miles listed on the BLM map. Oops. I guess it was an extra bonus for the runners who toughed it out there. I did split up the race into 2 categories 50k+ (4 laps only) and 64k (4 laps + out and back).

I was dreading the out and back because it is the hardest section of the course. It steeply drops down the section called the center spline - a marble and gypsum ridge off the volcanic rim down to the caldera. My bet is it loses 700 feet in 0.4 miles. There are a couple scrambling sections. Then the out and back continues over some rocky trails for a total of 2.5 miles. You then get to turn back around and head back - climbing up that grunt of a trail. I was seriously cursing my own name for putting this in the race. In the end I finished 2nd (and last place) in the 64k in a little under 8 hours! Three runners should have finished the 50k+. Two of them were out on the course when I left so I still don't have their finishing time but I hope they made it before sun down. Both guys are tough and were prepared so I'm sure they made it in ok.

I actually feel pretty good now. I'm sore, of course, but I think I really needed this. Between pinhoti and being up all night for work twice this week, I was completely worn out and really being a bum. This woke me up and now I feel energized. Thanks to everyone crazy enough to come out.

The WS lottery is open and I just put my name it. All I can say is seriously, Western States, you need to freaking relax. The entry form had like 15 medical questions. Between that and the 20 damn weight-ins during the race it is pretty ridiculous. I actually don't even know why I put in. The whole hype machine totally turns me off. There are way more scenic races that don't treat you like a baby (and that don't charge $375). WS and LV are getting pretty close to the ironman series anymore with corporate BS and hype. I guess it is the must do race for an ultra-runner and I feel obligated to try and get in, but I don't know if I even care. I'm putting in for hardrock too.

Of course there's about a 5% chance I get into either of them so I have other, more enjoyable plans for next year. For sure I am doing Arkansas Traveller 100 and this 150k in Argentina called La Mison. With the wedding in the middle of summer, I'm not exactly sure what else I am going to do, but there will certainly be a 3rd 100 somewhere in there. Cascade Crest, Burning River, and San Diego are on the short list, but then again, if the dates work out, I may try to do the Vol State 500k in TN.

I'm going to volunteer at the Veteran's 11k race tomorrow. I'll be calling out times at mile 3. The RD was the aid station captain at mile 9/41 at DP50. She was a huge help so I thought I'd return the favor, plus I get to use the megaphone I bought for DP50 :)

Pinhoti 100 Report

2010-11-08T18:24:00.006-07:00

My alarm went off at 3:15 AM central time on Saturday morning. I hurriedly grabbed my gear, and headed over to the Sylacauga recreation department to catch to very early morning bus ride to the start of the Pinhoti 100. Pinhoti is a point to point 100 from Heflin to Sylacauga, Alabama. It is about 80 miles single track, 15 miles dirt roads, and 5 miles pavement. Of the 80 miles of single track, 60 are really technical - nasty, rocky, rooty, and leaf covered. There is about 17,000 feet of total climb and only 2 runners have finished sub-20 there so I figured it was a pretty tough race. I would soon learn just how right I was...
It was nice that they offered a shuttle since I didn't have a crew. It was a long drive to the start so we made it with about 20 mins to spare. It was well below freezing at the start so I was glad to run off into the darkness to warm up. As usual, I purposefully went out a little fast at the start.
It was pretty uneventful as the sun rose. I felt great until about mile 15 when I stepped into a leaf covered hole. Immediately, my left IT band started screaming with pain. Running down hill turned very painful. For the next 10 miles, I tried everything I could think of to get it relax: stretching, walking, meditating, massaging it, but it just hurt worse. I had slowed to a walk and was being passed frequently.
I wasn't ready to DNF at mile 25, but I was staring at a 25 hour death march in excruciating pain so I was getting desperate. I didn't want to destroy my kidneys and take pain meds, but I was running out of options. As a last ditch effort, I made a makeshift IT band strap out of a arm sleeve. It actually worked great! The pain immediately decreased by about 90%! I was saved. As I climbed up the rocky trail to Mt. Cheaha (the highest point in AL), I felt reborn.
Climbs like this make me realize what an advantage runners from NM, CO, and UT have. I think the total climb was 1500 feet and it was a piece of cake. I actually thought we were just on a little sub-ridge that lead to the bigger climb when I popped out on the summit. The view was great, but I had no time to take it in.
This runner Jordan gave me a real IT band strap at the next aid station and that made it even better. Thank you Jordan! You saved my race.
The downhill off Cheaha was really slick and steep. It was steep enough that I went slowly to not risk inflaming my IT band more. After that, I was feeling great and kept up an aggressive pace as the sun set. I ran on and off with a number really nice folks. I had to turn my headlamp on at around 6:20 pm. I think it was about mile 58 at that point. During this time I ran with Ricky from Louisville for quite a while. He was keeping up a very fast pace so we stayed together for about 15 miles total. At 68, I took a little longer to put on some tights and a jacket so he got out ahead of me. The next 5 miles section finished with a stout climb up to the pinnacle aid station (900 ft in 1.1 miles).
It was getting really cold at this point and the wind had picked up so I think it was about 20 degrees, and even lower considering the wind chill. After pinnacle, the 6 mile section (about mile 75-81) was probably the most difficult section I have ever experienced in an ultra. It reminded me of Zane Grey in the cold and dark with 6 inches of leaves covering all the rocks. Being so technical, I had to keep my eyes on the trail, but the trail was not really discernible from the surrounding area because off the leaves so I had to try a look for markers too, so I frequently tripped on the rocks. The wind was howling, it was freezing, and I completely miserable. It took me nearly 2 hours to go 6 miles!
After that, there was a 3 miles section of dirt road that was practically as rocky as the trail and appeared to be all up hill, then more rocky, leaf covered trail to mile 85. I grabbed all the remaining clothes I had at 85 and started running.
From 85 to about 91, it all graded 2WD dirt road with about 1000ft net down hill. I started feeling good so I ran almost the whole way to the next aid station at mile 90 and ran a lot for the next few miles after that. Somewhere around 91-92, it turned back into a mix of rocky trail and rugged jeep trails and I broke down to almost all walking. I crossed by some lakes or marshes I think and it seemed even colder. I think it was only in the teens at that point. I seriously was feeling like crap at this point. I would run for a few hundred yards when I got cold, but it was mostly just hiking. I really stopped caring about time or racing or really anything.
The RD warned about some dogs at mile 96 so I grabbed a big stick to use as a hiking pole and as some protection in case I ran into the dogs. I was in such a bad mood at that point that I don't think any animal would want to mess with me anyway. There was one loose dog but it didn't leave its yard. The last 3-4 miles are on a flat paved road into town. If I cared at all, this would have been a great place to run and make up some time. I didn't care though and figured that if I went slow enough, the sun would come up so it at least wouldn't be that cold at the finish. I maybe ran about 1/4 a mile total during this section just to keep warm.
For the rest of the time, I was looking straight at the ground and angrily trudging along. At some point on the road I started thinking about the events of the last 23 hours and started weeping and sobbing uncontrollably. The tears were simultaneously tears of joy, sorrow, sadness, pain, anger, grief,and loneliness. Ah, there's nothing like a 100 miler to humble you. I was so emotionally and physically beaten and raw that it felt good to just let it out.
The race ends on a track at a high school football stadium. When I hit the track, the timer said 23:57ish. I hadn't looked at my watch in at least an hour and had figured it was at least 24:20 at that point so it was a big surprise. That lifted my mood enough that I even ran, albeit very slowly, around the track to finish just under 24 hours. I was 11th place out of 73 finishers and probably about 100 starters.
Wow, that was a really hard race. I haven't been so thoroughly defeated and crushed by a 100 in a long time. I really thought I was doomed when my ITB went out. I really own my race to Jordan's ITB strap and a cleverly used arm sleeve that I got at the sisters poker run. When the pain went away, it was one of the best feelings I have ever felt at a race. Of course, mile 73-85 was the worst I have ever felt at a race, so I guess it balances out.
I really think this is the hardest 100 miler with a 30 hour cutoff. I guess I've never got into WS so I can't say for sure, but I think the consensus is that leadville is harder than WS, and Pinhoti is way harder than Pbville for sure. It may be faster than Pbville because the altitude slows you down, or it may just be because 50% of the runners a leadville have no business being there so the times are artificially slow (more likely).
Even though I cursed his name several times as I hiked through the night, the RD did a really great job. I could have used some more markers along the way between trail junctions, but all the turns were marked very well and the aid stations were great. The swag was great too: 2 shirts, 1 embroidered pair of socks, and some moben sleeves. The course was really awesome. The belt buckle is great too, of course I don't wear belts so it will just sit on the mantle with all the others. 100 miler #12 is in the books.
Now that I've had ITB problems in 2 straight 100s (right leg at the Bear, left at pinhoti), I think it is caused by this one stretch that my yoga class does a lot of that really puts a lot of pressure of the knee and ITB. There's definitely no more of that pose now. I'm also going to buy a butt load of ITB braces to put in all my drop bags at races from now on. I'm not going to actually try and run WM50k next weekend, but I'll be out there to "RD" it. OK, the entirety of my involvement is to set out a clipboard for people to put down their names and times but it should be fun, assuming anyone actually shows up. It will be interesting to see if this is a success. I have thoughts of doing a series of fat ass races at WM, placitas, and cedro peak so this is kind of an experiment. I mean, fat ass races are really popular outside of the rocky mountain states, so I think they would be here too if only someone put them on... All I know is NM could support about 5-7 more ultras without any problems so someone needs to do something! I just hope it's not all me so I get to run some of the races!

