![]() Our summer is over and the race season is just beginning. Another October is upon us and I've already been completely taken over by the incredible weather and forgotten completely that it was 110 degrees just a month ago. What miserably hot summer? It's perfect out. And running has never been easier. No water bottle. No dry mouth. No getting back to your car after the run feeling destroyed and then five minutes later your body catches up and sweats through the cloth seats. No more strategically planning your week of training around the sunrise because once it comes up it's like the Chronicles of Riddick...it's overbearing and ever present in the rest of the run. A monkey on your back waiting to pop you in the ear with those stupid symbols (that can't be spelled right....) I can run in the heat and I know many that actually enjoy it. Many go out at noon in August. But that doesn't mean it's smart or fun. In fact...I hate it. It's bearable through mid-July but the last month plus is always rough for me. Now, you can run at any time of the day or night and it's perfect. I ran this morning at 5am without a shirt on, just a headlamp, shoes, shorts and the Disco Biscuits. It was incredible. Running up hills I've always walked in the past, cruising along at a solid pace without the interruption of walking to get my core temperature down to under 201 degrees. Running the the fall in Phoenix is a rejuvenation. To test the rejuvenation I'm running my first race since the Mesquite Canyon 50K way back in March. March. Seven months ago. It seems odd that I haven't raced since then, but I skipped Zane Grey this year, didn't run a 100 all summer and was focused on the Monster up until a few weeks ago. I ran a ton of marathon or longer training runs on the Mogollon Rim and a 85 mile jaunt on the Mogollon Monster course in May but nothing with competition. So this will be fun. 18 miles up in Cave Creek Regional Park at the Cave Creek Thriller 30K, the first of the Aravaipa Running DRT Trail Series here in the Phoenix area. It has some trails I know, some I don't. But it's 18 miles and it'll be a good test of my fitness after putting in a couple decent runs the last couple weeks and one strong week last week. I'm still way short on training and being where I want to be in having a focused training plan but comfortable enough that I'm ready to head up north, run a few trails and hang with the fast guys. We'll see how long it lasts. Bret Sarnquist, Jay Danek, Tony Delogne, Jules Miller, Jeremy Schmuki and as usual in running and ultrarunning...a whole bunch of people that will come out of the group and crush a bunch of us. It's not a Dark Horse in running, it's a Dark Herd. So many unknowns that can pop up and put down a fast time. Which is part of the intrigue in running a race, especially one where it's around 50-100 runners. Just enough to know who is going into this with you and not so many you have zero chance of competing for a respectable place. So I'll for the first time give it a shot up front of the pack and see where that takes me. I'll shoot for a spot in file behind Jay Danek as I know he's in the fastest shape of his life and after 10 miles see where each of us are and go from there. Eighteen miles is a perfect distance but I've never ran it without thinking I had another 13 to go. But as my races typically go, 18-20 miles is usually where I have a low spot before rebounding for the last ten miles of a 50K. Maybe for 18 I can hold a much faster pace and remain up front. If not... I'm sure my ego will survive it. www.aravaiparunning.com R2R2R - 2012![]() November 2nd I'll be taking another trek down to the Canyon for a Bright Angel>North Rim>Bright Angel Double Crossing. I haven't done it since last fall and aside from a trip this February for a 50K route off the Tanner trail I haven't seen the Canyon since. So I'm totally oblivious again as to just how difficult and challenging this trip can be and always is. Jay Danek is going for his first go of the Double Crossing and of course Honey Albrecht who always makes it when it involves the Grand Canyon. It'll be my 5th double and probably Honey's twentieth or something. It's great to have done it and a once a year trip. Not sure I'd be up for multiple attempts in a calendar year. It's a lot like Zane Grey. Always sounds like a great idea until you hit about 30 miles and you're staring down 8 miles of switchbacks... Either way...really looking forward to it and starting out at night Friday night we'll be up over 24 hours before we even start climbing back up. And we'll catch the sunrise which is worth a thousand gels.
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The Monster has officially consumed me.