how the heck do you pronounce Sylacauga?

2010-11-04T15:37:00.005-06:00

Hello Alabama.
I flew into Birmingham this morning on my way to Sylacauga for Saturday's Pinhoti 100. This is the first time I've ever been to Alabama and I have to say it is surprisingly beautiful.
After I got my car and luggage, I went to The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. It's a really moving civil rights museum that's right across the street from the 16th St. Baptist Church. Obviously I am aware of the civil rights movement, but it really hits you when you're looking a an exhibit about the bombing of the church that killed 4 little girls that is overlooking the church out of a big picture window. That had some really emotional photo exhibits and videos too.
After the museum, I set out to find some good southern food. A couple blocks away I randomly found this BBQ place called North South or something like that. It was basically a stove and a counter, but it was completely packed so I thought I'd check it out. I'm not really a big fan of ribs and BBQ, but it was really good.
I'm getting really excited about this race. The fall colors aren't quite there yet, but the weather is supposed to be pretty nice and it still should be gorgeous. Well, time to go find some more southern food for dinner.

Deadman Peaks

2010-10-29T19:31:00.004-06:00

Deadman Peaks was a huge success. I am working on personal race director report of all the madness behind the scenes at a race, but right now there's just too much to say and not enough words to fully express what an amazing and humbling experience I had. I'm not sure if I ever will be able to really tell the story.
All I can say is thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the volunteers and the runners, my family and my friends, for taking part in the race. The kindness and generosity from everyone involved is something I will never forget. It is very true what they say that directing an ultra is 100x harder and 100x more rewarding than running a race. Thank you.
On a side note, there's no rest for the weary: the pinhoti 100 is in a week. I feel really good about the race. My best case goal is sub 24. 17k ft of climb and very technical trails will make for a hard race, even if it is a sea level so who knows. It's only 100 miles, right? Looking at the photos, it should be gorgeous. The rest of my year is completely insane. Races in NM, AL, LA, CA, and TN, plus 5 days in San Fran and 2 weeks in Ohio to visit family. Oh yeah, then there's finishing up my engineering masters degree by December 1st, starting my MBA in January, my always workaholic, time consuming job, and wedding planning for July, and DP50 2011 planning, and ....
My spring schedule will be a little light on races so I can get recharged. I think I'm becoming more of a race connoisseur and only doing races that really interest me vs every race I possibly can.

2 weeks until Deadman Peaks + Pajarito Race Report

2010-10-09T22:13:00.004-06:00

Race day is almost here! Yesterday the awards and T-shirts arrived. They look freaking awesome. I finished making the 1st place, etc.. awards too and I bought about $500 worth of food for the race. My house is completely packed with race stuff! Everything is ready to go.

I did the 15 mile Pajarito Trail Fest this morning. I don't usually venture into the sub 50k realm. It's not because of some macho "it's not extreme enough because I'm an ultrarunner" thing. Quite the opposite in fact; short races are freaking hard! At ultras, you get to take in the scenery, hike a bit, eat a sandwich or two... you never really go all out like you do in a 15 mile race, but the course looked great and what a better way to kick my ass into gear after the Bear. The course is basically a loop + out and back of mile 30-40ish at Jemez. There's probably 2k feet of climbing.

I started out super fast on the first .75 miles before the big climb up the ski area, but quickly slowed down to a hike once the trail got steep. I was passed by about 10 people on the climb (half were in the 10k) but I was not in a rush. when I hit the first aid station, the ultra autopilot kicked in and I left walking with two big handfuls of food... I had to laugh at myself. The rest of the race went well. I actually walked a lot of the hills, but still did ok- 8th place in 2:25. The weather was perfect and the aspens were gorgeous. 6 of the runners are also in DP50. It was nice to hang out and talk about the race with everyone. It was a great day!

DP50 awards preview

2010-10-01T15:03:00.004-06:00

Here's a sneak peak at the place awards so far... they aren't done yet, but are already seriously creepy!

The shirts and finisher awards are even more bizarre than the place awards, but you'll have to wait until the race to see them!!! Three weeks to go. Everything is almost ready...

The Bear 100

2010-09-30T18:07:00.002-06:00

As the sun rose over Logan Peak, we were greeted with the first of many amazing views. I was marching up a dusty trail in a line of runners at the Bear. The views of golden aspens and Logan thousands of feet below brought a smile to my face and made me glad I made the long drive up.
The Bear is a 100 mile point to point race from Logan, UT to Bear Lake, ID. It has about 22,000 feet of climbing and is 60/40% trails/dirt roads. It has the reputation of being a "low-key" race. As with most of my trips to Utah, I experienced a number of misfortunes and adventures just getting to the start line, but I was ready to go and slept well the night before. After 11 100s, I don't seem to get nervous anymore - it's just a fun day and night in the mountains!
The first long climb up to logan peak went well, and by the time I hit the first long down hill, I was feeling great. The downhill into Leatham Hollow (mile 19.7) was just perfect. It's 5-6 miles of soft, moderately steep single track. I think I went a little too fast on the road after Leatham Hollow because I started to feel bad. It was starting to warm up and the steep climb out of Richard's Hollow was feeling too difficult for only 22 miles into a 100! I walked a couple miles and ate as much as I could and started to feel better. Once the trail turned downhill, I felt better and continued to feel good the rest of the day. It was an uneventful run through right hand fork and to temple fork. I left temple fork at 4:15 pm, ready for the long climb up to tony grove at mile 51. Tony grove marks the end of the huge climbs (3000 ft+).
Before the race, I hoped to get the tony grove in between 12-14 hours. The climb was long but not very steep and I arrived at the aid station in 12:11. The view of the lake as the sun set was one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen in a race. I'm so glad I was going fast enough to see it in the daylight.
I felt great, but could have used some real food from the aid station. I passed a number of folks as the sun set and ran almost the whole was to the next aid station at mile 60. At this aid station, there were some conflicts going on between hunters and the aid station folks. Apparently, this area is a famous, once in a lifetime, hunting area that requires a $400 tag and a lottery. I guess I'd be pissed too if I waited years to do this hunt and then 170 runners scared all the elk away!
The climb out of franklin was steep but only a few thousand feet so it wasn't that bad. As the night continued on, I started running with Dima from Boston. We were moving at about the same pace and it was nice to have someone to chat with. It was an uneventful night and we hiked along, making surprisingly good time.
We arrived at the last aid station 6:40 am. I really couldn't believe we were that that early. There's is a short and brutal climb out of this aid station, which tops out at the high point of the race. From there, it is a steep, 4,000+ ft descent down to Bear Lake. We started running, but I slowed to take off my coat. When I started back up, my IT band kinda locked up and it became extremely painful to go downhill. This turned the rest of the race into a slow painful hike. I had a stick to prop up my leg and even did some walking backwards because it didn't hurt as bad.
During this time, I got passed by about 10 people. I didn't care though, as I knew I'd still finish with a great time and it just wasn't worth seriously injuring myself over a few positions. I was probably the only person who was glad when the trail took a turn 2 miles from the finish and made one last uphill, because that was the only part that didn't hurt like hell!
I walked across the finish line in 27:16, well under what I thought was an over ambitious goal of 28 hours. The award ceremony wasn't until that evening and I didn't have a ride, so I hung out all day at the finish, sleeping, eating, and relaxing.
My recovery has been ok. I caught a cold but my legs feel much better. I've went the gym and yoga several times this week, but think I'll wait until Sunday or Monday to go running.
Overall, the Bear is a really great race. Yes, the course markings weren't perfect, the aid stations were kinda light on real food, but the volunteers were great, the course was amazing, the weather was perfect, and I had a blast.
Next weekend I'm trying my hand at a shorter 15 mile race up in Los Alamos at the Pajarito Ski Area. I think the course is a loop of a section of the Jemez course, but it should be fun. After that, I'll have a few weeks of hard training, then taper for Pinhoti. I'm getting really excited about going to Alabama for this race. It looks like a great course, with 80+ miles of single track.

28 hours

2010-09-18T20:09:00.003-06:00

Sitting here, with my questionable fitness, a slightly injured leg and lack of recent really long runs, I've been thinking about my goal for the Bear. I was thinking about just going slow and finishing safely in about 33 hours, but I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with the feeling of dread about a slow long death march through the mountains. My thoughts turned to withdrawing, but that didn't sit too well either.
I then realized what I need to do to be excited about this race. I need to run fast (ok fast for my slow, coughing, asthmatic ass) and go for broke. Fuck it. I'm going for 12 hours to the mile 51 aid station and 28 hours to the finish. I don't care if I completely blow up. I am no longer happy with just finishing - at least not for only 100 miles.
I'm relying on what I've discovered over the last year that it isn't the total number of miles that slows you down, but the total time of your feet, and if I start out a little too fast, my body gets used to it and I stay at a faster pace for whole race. Of course this theory was discovered during my last 3 100s, which were all easy courses, so I'm probably full of crap when it comes to a mountain race.
I always seem to have terrible results when I am racing in Utah... lets recap:
1. dehydration and emergency room after adv. race
2. tire blowout on highway, jack broke while trying to change tire, and then DNF
3. car accident + speeding ticket in rental car + worst hostel ever + race cancelled due to snow
4. good race but issues at work cause me to drive 7 hours home directly after running 50 miles
5. death march and injury which helped cause #6, stuck in traffic on rural road for 3 hours after major accident ahead of us closes road
6. DNF
7. good race - this one was actually a great trip, on the way up I hiked to delicate arch before sunrise and had it all to myself as the sun rose. Em met me in SLC, the race (Ant. Island) was beautiful, and then we had an amazing canyoneering trip in the San Rafael Swell.
8. giant dust storm with 70 mph winds tears apart my tent followed by total mechanical failure of bike at 24 hours of moab.
I guess if I follow the pattern, my results will be:
9. car gets stolen, attacked by cow, lost in a snowstorm for 2 days
10. good race
Maybe the race will go better for the last 25 miles that are in Idaho :)
As usual, I'm going with no crew and no pacer. I'm sure I'd do much better with a pacer because they make 100s about 10 times easier, but I kinda prefer doing it completely solo.

Back to the Blog

2010-09-12T18:24:00.004-06:00

Things are finally quieting down at work so I have some time to start the blog back up. It was a rough summer of 70-80 hour work weeks + grad school + getting things ready for DP50, but it's over and now to begin my adventurous fall! To catch everyone up (all two of my faithful readers) :), this is what's up.

I ran the silverton alpine 50k a few weeks ago - managed to only be 20 mins slower than when I did the marathon in 05 and I had ran about 45 miles in the 2 days before so I was pretty happy.

In 12 days, I am running the Bear 100. I'm not exactly sure what sort of shape I'm in, but I can definitely finish. My plan is to enjoy the scenery and take my time.

I'm finishing my Engineering Masters Degree this semester! Of course I am wasting no time and have applied for an online MBA program at CSU. Since my work is paying for it, I figure I might as well....

Deadman Peaks is completely full!!!!! The shirts are ordered, course is mapped, volunteers ready - pretty much everything is ready to go. I've probably spent 150 hours getting things ready. My storage room is packed to the ceiling with water jugs, tables, awards, radios, and more! The response from everyone has been so amazing and overwhelming. I have family members flying out from texas, ohio, and nevada to help. In total I have 31 volunteers for 50 runners!!!! I am so excited. The encouragement and support from everyone has exceeded my expectations by 1000%. I just hope I don't get emotional at the prerace briefing...

After DP50, I am doing 6 ultras in 7 weeks: pinhoti, my white mesa fat ass 50k, fat ox 50 mile (maybe), quad dipsea (including a wonderful thanksgiving trip with Em in San Fran), the Cajun Coyote 100k in LA, and the lookout mountain 50 miler in TN! The only one I haven't registered for is the fat ox.

Besides that, Em and I are planning the wedding for next summer. She is almost done with her PHD so we're ready to live happily ever after. I also have some really crazy plans in the works for 2011, but I'll leave that for another post.

hmm, maybe things aren't so quiet after all...

lazy blogging

2010-06-06T17:58:00.003-06:00

ok, ok.. Jemez was over 2 weeks ago and I haven't posted anything. I had a decent race up in Los Alamos. It was hot in the canyons and the trail was in tough shape so I was a little slower than last year but finished under 12 hours. I haven't really done any mountain running in the last 9 months, so I was happy with it.
My spring was pretty mellow on purpose. I needed a break from real training. With the Bear only a few months away, I am cranking up the miles and doing more running in the mountains. My initial goal is to run every day and get at least 100 miles per week for June. I figure that will get me a good base and then I'll build up some speed after that.
Em was out over memorial day. We had a good time even though I worked about 40 hours over the 3 days.
I finally got out and mapped the DMP50 course. The runners should be glad the race isn't in the summer, because that course is hot and full of snakes. I almost stepped on 2 different snakes while bushwacking along the "trail" yesterday. I am also pretty sure there is a mountain lion den next to the trail at mile 20. There was obvious lion scat spaced every 20 -40 feet for several miles and a bunch of fresh tracks on the trail and going in and out of the rocks in the canyon at mile 20. Being out there alone, in an area that sees about 1 human per month, the obvious mountain lion signs made me very nervous.

Collegiate Peaks 50 Race Report

2010-05-05T10:57:00.002-06:00

Watching the snow fall Friday morning in Albuquerque, I was sure that this trip up to Colorado would be a rough one. The weather forecast in Buena Vista was 30s with snow, and I thought the higher elevations would be really cold and snowy. I packed up a variety of gear preparing for the worst. This was the 3rd time I'd done Collegiate Peaks and my previous times were around 10:50 and 9:50. I didn't have much of a time goal. I just wanted to enjoy the day in the mountains. CP is a 25 mile loop done in alternating directions. It consists of basically 2 climbs and descents on 4-wheeler trails. I think the total elevation gain is around 8k ft and it is between 7.5k and 9.5k ft above sea level. There is also a 25 mile race that just does the first loop.

I managed to get out of work early and hit the road. There were snow flurries for the much drive. When I got near Leadville, where I was staying at the hostel, there was about 1.5 inches of fresh snow.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, it was 5 degrees in Leadville! The roads were really icy and I was afraid I wouldn't make it down to BV in time. Luckily the road cleared up after the first 10 miles and I made it with a few minutes to spare. The race start was uneventful and it was about 25F with clear skies.

I felt good so I was running pretty fast. Between chatting with some 25 milers and enjoying the beautiful scenery, the first loop was over before I knew it. I left mile 25 at 4:10. On the first climb of the second loop, most of it is runnable, except the first 1/2 mile and the last 1 mile. There were a lot of slower runners coming the other way for the first 5-6 miles, but after that, It was a very peaceful and solitary run. I didn't see another runner for about 16 miles. There was a pretty fierce head wind for much of the 2nd loop, but besides that it was a pleasant day - 40s and mostly sunny. The forecast was completely wrong! I passed one runner with 4 miles to go and came within about 20 ft of a 2nd person, but they kicked it into a higher gear and I just couldn't keep up. I finished in 8:40. I was pretty tired for the first 20 minutes after the race, but then felt good and was not sore at all. After a quick and cold shower at the finish I drove the 300 miles home and went in to work until 1:30 AM.