Consumed everything around me. Now just a little over three weeks away its down to the wire on planning this monstrosity. What started as a pipe dream over some maps almost two years ago has nearly become the dream. A one hundred mile wilderness run through some of Arizona's most beautiful terrain was the goal from the start. I had a ton of help from local ultrarunner Jeff Jones on designing the course and creating one that is both challenging and logistically possible with the unique challenges that comes with a 2,000 ft. escarpment between aid stations. I sparked the idea on the tail end of our Superstitions Wilderness 50 Mile adventure and Jeff took off with it like a kid in a candy store. My original idea to create a hundred in Arizona where people would come, run and leave with a whole new idea of the state, showing that it was more than "just a desert." It started Jeff off in a tirade of ideas that resulted in nearly 500 emails over the next year. What we came up with amazes me with each long run spent on the course. Weekend after weekend, I've driven the 100 miles from my house at 4am to arrive at the trailhead to run the course. Mile after mile I fall more in love with the area, the terrain and every God forsaken rock that hits the bottom of my sole. I've run some sections of the course a half dozen times this summer alone, others just a few times, but in all, I've traversed that Rim as much as anyone probably has at this point and now just a few weeks away...I can't wait to see what everyone has to say about it. The challenging thing about directing a race is not fully grasping what it is that is "hard" for other people. Every race bills itself as a certain adjective leaning one way or another. "Hardest", "Toughest", "Fastest" something or other. Even the Zane Grey 50M race this race shares part of the course with has for years been called, "Toughest 50 Miler" which for many has been a debatable, none wishing to debate fresh off a ZG finish. This race, the Monster, will likely be one of the toughest endurance feats many of the entrants will have taken on at this point. I know this because of what I have experienced on other courses, what others have when running this course and how revered the Zane Grey course is in general. It's going to be hard. Really hard. But what is "hard?" Hard to me is the Lean Horse 100. Running a flat surface 50 miles, then turning around and running it back?! That is a hell of a lot of running. Keys 100? Indiana 100? Javalina 100? I've paced the last couple years at Javalina Jundred for 30+ miles and while it's probably the most FUN race atmosphere and an event I look forward to each year...I'm extremely hesitant to ever run it myself. Because I feel it's extremely hard not having a major climb plopped somewhere in there or having to repeat the same thing over and over again. Across the Years this past year I hit 50 miles and quit out of sheer boredom. Terrible I know and something I'm probably going to go back and rectify but that day, running loops...I just couldn't get myself into a groove and really enjoy it. It was one of the hardest 50 miles I've done and I didn't climb 12 feet... So how will everyone feel about the Mogollon Monster 100? I have compared a lot of hundreds trying to determine how it will be met once the first race is completed. I've spent countless hours on the internet reading all 88+ other hundreds websites, maps, elevation profiles, crew access, past times, cutoffs, etc. There's only about a dozen races with more elevation gain or outright by the numbers is "harder." Of course there are the Hardrocks, Wasatch races with the climbing but also taking into account the average elevation of each mile, terrain, technical nature, weather and all the other factors that makes a race difficult and challenging some are tougher than others for different reasons. I feel this race has them all to put it in a class that will challenge even the most seasoned ultrarunner. That wasn't the goal in designing the race any more was the extra 6 miles some kind of masochistic attempt at one upping anyone. It's just the way it panned out that way. So after hundreds of hours of planning, hundreds and hundreds of miles on the course, and over eighteen months of constant planning we're almost there. The buckles are in the mail, supplies filling my garage, volunteers committing and contingencies being finalized. Planning a hundred mile race was a dream, an incredibly ambitious one I'm finding out, but one that I'm determined to see through successfully. Runners are coming from all over the country, pacers and crews with them. We'll all be in Pine, Arizona come Friday morning and I'll be there standing up among them for the briefing. A moment I can't believe is almost here, a weekend of determination, stubborness and drive coupled with beautiful, surreal & majestic. I can't wait to be on the other side of the finish line to see each of the runners come through successfully. To be able to shake their hands, congratulate them and hand them the infamous belt buckle that all non-runners feel is so insignificant. 