Getting back to business

2010-03-29T19:30:00.004-06:00

We got back a week ago after an amazing trip in Japan. Since then I have been slowly ramping up the workouts and running. I did 5 short runs in Japan and some random pushups and situps, but still lost a little fitness. It was a good break though. Now I am feeling very motivated.
I started going to a crossfit gym. It's ok I guess. It's about 1/4 of a mile from my work so the location is great, but I was expecting more. The workouts I would get at the boxing gym in hillsboro were 4x harder. There I would stumble out of the gym after 1 hour drenched in sweat. Oh well, it works well as a quick 2nd or 3rd workout for the day so I plan on going for a while :) It will be probably be more fun whenever I get to push those big tractor tires around.
It is really good to be home. I am not going anywhere for at least 3 weeks! That's the longest stretch I've stayed home in at least 9 months.

Off to Japan!!

2010-03-10T16:25:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow I'm off to Japan for vacation. Em is meeting me at SFO where we will fly to Tokyo together. We'll be there 10 days. Amazingly, I'm not going for a race :) I may do a little trail running in Nikko, but for the most part, I plan of just taking it easy with running and working out. I guess I'll find out what I remember from the 1 semester of Japanese I took in college.

Old Pueblo

2010-03-07T18:41:00.007-07:00

Chiricaua National Monument

After flying back to Albuquerque on Friday, I quickly drove down to southern Arizona to run Old Pueblo. It's a 50 miler in the Santa Rita Mountains. Having done it the previous 3 years, I knew what to expect and was looking forward to a nice relaxing day.

The start was uneventful and I chatted with a number of different folks. Deadman Peaks seemed to be a hot topic and a lot of people were very interested in the race. I hit mile 25 with a bunch of other NM runners around 4:10. Since the second half of OP is much harder than the first, I figured it would take me about 1.5 hours longer for the second half.

It was windy and partly cloudy so the climb out of box canyon wasn't so hot like the last 2 years. In the section between the mile 32 aid station and mile 40 aid station I slowed down a bit. It is the toughest section of the course, and I wanted to save my self for the the last 8 miles which are very runnable and downhill.

The El Nino rains meant that there was a lot more water on the course than previous years. Many creek crossings that are usually dry had 0.5-1 ft of water in them. That was ok with me as I dunked my hat into several streams to keep cool. Plus the cold water felt great on my feet.

I topped out at the high point of the course at mile 42 and started running. I kept up a pretty good pace but wasn't red lining it like I have in previous years. I hit the last aid station at around 8:45. The last few miles of this race are deceptively tough. I always seem to run too fast and nearly kill my self thinking that I am just about to finish. Well, this year was no different and pushed at an unsustainable pace to the finish. The last mile or so is multiple little meadows in a canyon that all look the same so I always think I'll be done after the next turn but it always seems like it's just another meadow. After what seemed like forever, I could hear the finish. I finished, gasping for air, in 9:33. My previous times were approx. 10:35, 10:25, 10:15 so I was very pleased with the results. I hung out for a little bit, but wanted to get past the 5 mile dirt road before it started raining so my car wouldn't get stuck so I headed back to my hotel. I had a great time at the race.
This morning I took a detour to the Chiricaua National Monument. It was absolutely amazing. There are plenty of parks in the Southwest with weird looking rocks, but this one is really unique. I was surprised how large an area had these rocks. It was well worth the extra 90 miles of driving.

Now I'm home for 3 days and off to Japan for vacation!!! I'm seriously considering withdrawing from SYDC and Dawn til Dusk. I haven't been on a bike since June and I just am not in the mood for mountain bike racing right now. I've only spent 2 weekends at home since July so I also want a break from traveling.

50 Mile Rankings

2010-03-01T19:30:00.007-07:00

Here's a listing of 50 milers from easiest to hardest based off races I've done. Some were estimated from 100s with 50 mile options (i.e. Lean Horse) or from other races that use basically the same course (i.e. Bandera 100k for Cactus Rose or HHH for PCT).

Pony Express
Rocky Raccoon
Heartland
Run with an Angel
Mount Hood PCT
Lean Horse
Cactus Rose
Mohican
Antelope Island
Palo Duro
Silver Rush (it's really only 45 miles)
Man Against Horse
Carkeek (12 hour)
Collegiate Peaks
Old Pueblo
North Fork
Spring Desert Ultra/Desert Rats/whatever they are calling it this year...
Copper Canyon
Deadman Peaks
Run with the Devil
Bighorn
Tahoe Rim Trail
Moab Alpine to Slick Rock
Squaw Peak
Jemez
Elkhorn
Zane Grey
San Juan Solstice

SJS is probably harder than zane grey. I did them both in 2008 and my times were only 10 mins apart so they're pretty close. If it was a really hot and overgrown year, ZG could be harder. If you are from sea level, SJS is much harder.

Pony Express 50 Mile

2010-02-28T14:34:00.004-07:00

The thought of spending another weekend in Portland was not very appealing. I wanted to visit Em, but she was going to be in Stockton, CA for a conference and would be busy during the day. Luckily, the Pony Express 50 mile run was only 70 miles away from Stockton, so I concocted a trip that involved my 2 favorite things: visiting em and running a 50 miler!

Pony Express is a 1.25 mile loop around a small lake in Cameron Park, CA repeated 40 times. It is a wide, hard packed, fine gravel/sand/dirt path. Each loop has 15-20 feet of climb. This normally isn't my ideal course, but I wanted to see how fast I could run 50 miles. My goal was to finish in under 8 hours.

The race started at a leisurely 7:30 am so I didn't have to get up too early. It was pouring rain at the start and several places on the course had standing water. I got off to a fast start and averaged 9:15 min loops for the first 5 or 6 loops and then gradually slowed down. It rained on and off for several hours but the sun eventually came out and made for nice day. I finished 20 laps in about 3:30. This was probably a little too fast and I was feeling very crispy. The loops started getting old and I could feel my legs weren't totally recovered from RR100 3 weeks ago. I also could feel the right turns of the loop were taking their toll. I wasn't about to drop down to 50k, so I purposefully slowed down and even took a few short walking breaks. I knew as long as I kept moving, I could hold on to make it under 8 hours.

The one nice thing about the short loops is that I could break them down into very small segments. With 10 laps left, I starting counting down 9.9, 9.8, etc... It was a good way to keep my mind occupied.

I finished in 7:43 and was 4th place. I ended up running about 99% of the race. I usually do harder 50s, were it's ok to take walking breaks on the uphills. Running that much was mentally draining. I feel pretty good now and should be fully recovered for Old Pueblo next week. I probably won't push as hard though and will just go out for a relaxing slow day.

I fly back to PDX this afternoon. This should be the last week I have to spend in Oregon for a long time :)

Being a bum

2010-02-18T11:55:00.002-07:00

I'm in a "post 100 miler + business travel = excuse to be lazy" mode right now. My legs didn't feel great on Saturday so I skipped the 50k. I ended up doing 4 slow miles along the Rio Grand in Las Cruces. Em and I went to Hueco Tanks in Texas on V-day and went to the Salinas Mission National Monument on Monday. Both places were pretty cool.

I flew into Oregon on Tuesday. It's been ok - the weather's really nice and I'm not super busy at work so it's at least relaxing. I should probably get off my ass though since I have back to back 50 milers next week.

Las Cruces, Portland, and Japan

2010-02-12T10:09:00.004-07:00

I did some thinking today and realized that between 7/25/09 and 3/21/10, I was/will be home a total of 24 days. Damn, I am sick of travelling. Las Cruces and Japan should be fun, but I am really not looking forward to going back to gloomy Portland. You know you're travelling too much when you are simultaneously unpacking from 1 trip while packing for the next two trips :)

This is my next 1.5 months: Las Cruces for 4 days, Portland for 2 weeks, 3 days in Sacramento for Pony Express 50, Portland for 1 week, 2 days in Tucson for Old Pueblo, 3 days home, and off to Japan for 10 days. The less time I spend in New Mexico, the more I realize what a great place it is and how much I love it here.

I put my name in for the Bear. After 3 straight easy 100s, it will be nice to see how my speed improvements translate in the mountains. Plus the course looks amazing. I think I'm recovered from Rocky, so I'll probably run a 50k tomorrow morning. It's a free race in Vado, NM.

I also signed up for the Pony Express 50 mile in California. Em is going to be there for a conference, so it will make a nice trip to see her and run a race while she's in meetings. This is the first really easy 50 miler I have ever done, so I am shooting for sub 8 hours. My PR was actually the 1st 50 miles at Rocky Raccoon on Saturday (8:45), so I think I can improve a lot. I'm going to try to run every step. It's a really short loop too, so I'll stage my bottles and food like I did at carkeek so I don't have to break stride at the aid station.

Brief Rocky Raccoon 100 Report

2010-02-08T07:04:00.004-07:00

After a rough couple of weeks at work, I was glad to get a few days off to go relax in Texas and run the Rocky Raccoon 100. I was also glad to spend some time with my Uncle and Cousins. With my injured quad, I wasn't sure how I would do. I had a couple good long runs in the last 6 weeks, but only felt 100% a few days before the race. My goal was just to finish, but I thought sub 20 still might be possible.

RR consists of five 20 mile loops in Huntsville State Park. It's a pretty easy course, but there are plenty of roots hiding under pine needles that make the later loops rough. I started the first loop really fast and ran about 95% of the loop. It felt great to be out running without any pain. The weather was absolutely perfect: low 60s and sunny.

I finished the first loop to about 3:15. I knew I couldn't maintain that pace so I slowed down about 1 min per mile on the next loop. Things went well until the 4th loop, where I wasn't eating enough and got a little tired. I started the last loop at about 14:50. I knew at that point sub-20 was possible even if I walked a lot, so I took it easy for much of the loop and finished in 19:39. That's a PR by over 1 hour!

I'm a little more sore than normal, and have 3 black and one cracked toenail thanks to all those roots. Besides that, I feel pretty good - my qual feels fine. Depending on how fast I recovery, I may do a free 50k on Saturday down by Las Cruces. Then I may do the Pony Express 50 mile and Old Pueblo. I have to go back up to Oregon for 3 weeks starting on 2/16:(

RR Taper Time

2010-01-30T11:31:00.004-07:00

It's time for Rocky Raccoon!! I'm not exactly taking it easy since I put in 80 hours at work this week, but my quad feels good and I'm ready to go. My plan is to go out at a fast pace and hope I don't fall apart. I don't know if my quad will hold up or the lack of training will catch up to me, but screw it - it's only 100 miles. As long as I can still walk, I can finish. I still have thoughts of sub-20, but my only goal is to just finish. Anything faster than 30 hours will be a bonus.

Work has been absolutely crazy. At least it's actually kinda fun, so I'm not very tired or burned out.

I randomly put in an application for Ancient Oaks 100 in Florida after looking at the site for about 2 minutes. It looks pretty cool. For some reason, I tend to do well at loop trail races, so I thought I'd try putting down a really fast 100. I have 11 months to get faster. The timing and the fee ($0) worked really well too.

It is good to be home

2010-01-25T17:36:00.002-07:00

My car finally was fixed Thursday afternoon and I was able to finish my road trip from hell without many more issues. I40, I17, parts of I5, and I15 were closed due to snow so I had to go all the way down to I10 through Barstow and yucca valley, CA and then go through Tucson to get back to ABQ. It is so nice to be home. I got in late Friday night.
I went for a 30 mile run on Saturday and a 20 mile run on Sunday as a last ditch effort to get back into shape for RR100. I have some family in Houston anyway so even if the race is a total disaster, I still can hang out with them.

Lucky

2010-01-20T18:00:00.002-07:00

I had a very close call driving yesterday. I was driving on I-80 over the Sierra during some pretty heavy snow, when one of my tire chains snapped off, and started banging really hard on my wheel well. I tried to pull over, but when I hit the brakes, nothing happened!!!! Apparently, the chain quickly wrapped around my axle and broke my brake line. This was while heading downhill on a 6% grade with moderate traffic on an ice packed road with no visibility. I was going pretty slow since I was only in 2nd gear due to the snow and tire chains, but with the steep downhill, I couldn't slow down! I put on my hazard lights, and started looking for a run away truck ramp. During this time, I kept getting passed by SUVs and Semis.
After what seemed like forever (probably 5 mins), there was a slight up hill with a nice wide shoulder. I cut over onto the snowy shoulder and held my breath. Once I got below 10 mph, I hit the emergency brake and came to a halt. I'm so lucky that I didn't get into a wreck or have to hit the run away truck ramp.
It took an hour and a half to get a tow (which cost $400!). The new brake line won't be here until tomorrow, so I'm stuck in Colfax, CA.
With a whole day to kill in the middle of nowhere, I did what any good ultra runner would do; I sought out the closest trail and went running! The Steven's Trail is about 2 miles from my hotel. It's 4 or 5 miles long. The weather has been really nasty here- 35F, raining 1 inch per hour, occasional hail, and 40 mph winds - so the trail was a mucky mess. It still beats sitting around a motel room all day. I also found a gym to workout at.
I had a great time hanging out with Em in Reno for 5 days. As soon as my car is done, I'm on my way back to ABQ. I'll be home for 3 weeks, then back up to Oregon for 3 weeks. After that, Em and I are going to Japan for 11 days for vacation, and then it's back home for good!
I'm going to run Rocky Raccoon, but with the injury, I haven't been able to get much training in until this week, so who knows how it will go.

Goodbye Oregon!

2010-01-15T13:31:00.001-07:00

Ultrarunning Heals

2010-01-10T22:09:00.003-07:00

Apparently all I needed to do to fix my leg was to run 30 miles...

The Bridle Trails 50k is a 6 loop night race in a suburb of Seattle. The course is all muddy horse trails. It starts at 3pm so it is mostly a night run. With the injured leg, I planned on taking it easy, but my leg felt good so after 1/4 mile of taking it easy and being stuck behind slow folks, I said screw it and started running fast. I didn't have any problems and finished somewhere around 4:15-4:20. My leg feels good now so I am definitely running RR.

5 days until I leave OR.

Jim

This is a bad idea

2010-01-08T14:02:00.003-07:00

My quad is still f'd up but I am going to try and run the 50k tomorrow. I figure I will either completely fall apart or my leg will go numb and I'll run fine. If it's bad, I can always walk the whole thing.

Race Entrants and a Strained Quad

2010-01-05T21:22:00.003-07:00

DP50's registration opened up on the 1st and I'm surprised to say that we already have quite a few entrants! I thought maybe 1 or 2 people would enter by the end of January, so this is very good news. If you are thinking about registering, you shouldn't wait until the summer because it is probably going to fill up (plus the fee is $10 cheaper through May).

I had a nice Christmas and NYs hanging out in Oregon with Em. I hurt my leg kick boxing so I haven't been able to run much the last 2 weeks. It's getting a little better and I was able to run about 5 miles today without any pain. Bridle trails 50k is on Saturday so I hope it heals quickly!

My assignment in Hillsboro is almost over and I'll start my move in 9 days! I'm going to take 10 days to drive home and go through Reno, Bryce Canyon, and Zion. It will be great to finally go home. Oregon is a beautiful place, but Portland has been getting on my nerves...

Fat Ass 50k

2009-12-13T21:23:00.003-07:00

Instead of the forecasted freezing rain and snow, the weather was nice all weekend so I got to do a 30 mile run on Saturday and then the Forest Park FA50k today. I was unmotivated and running pretty slow yesterday, but the addition of other runners and a little competition was all I needed today. I finished the 50k in 4:26 - a 50k PR. Not too bad considering I was still sore from yesterday :) It was sunny most of the run with a few patches of ice on the trail.
This week I'm cutting back the mileage since I'm oncall over the weekend, but after that it's hard training until RR taper time.
Em will be here on Thursday! She will be here for 3 weeks. We're not going on any trips, but we should have a great time.
I have 1 month left in Portland and then it's back to NM. Oregon has been fun, but I will be glad to go home. 6 months is too long for business trip.

Thanksgiving and Rocky Raccoon Training

2009-12-02T12:24:00.006-07:00

I had a great Thanksgiving in Cincinnati. Em and I were there from Wed to Sat and got to see my Mom, Grandma, and a bunch of other family members. My mom wanted to run a 5k on Thanksgiving so we did the Gobble Gobble 5k in Montgomery, OH. I ran it in 18:37 which was way faster than expected.

I'm in the middle of my RR training and am feeling pretty strong. My plan is to do 120 miles each of the next 2 weeks, then 1 week of 80 miles, 4 weeks of 100-120, 1 week of 90, and then 2 weeks to taper. If I feel this good in Feb, sub 19 might be possible.