106 miles. 20,000 feet of climbing. One hell of a challenge completed. You won't find a more rewarding experience anywhere. San Tan 50K - February 4th, 2012![]() Am I even wearing shorts here?? My first "race" since the Cascade Crest 100 last August...I've been running but haven't raced anything since then. With this race being the only race I've ever dropped from I didn't want to miss it and going into it I felt really strong, fast and ready to "race" a 50K versus simply finishing through a dismal last ten miles suffering to the end. Jay had me convinced to shoot for a 4:30 finish despite never beating 5:36 in a dozen previous 50k's...so that's what we went for. ![]() That's a 4:37 min/mile pace photo...that's called "proper pacing." Three ten mile laps make up the course with a steep out and back on each one totaling 4,300 feet of climbing total. We shot for a goal of 90 minutes per lap and after one lap we were 3 minutes ahead of pace. Wearing the Minimus 110's for the first time for a run over 20 miles (see: stupid) the second lap was less fun and my feet really started to feel the pounding after 15 miles. Luckily I had my La Sportiva C-Lite 2.0's ready at the start of lap 3 and I told Jay to go ahead as I changed my shoes. I was still on pace going into lap 3 but running solo I struggled to maintain a 8 minute mile pace and was soon passed by Paulette (this is the last time she passes me I swear...ok, I can't back that up. She's fast) and then Chris Fall from Tucson. Getting passed when you're feeling down always sucks, drags you down but at the same time brings me back from feeling like garbage because I got so pissed Chris passed me I picked it up going into the last climb. My feet and calves were trashed from the 110's (extremely regrettable choice) going down the last two hills but I got a boost seeing Jay and the others on both the out and backs and knew that I was assured at least my place in the top ten and finished the mile strong, albeit cramping so bad I nearly collapsed at the finish. ![]() Is that a Mogollon Monster 100 Shirt? Yes...yes it is. In the end I finished in 4:54, a personal best in the 50K by 42 full minutes. I guess I could be disappointed by missing my "goal" by 24 and really struggling the last lap but it's still a good improvement and gives me at least an idea of where I stood and stand before Mesquite Canyon. The event itself was a lot of fun, much more fun than last year when I was sick. I really like the course itself and realize more and more how much I love out and back courses and seeing other racers on the course while you are running. Often, especially on one big loop courses, you see the same 3-10 runners the entire race as you all switch positions. With a course like San Tan I saw every single person (almost) the first couple laps and knowing many of them it made it so fun to cheer each on and hear them cheer us on. I don't think I will miss this race again, it's a classic to me. It was also fun to meet Jerry Armstrong from Boulder, CO who contacted me on Dailymile.com and asked for a ride to the race. I picked him up and got to hang with him pre-race and he went on to run really strong and capture 3rd place as he passed Jay & I on lap 2. Great runner, puts out some cool video's and always fun meeting fellow runners from other areas. He wrote a great race report on is blog here: http://www.jerryarmstrong.blogspot.com/2012/02/san-tan-scramble-50k-race-report.html Grand Canyon- Tanner Trail Route - February 11th, 2012![]() Tanner Trail...you have to look hard to see the guys... I was really excited for this one. Four times I've been down in the Grand Canyon, all four times running or hiking the R2R2R trails. While that is an incredible trip each and every time I was excited to see a different part of the Canyon. I had this opportunity when a few WMRC members invited me along for a 30 mile route that was to take about 10 hours...I didn't need to hear another word. I was in. ![]() Colorado River along the Escalante Trail Andrew Heard, Art Bourque and John Pearce started out with me on the Tanner Trail head on the eastern edge of the Canyon. The trail was steep, icy and covered in snow at the top and it switch backed its way all the way down until the Colorado River came into view. Writing about the Grand Canyon is hard for