Registration for DP50 is set up on Ultrasignup. They were way cheaper than Active and created by ultra runners. It is a pretty cool site. I can chart and plot data about entrants (always fun for an Engineer). Besides that, I'm just trying to get sponsors for the race. Being new to this, it's trial and error so I'm trying a variety of requests to a few companies a month and seeing which way works best. If anyone has any tips, I would appreciate it.

Next week I'm doing a FA50k in Forest Park. It should be fun. My next real race isn't until Bridle Trails in Jan.

Ron Herzog 50k

2009-11-08T17:32:00.002-07:00

I had a fun day at the Ron Herzog 50k. It is a free race in Granite Falls, WA. The course is a combo of pavement and hard packed gravel/dirt. The weather was pretty rough: cold, heavy rain, wind, sleet, and even a little snow, but I still had a good time. The pavement was hard on my legs so I took it really easy. I think I finished a little under 5 hours, but may be wrong.

My cousin Steve from TX happened to be up in Seattle for a Judo tournament, so we hung out Fri and Sat night. I haven't seen him in a couple years so it was nice to catch up.

I'm running a local free FA 50k in Dec, but yesterday was my last real race of the year. It has been a good year - 20 races! 13 ultras, 1 marathon, 1 snowshoe, and 5 mountain bike. I've PR'd at 50k, 50 miles, 100k, and 100 miles, and actually won a race. The rest of the year will be training for RR100.

2010 will be a challenging year, not just because I'd like to keep running faster, but because I'm going to be working more than ever. I'm also excited about directing DP50. The other NM ultras are so good that the bar is very high. It is going to be tough to put on a race of that caliber.

Carkeek 12 Hour

2009-11-02T13:13:00.003-07:00

I ran Carkeek on Saturday. It is a 12 hour trail running race in Carkeek Park in Northern Seattle. It has 430 feet of climbing for every 1.93 mile loop (i.e. running 50 miles would have 11.1k ft of climbing), so it is probably the hardest 12 hour race in the country. With my runs at Lean Horse and HHH, I was feeling confident and decided that I would go out fast and try to win. I thought my timed MTB race experience would help and I used it for some strategy. My plan was to only stop every 2 or 3 laps, set up my food and gear so I wouldn't have to leave the course to grab things, and full up a bunch of water bottles and have them staged so I could just grab a new bottle vs refilling it.

Since the race was on Halloween, there was a costume contest. I went as a witch with a big hat and a cape.

It was dark and windy at the start. I started in 2nd, but quickly went into first on the 1st climb. The loop has a couple of steep climbs, but is mostly runnable. There are a number of steps, but it isn't technical. My pace seemed way too fast, but I decided to just go for it and try to hold things together. I started lapping people on lap 3. It was partly cloudy for most of the race and was a beautiful day. Some of the course looked out onto the Puget Sound. The park is really popular so there were a lot of hikers/dog-walkers on the trail. Dressed as a witch, I got some pretty strange looks :)

After 8 hours, I knew I would win as long as I kept moving. I lost track of laps around lap 20 and after 11 hours thought I was at 27 laps. There wasn't anyone close enough to catch up so my motivation dropped and I slowed down a lot thinking I wasn't close enough to break the CR of 32 laps. I called it a day after 11.5 hours with what I thought was 29 laps... I guess I missed a few laps because it turns out I ran 31 laps (59 miles with 13.3k ft of climbing) and could have at least tied the CR if I kept going. Oh well, I guess that's a valuable lesson for timed races - always go the full time and push hard until the end.

What a fun day! I still can't believe I actually won. I've participated it at least 75 races and have never been close to winning, much less actually win. It was a very odd feeling to keep lapping people over and over again. I got a really nice NF sleeping back and a shirt as a prize.

There are probably a lot of factors that have accounted for my huge improvement this year: Getting a huge training base for Susitna, taking an offseason for MTB racing, loosing 10lbs of upper body muscle, doing spped work, running 7 days per week, and getting way faster in the aid stations. My confidence has really increased a lot too this year so that has definitely helped.

Winning has really raised my expectations for future races, especially RR100. I know Carkeek isn't a very competitive race and I will still be hours behind the winner, but maybe sub 19/19.5 isn't such a crazy idea...

I'm doing the Ron Herzog 50k this Saturday. It is a free 50k north of Seattle. I have no idea what the course is like, but it should be fun.

holy crap, I won!!!!!!

2009-10-31T22:21:00.002-06:00

I don't know how this happened, but I won the carkeek 12 hour today in Seattle! 31 laps ~59 miles with 13.3k ft climbing. I'll post a report later.
www.carkeek12hour.com

Sunny day at the Sisters Poker Run

2009-10-17T20:32:00.002-06:00

I just got back from Sisters, OR where I ran the Poker Run 50k. It was a fun course with mostly single track and amazing views of the 3 sisters, mount washington, and black butte. I believe it uses many of the same trails as the Peterson Ridge Rumble in the spring. It was a gorgeous day - mostly sunny, breezy, and 60-70F.

I finished in about 5:45 and I think I was 5th or 6th. Of course that doesn't matter because the race doesn't judge by time, but by best poker hand. I only had a pair of kings so I probably finished somewhere in the middle of the pack :)

The RD was really nice and let me shower at his house before I drove back to Hillsboro!
I had to leave right away and hurry home as I am on call the rest of the weekend :(
Well... Back to work.

black and blue

2009-10-11T20:26:00.004-06:00

There's a boxing gym across the street from my apartment in Hillsboro so I started boxing for some cross training. After 3 days, my knuckles are black and blue and my hands feel like they are going to fall off :) I'm not actually getting into the ring and fighting - just doing the training - but it is still tough. I'll probably do it for the next few months while still running, lifting, and doing yoga.
Em was here this weekend. We had a great time out at the coast on Sat and in the gorge today. The weather was gorgeous - crisp, cool, and sunny with some great fall colors. I miss her already :( She'll be out again in 3 weeks.
On Saturday, I'm running the Sisters Poker Run 50k. I like the idea of this race: each runner gets a playing card at each aid station and the person with the best hand at the end wins! There's not a lot of detail on the website, so I have no idea what the course is like, how many aid stations, drop bags, etc... which I think is kind of nice. I'm looking forward to the surprise. I'm probably going to take it easy during the race and just have fun.
A couple weeks after that, I am going to run carkeek 12 hour in Seattle. It is supposed to be tough ~11k ft climbing for 50 miles. The course record is I think about 62 miles. I am probably full of shit and suffering from some delusions of granduer, but I think I can beat that course record. Elkhorn has more climbing on way more technical terrain and I finished in 11hrs, including getting lost several times, I did Bandera in less than 12 hours, and I did the 1st 60 miles at HHH in less than 12 hours so it may be feasible. I'm going to use some skills I learned from my timed mtb races so I don't have to stop running while passing through the aid station. Of course I'm not in that good of shape now and will likely crash and burn. As long as I do 50 miles and am out for the full 12 hours, I'll be happy.
I just found out I won't be on call 11/7 so I'm going to run Ron Herzog 50k as well. There's also a FA 50k the weekend before thanksgiving near Olympic NP that I might do depending on work.

Recovered

2009-10-01T11:02:00.004-06:00

4 days after the race and I fell pretty good. Between Lean Horse recovery and taper/recovery for HHH, I am sick of resting :) Time to hit the gym and the trails!

My next big race is Rocky Raccoon in February. At my last 3 easy 100s, my times were 23:29, 22:09, and 20:57. I'd like to keep that trend going so I'm setting my goal at sub 20 hours.
I need to get faster. I'm going have to start doing some real speed work and some fast tempo runs. Running with the speedsters in local running group will probably help too.

Since there aren't many fall and winter races in the Pacific NW, I've been thinking about my 2010 schedule. Doing anything between May and September is questionable due to work, but I know I'm doing the Moab 100, some bike races in the spring and then Pinhoti 100 and maybe the Bear in the fall, plus some of the usual 50s like Jemez and OP.

I'm put in for WS for a second time. I actually hope they don't select me since I probably won't be able to get any time off in June. At this rate, I figure I should be able to get in by 2012 or 2013. Sometimes, I don't even know why I am wasting my time. The race is too hyped up, too big, and too full of itself for my taste. I mean, do you really need to step on a scale every 10 miles? If I'm going to waste my time on a race lottery, it should probably be Hardrock. Oh well, too late now.