me, it takes someone with real writing talent to be able to fully encapsulate what really "is" a run in the Canyon. The walls pull you in, the Canyon goes from narrow and claustrophobic to massive and belittling. You lose control of what you previously thought you had control of. You become a part of it. Art lead us along the Escalante Trail all morning, dipping down to the Colorado to refill bottles, then seemingly back halfway up the Rim towards what for miles looks like a dead end straight into the walls of the cliffs. Running along the ridge, the Colorado a thousand feet straight below, you look up ahead trying to see where the trail possible could be going. Not until you reach the cliff wall do you realize that it does in fact scale the cliff all along its edge, precariously close to the edge, drawing up the details of your life insurance policy you hope to God you kept paying. ![]() Hugh Jackman. Boucher Point starts the downhill towards the Colorado one more time before entering Seventy Five Mile Canyon. Art describes a story when he was 33 and on this route alone, in 105 degrees, and completely lost. Having already passed a dozen spider trails off into the unknown, unmarked, I can see how easily someone can be led astray. Art takes us up the canyon and right away we climb above what becomes this majestic canyon, twenty feet wide but fifty feet tall, taller with each step deeper up the canyon. Art purposely leads us up the trail past the real turnoff, a scree trail down into the depths of the slot canyon, nothing remotely resembling a trail but more of an avalanche zone. No human rightly would have left a worn path for that. Nobody. Art leads us down the precipice, down climbing our way down the hundred feet to the canyon bottom, an ant among the giant walls. Running down this dry riverbed, the walls tight around us, hovering high above us. It was like nothing I'd seen before and it would only truly be the beginning. ![]() Andrew stirring up the spirits in an Anazazi ruin. The trail continued it's steep ascents and descents, rock climbs up Fifty Foot wall, passed along the Colorado several more times providing for ice cold foot baths along the way. Continually the trail would wander random directions, running in random directions to go in the direction we needed to travel. We took the Grandview Trail out of the Canyon that day, a 4,000+ foot climb up the Rim that went on for a couple runnable miles before turning into a staircase leading straight up the chute, a leg burning, energy sapping assault on some of the steepest, most aggressive trails I've experienced. Art hammered the climb like it was his last climb of his life, absolutely crushing Andrew and I, leaving me sapped for the last three miles and 3,000 feet of climbing. Up to that point I felt great, strong and capable. That quickly turned into weak, wobbly, possibly the next victim in a Grand Canyon fall to his death. The trail narrowed, the elevation climbed and in turn the terrain became ice, snow and rocks covered with ice and snow. Climbing up the pace went from a reasonable 20min/mile to the dreaded 30min/mile to a few minutes later...58. Never...I'm using the word "never" here...have I ever wanted to just plain sit. Sit down. In the snow. And just lay there. My legs didn't hurt. My feet were fine. Everything was fine. There was simply nothing left in the tank. I was so tired, the trail so slick with ice, every imprint of a shoe with Yaktraks on it I wanted to scream. Wouldn't those be convenient right now... I've been in this mindset before and never stopped but plodded along until I found a good section of untouched snow. With Andrew behind me a bit below I knew he would be struggling just as much in this snow with the footing being so slick and wrote, "This Blows!! :)" in the snow. Just writing it made me laugh thinking of Andrew coming up the trail and seeing that. I headed up the cliff, found a seat on a tree branch and regrouped. Put down my last gel, put a long sleeve back on, gloves and hat now that we were back in the upper elevations and waited for Andrew to come on through. He wasn't far behind and within a couple minutes he was there and we pushed our way to the top where Art was waiting for us with a big smile on his face, standing among the tourists there for a view of the big "Hole in the Ground." John would come on through about 45 minutes later on his own. He had taken a wrong trail, back tracked, found the trail but spent a few nerve racking moments working through the fear of being lost in the Canyon. A veteran of the area he ultimately made it out, with a story, but made it out. Two weeks later I'm still thinking about this route, the Canyon and the great time