Hundred in the Hood Report

2009-09-28T01:13:00.002-06:00

The inaugural Hundred in Hood was this weekend. It is a double out and back on the PCT near Timothy Lake in Oregon with 12k ft of climbing.

I shared a campsite with my friend Brandon, who I met a Susitna. The campsite was basically next to the start and I slept in my car so I could sleep as late as possible for the 5 am start. My morning started off badly as my rear view mirror in my car broke off when I tried to adjust it. It was cold at the start. The 1st 1/4 mile was on the road to spread out the crowd before we turned onto the PCT. The rest of the race was all single track. I was running faster than I usually do at a 100, but it felt good so I decided to just go with it. The sun came up around 6:30 and we were greeted with an amazing view of Mount Hood across the valley.

I was really pushing it (at least for me in a 100 miler) and hit the 1st turn around at mile 14.2 in 2:20. On the way back still felt good so I maintained my pace and hit mile 28.5 just under 5 hours. A little after that, I heard a couple close gun shots and saw some hunters. I didn't realize it was hunting season but was glad I had a bright yellow shirt on so I wouldn't be mistaken for game.

This section of the course was in the Warm Spring Indian Reservation and was pretty remote. I chatted with some other runners and enjoyed the beautiful forest and the pleasant sunny day. For the next 25 miles, the course is basically just bunch of moderate 1000ft climbs followed by a moderate 1000ft decents. It was all runable but I still hiked the ups. I ran much faster than I usually do on the down hills and the miles flew by.

The final 7 miles out to Brientenbush Lake is the only technical section. There are probably 5 beautiful alpine lakes and expansive views of the glaciers on Mount Jefferson along the way. I hit the 2nd turn around at mile 65 in 12:50. I didn't think I would be there until at least after 14 hours so I was really happy that things were going so well. I felt great and barely felt like I had been running. As the sun set, the views got even better. I turned my headlamp on around mile 72.

I was feeling really good when I arrived at the mile 75 aid station in 15:00. Just as I sat down to get some things out of my drop bag, someone came up and asked me if I wanted a pacer. Of course I said yes and was really excited to not have to run through the night alone. I guess that shows how full of crap I am. In the past I've acted like I don't use a pacer and 100s are better without them, but at the first chance to have a pacer I instantly want one :)

After a couple minutes at the aid station, we were off. My pacer, Mike, was supposed to pace one the faster guys, but was late and missed him. Somehow, I still felt really good and fresh and was running at a good pace and was not doing too much walking.

Everything went well until the final climb at mile 92. It isn't a terrible climb - just 1400ft in 3-4 miles - but the miles and my pace were finally catching up to me. After what seemed like forever, it flattened out. At this point, it was just as painful to walk as it was to run so I started running. I hit the last aid station at mile 95ish at 1 am (20 hours) and quickly topped of my bottle and started running. The downhill combined with the adrenaline of being on the home stretch really woke me up and I was actually running fast and having fun. Miles 95-98 were downhill and then the last 3 miles are mostly flat with a couple little hills. Once things flattened out, my pace slowed to a combination of running and fast walking. The last 3/4 of a mile turned off the PCT to a side trail. When I hit this point, I knew I really had to run to finish under 21 hours, so I really took off. I ran the up hills and I think I even sprinted the last 1/4 mile. I thought I only had seconds to spare, but my watch must have been fast, because I finished in 20:57. I got a nice buckle and a hat.

Since I had stopped running and it was about 35F, I started getting really cold. Luckily I was only parked 100ft away and cranked up the heat. I curled up in my nice warm -20F sleeping bag and tried to sleep. After a few hours of cramping and pain, I managed to fall asleep.

That was a great race. I had a blast. It is a really fast course if you are a trail runner. The trail was totally runable and mostly soft and non-technical. The RD moved to Texas so this may have been a 1 time only event. If so, I feel very lucky to have been able to experience such a wonderful and fun race.

Hundred in the Hood

2009-09-24T19:50:00.002-06:00

The PCT100 is this weekend. I'm excited to run the course. From the places I've been near there, I'm betting it is amazing. I don't know what sort of shape I am in so it might be interesting. Even with the uncertainty, I feel optamistic. The more 100s I run, the more I realize that it isn't such a daunting task - as long as I don't quit, I will finish. I think that is going to be my mantra for the race.

I withdrew my entry from Baker Lake 50k since I will be oncall for work. It's probably better since I have a midterm 2 days after the race and probably won't be recovered enough to run it anyway.

No turning back

2009-09-15T20:21:00.002-06:00

Last night I submitted my new race to a bunch of race calendars, so I guess there's no turning back now! I'm officially a race director. I'm both nervous and excited. Luckily it isn't until next October so I have plenty of time to get everything ready. It would be better if I was in NM now and not in Oregon until January so I can check out the course more and spend some more time in Cuba to get some local contacts. I hope it is a good race and everyone has fun.
I found a great running club in Portland: http://www.trailfactor.com/index.html I wish there was one like in ABQ.
1.5 weeks until Hundred in the Hood. I have no idea how it will go. 5 weeks between 100s is kinda weird - less than 5 weeks I would just rest the whole time and more than 5 weeks I would have a few weeks of heavy training before the taper. I ended up doing about 10 miles the week after lean horse, 50 miles the 2nd week and at least 95 miles last week. I'm starting to taper now. My goal is to hit the 2nd turn around before dark (miles 65). After that, I'll just try to keep things together and finish strong.

Thoughts of a 500k

2009-09-04T18:49:00.005-06:00

Vol State - a 500k on road, in the middle of summer, dodging traffic in Tennessee, with a crew

I'm not really sure why, but when I heard about this race, I knew I had to do it. Yes, I know... I never run on the road, and I don't use a crew, but something about running over 300 miles in some obscure race is so fascinating to me. I don't know if I'll be able to do it in 2010 because of work, but I think I found my next major goal race. There are even a bunch of other races that I've wanted to do that will be great to do as a build up for it - arrowhead 135, brazil 135, the new 200 miler in VT, and the AZ 6 day race. The course record is less than 4 days!

I've been swamped at work and school so I haven't had much time to train. I guess that's probably good since I need the rest between Lean Horse and Hundred in the Hood.

Em is flying in tonight and we're going up to Olympic National Park for the weekend.

An Uneventful Lean Horse 100

2009-08-24T14:31:00.003-06:00

I decided to try the Lean Horse 100 back in February. I was looking for an "easy" 100 where I could run most of the way versus my usual slow death march slog. I knew the black hills were very beautiful and the timing worked great for my spring off season.

The Lean Horse 100 is an out and back, starting and finishing in Hot Springs, SD in the black hills. The first 2 miles are on pavement, the next 14 on the hilly Argyle dirt road, and then on the very flat Micholson Trail, a rails to trails gravel path. I think there is about 6,000 feet of climb, with most of it in the first and last 16 miles. It isn't exactly remote wildness - most of the micholson trail is within 1/2 mile of a freeway and 4 or 5 miles is right on the side of the road.

The forecast called for high temps, so I had done some heat training in the sauna at my gym. It was pretty hot by 11:00 am and it eventually hit 96 degrees. The whole course is very exposed, so I baked in the sun most of the day. I hit the turn around at ~10.5 hours and felt great. On the way back, I still felt good so I starting pushing the pace. For most of the night, there was a spectacular lightning storm off to the south. Luckily, it was never close enough to hear any thunder. It didn't get cold at all during the night and I ran in short sleeves the entire night.
It was around 1 am when I made it back to the Argyle road. I was glad to have some hills after all pancake flat Micholson and I kept up a pretty fast pace on the down hills. I had some chafing issues towards the end which slowed me down. For the last 4 miles, I really slowed down and mostly walked so I probably could have gone faster had I had any motivation left.

I finished in 22:09 and was 1st in my age group. That's 80 minutes faster than my PR. Overall it was great race. It was very scenic and the aid stations were great. I don't think there is such a thing as an easy 100, but LH isn't as bad as most of them and it is a fast course. I'd like to say more, but it was really uneventful. I've never done a 100 without some epic struggle or death march, but this time it was almost like another day at the office. Time flew by and it didn't even seem like that long of a day. Hell, I didn't even swear off running forever :)

I tried compression socks after the race and they kept my feet and calves from swelling, which was a problem after my previous 100s. I also got a short massage at the post race awards. This must have helped. 36 hours after finishing, I'm not even very sore.