I had with Art, John and Andrew. It's never just another run up there, it always have me leaving thinking grander thoughts, bigger dreams and totally blown away and waiting for the next adventure there. Grandpa Jim's 50K - February 18th, 2012![]() Jay on the 8B...still complaining about his knee. "I don't care if the bone is through the skin. We have 28 more miles to go. Eat a gu or something..." Yes...this is my third 50K in three weekends. Just the way it panned out on the schedule and I didn't want to skip any of the three. Grandpa Jim's 50K runs through my backyard, literally, and covers some serious climbing along the way so I wanted to make it, donate some money to the cause and see how it goes. ![]() Atop of Squaw Peak, Jay complaining about his compound fracture. Cry baby. I could go into a full on race report here but this post is long enough already isn't it? I agree. I'm taking the lazy way out. So go read Jay Danek's race report, we ran the whole thing together and finished in 6:32 tied for 2nd place. If there is such a thing as "placing" in a somewhat unofficial race. Either way I count it and it continues my domination at Fat Ass races that don't count with very few runners in it. Yeah, I'm really good at those kinds of races. Borderline elite really. (see: 1st Place at Tom's Thumb 50K, 5 total entrants. Still wondering when La Sportiva is going to start sending my free shoes...) ![]() Sean, Jay and I at the Dreamy Draw aid stop halfway through. ![]() Jay coming down North Mountain after we got our fix of radiation. So in the end...three 50K's in three weekends netted 93 miles, 21,000+ feet of climbing and 21 hours of running. In between each week I ran a whopping 50 miles in the other 18 days...I'm getting dangerously close to a full sponsorship from WalMart or Wendy's. It's a battle right now, really just the paperwork that needs to be worked out at this point. If nothing else I should earn some kind of special shirt for "Laziest Training Program in Ultrarunning." The week leading into Grandpa Jim's 50K? Two miles pushing a stroller. Eat that Anton. ![]() Top of Shaw Butte. We started that morning on the other side of the far peak that morning. True story. Next up...Mesquite Canyon 50k on March 11th. I'm going for a 4:30, I don't care if that's 66 minutes faster than I've ever done it. Limits are for cowards. I say that because I'm always so far behind on updating this. So much happens, so little talked about, so much missed. Or is it? You tell me. Did you miss me? Didn't think so. Funny thing is, I started this website and wrote in it for months and months and never even told people I had it. It was an outlet of sorts, a place to consolidate my thoughts, my aspirations, my frustrations and a place to dream. It still is but as life piles it on more and more with each passing week I feel more burdened by the internet and all it encapsulates. Good and bad. So for the sake of my dozen loyal readers...ok, just my Mom. Here is an update on the Arizona trail scene, my unrelenting mission to run myself into the ground, and why Monsters are better in the form of mystical beasts than in aluminum cans. This is going to be very random. Probably weird. I can't guarantee you'll enjoy any of it. But you clearly have nothing else going on right now or you wouldn't be reading this. Buckle up. I just slammed a Mountain Dew. Running Circles Around Monotony![]() After running Cascade Crest in late August I didn't make it to another race after that. I missed Man Against Horse, skipped Cave Creek Thriller, passed on Pass Mountain and bailed on McDowell Mountain. All races I planned on running going into the very week of the race but never actually signed up. Why? No idea. One is definitely spending the money on a race I wasn't totally thrilled about. Sure, the guys always have great shirts but I have dozens of race shirts. Running 31 miles just didn't appeal to me all that much and I was becoming more and more interested in the 25-30K distance. So with each passing day I'd gain more confidence and yet never actually test it. All the while I was training for the Mogollon Monster 100 test run on December 10th. After that was snowed out and postponed until May I was really bummed. So how do you go from running a mountain 100 to two weeks later signing up for a 24 hour race on a flat, 1 mile loop? Again, I'm compulsive...and I like to try new things. Across the Years is a classic of classics. Lots of history, lots of extremely talented runners. A totally different breed of runners than what I've come to know as "ultrarunners" but no less talented or unique. So how was running around in circles for 24 hours? No idea. I made it 7 miles before I knew I had doomed myself into a full day of boredom. I hit 22 and thought maybe I'll just jump into the little trail side lake and drown myself. Mile 34 came around and I started walking just to talk to someone new that I was coming around the circle and hadn't yet met. By the time I reached the 45 mile mark I had lost every ounce of motivation to continue. I'd walk it in with my good friend Honey and I called it a night. 