Now I have 5 weeks until Hundred in the Hood. I've never tried 100s this close together so who knows how it will go. If I'm not 200% motivated the week before, I'll withdraw. I know I get burned out when I do too many 100s in a row so I'd rather not start than just DNF.

Haulin Aspen Trail Marathon

2009-08-09T16:36:00.002-06:00

Today I did the Haulin Aspen marathon in Bend, OR. Damn, that was some hard work. I need to stick to 50 milers. At least then I can walk up the hills and enjoy the views.
I finished around 4 hours. The course was 1/2 dirt roads, 1/2 trail in high desert ponderosa pine forests. Working nights has screwed up my sleep schedule so I couldn't sleep last night.

After the race, I went to the Newberry Volcanic National Monument. It was similar to volcanic places in New Mexico and Arizona, but still pretty good - lava fields, water falls, and cinder cones.

I have a few days in Bend so I'll probably hike up South Sister and maybe some other peaks tomorrow.

Working the graveyard

2009-08-07T02:03:00.003-06:00

I am working 7:30 pm to 8 am for the next few weeks. I has been a little rough but not too terrible. I wonder how it will impact my taper and run at the lean horse 100. I guess I won't have any problems staying awake all night running :)

On Saturday, I'm going down to Bend, OR for the Haulin Aspen Trail Marathon. I haven't done a marathon in years so who knows how it will go. I'll probably just take it easy and have a fun little run that takes about 4 hours. I'll then spend a couple days climbing some mountains down there and checking out the Newberry Volcano National Monument and then it's back to the late nights at work.

Lean Horse is 2 weeks away. With the move to OR, work, school, and all the other races, I really haven't thought about it too much. I'm trying to do some Bikram's to get heat training. I feel ready - minus the sleep deprivation from working nights of course. I think sub 23 is feasible but as long as I finish, I'll be happy.

Elkhorn 50 Mile

2009-08-01T20:24:00.002-06:00

I ran Elkhorn today near Helena, MT in the Elkhorn Mountains.
Elkhorn has 12,000 feet of climb and is a combination of dirt roads, overgrown single track, creek crossings, mud, and a lot of off trail bushwhacking. While it was a great race, it was not well marked. I got lost a few times and thought I was lost a couple more times because there were miles of trail with no markers. The mountains had a huge fire in the 80s or 90s and the effects are still very obvious. The course double backs on itself at a few times and is very confusing if you don't really study the map. The aid stations were good.
I ran pretty hard for the first 20 mile but my legs weren't 100% from last week so I decided to just take it easy and enjoy the day. The course was gorgeous. There were decent wild flowers and expansive views of the mountains. It was hot for a while but then the wind picked up and few clouds formed so it wasn't too bad. I finished in 11:23. It was a lot of fun.
I feel pretty good now and am not very sore. The finisher award was a great drawing of an elk by one of the runners.
Overall it was a really tough race. It is probably harder than Jemez or Squaw Peak but not quite as hard as San Juan or Zane Grey. If I am ever way up here in Montana again I'll definitely do it again.
Tomorrow I drive to Hillsboro.

Glacier NP

2009-07-31T15:06:00.002-06:00

I just got into Helena, MT after spending a few days in Glacier National Park. Holy crap that place is awesome! I did a few hikes and climbed up Mount Oberlin. The weather was great except for some heavy rain last night. Tomorrow is Elkhorn. It should be tough, hot, and gorgeous.

Silver Rush 50 Mile Run and Mount Elbert

2009-07-27T11:24:00.005-06:00

I ran the Silver Rush 50 miler yesterday in Leadville. It is an out and back course in the mining district/mountains east of town. It has about 8,000 ft of climb and goes over 12,000 ft 6 times. The wildflowers were in full bloom. I felt great throughout the race. I finished in about 9:13 and got third in my age group. That is including 30 minutes sitting at an aid station to wait out a thunder storm. The last hour it rained a ton, but there wasn't any lightning. The race was a blast. The awards were good too: I got a medal, a nice silver bracelet, and a mining pan with a silver dollar in it.

I woke up really early this morning and still felt good, so I ran up Mount Elbert. I hit the trail at 5:30 and was on the summit by 7:20. I'm glad I was early because I had the summit to myself. There were about 30 people on their way up as I ran down. It was a beautiful, but cold morning and the views were amazing.

I have one more night here at the Leadville hostel and then off to Montana for the rest of the week.

Off to Oregon

2009-07-24T10:06:00.002-06:00

Today marks my last full day in New Mexico for probably 6 months. I'm off to the land of rain, full service gas, fleece vests, terrible mexican food, and smug white people.
I'm kind of joking. Oregon is a pretty cool place, and I'm looking forward to it. (in defense of Oregon, I'm leaving the land of drunk drivers, skin cancer, swamp coolers, and terrible sea food) Ahh... Just think of all the free time I'll have to contemplate life while the stoner gas attendant takes 30 minutes to pump my gas :) Later, Jim

Lost on Devil Mountain

2009-07-19T16:29:00.002-06:00

So I did the devil mountain 50k yesterday. The course was really pretty and tough. I was actually doing really well and left the final aid station in 4th place. Unfortunately, someone vandalized the course at the last critical turn sending everyone in the wrong direction. The assholes even pulled some other flags and put them down the wrong trail for a couple miles, so by the time we ran out of flags, we were way off course. I managed to find my way back to course 3 miles from where I took the wrong turn (and at at the bottom of the tough climb I had already done once). So I reclimbed the mountain and continued following the flags down the wrong turn again. This time, there were a number of other runners around, and we all started back tracking to find the right turn. A guy on a motorcycle came by and told us the correct turn and I finally made it back to finish - 2 hours after I should have finished. I was out of water for most of those 2 hours and it was really hot. Luckily, I was able get rehydrated without any major problems other than cramps and a queezy stomach. I think I ended up doing an extra 6-7 miles.
On a better note, it looks like the BLM is going to approve my first race out by Cuba. It will be a 50 mile out and back on the CDT. We're calling it the Deadman Peaks Trail Run after a group of peaks near the 20/30 mile point on the course. Since I'll be in OR for the next 6 months, it won't be until Oct 2010, but it will have prerace/post race food, tshirts, awards, and pretty much everything else. I checked out the aid station points today. It is going to be a great course. The area is very unique to New Mexico. It's very remote and desolate, but absolutely gorgeous. Oh yeah, and 99% narrow single track.
http://deadmanpeakstrailrun.wordpress.com/
This week I finish up school and pack for the move.

Final buildup for Lean Horse 100

2009-07-13T16:19:00.002-06:00

This week begins 4 races in 4 weeks: Devil Mountain 50k, Silver Rush 50 mile, Elkhorn 50 mile in Montana, and the Haulin Aspen Trail Marathon in Bend, Oregon.
Devil Mountain is a new race in Pagosa Springs. The only 50k I have ever done was my first ultra, the Huff 50k in Indiana back in 2004. I think my time was like 5.25 or 5.5 hours. I just remember it was like 35F and windy and I wore shorts. It will be interesting to see how my time compares now. I bet it is actually slower because in 2004 I was running 3 hour marathons and Huff is a way easier course.
Silver Rush and Elkhorn will be on my drive up to Oregon. I'll spend a few days in Leadville after the race and do some 14ers and then go up to Glacier National Park until Elkhorn. The next day I drive to Hillsboro, and start work the next morning.
The trail marathon is another race I have no idea what my time will be: The last trail marathon I did was the one leadville, which took me about 5.5 hours. But that was leadville and this is a pretty easy, low altitude course, so maybe 3.5 is possible. I think if I do well at the 50k I'll try to race the marathon, if not I'll just have some fun. I'm going to run up South Sister the day before, so I'll probably be sore at the start line even if I am going to race.
Then I have 2 weeks in Oregon to taper and then off to SD for Lean Horse. I have no goals for the race other than to finish. If it isn't super hot, sub 24 would be nice. If it is 90F+, I'll be happy to finish in 27 or 28 - just enough to not be near the cutoffs. There's nothing worse than having to run hard at the end of a 100 so you don't miss the cutoff.
I'm going to do 3 weeks of Bikram's in Oregon to try to heat train. I'll probably run in heavy clothes during my taper as well to help prep for the heat. My training has be ok so far - not as good as before Susitna, but probably better than most of my other 100s. With these 4 races, it should guarantee that I'm ready.
Em will be here on Wed through Mon. I'm very excited to see her. The 15th is our 4 year anniversary!