50 Miles. 10 hours. That's enough for me. Physically I felt great and actually felt even better as I reached the 50 mile mark. I simply did not have the heart to continue, I had no goals, signed up for the race that morning. It was fun, I met some great people and would certainly recommend the race to someone else that likes the flatter courses or loves timed courses. Me? Probably won't do it again for some time. Like next year. Castle Hot Springs 22 Miler- Jan 7th![]() Paulette cruising down the road Another race in the series that Arizona Road Racers puts on along with the Mazatzal 18 Miler. This one is 22, all roads and circles through a remote area of central Arizona and one I'd not visited yet. It was a small group but not unsurprisingly the same 40 people I see at every trail race or ultra. I was excited to see how I would handle actually "running" 22 miles straight and with the 2500 feet of climbing it did add another element of difficult to it. I finished it in 3:16 or so with Paulette which was good for 7th or 8th. It's a pretty low key, non-competitive type race so not sure anyone was racing, I know Paulette and I weren't. Just a nice day out in the desert. A classic Arizona race, I'll be sure to make it next year as well. Superstition Wilderness 50K - January 14th, 2012![]() Weaver's Needle coming up to Parker Pass I love the Superstition Wilderness. Just on the eastern edge of the Phoenix metro area its so accessible and visable for many residents but nearly everyone is clueless in what is held behind the mountains hovering over the city. Behind that wall of rock is a 180 mile network of wilderness, completely replete of people, as inhospitable an area as you can find in this country and as unforgiving as it comes. Yet with that comes a beauty that isn't matched by many places either. The rock formations, the varied vegetation, the sunlit canyon walls as the sun rises over the mesa. The desert is a beautiful place if one just gives it a chance, opens their eyes and welcomes the experience. This year we had a group of nine taking the loop around the western and most frequented (see: Runnable trails) trail systems. The course climbs a total of 4,500 feet in exactly 31.1 Garmin miles while passing several ridges, steep descents, big climbs and fast, winding, single track. We had the National Trail Champion David James, Angeles Crest 100 winner Paulette Zillmer, stud thru hiker/ultrarunner Anthony Culpepper, fresh off his 5,000 mile/9 month loop from Arizona to Montana and back. My friend Michael Duer from Tucson, who I ran with in our friends 50 miler up Mt. Lemmon last year made the trip with his friend Sarah, both great, fast ultrarunners. Jon Roig returned again, always up for anything unreasonably difficult, with so little apparent effort it makes me want to double my monthly mileage after every trip with him. Jeffrey Bryant, the "old guy" of the group who claimed he would be falling behind but was always right on our tail. Then my brother Noah who put in 5.5 miles of running since August came out and ran the 25K first half. Pretty standard for him, knocked it out and kept up with us the entire time. Always impressive no matter how many "off the couch" adventures he does with me. We all finished in about 30 minutes faster than last years time, all smiles and only 9 of us were bloody when we finished. The rocks are unavoidable, catclaw your worst nightmare and you can't get away from any of it. This year felt a little less overgrown, maybe less rocky? I could be delusional though as I run on rocks every day and I'm more used to them than most. Usually when I take people to the Superstitions they love the utter beauty of it but can't wait to get done because the area is so technical. It's Arizona. What's NOT technical here? Old Dudes Rule![]() Like how I snuck Scarlett into this post? She's always relevant... STEFAN BEHR 71 RICHARD BUSA 73 ROBERT CALABRIA 70 JEAN-JAQUES D'AQUIN 71 EDWIN DEMONEY 73 JOHN DEWALT 73 EDWIN FISHMAN 71 WOLFGANG GEISTANGER 72 AARON GOLDMAN 74 RALPH HIRT 71 SHERMAN HODGES 70 GRANT HOLDAWAY 75 BILL HOLLIHAN 73 DON JANS 71 LOU JOLINE 71 BUDDY JONES 72 DICK KAMINSKI 70 RICHARD LAINE 70 LEO LIGHTNER 70 LINK LINDQUIST 70 CHRISTOPH LUX 78 ROBERT LYNES 72 JERRY McGRATH 70 FRED NAGELSCHMIDT 70 STUART NELSON 70 DAN PIERONI 70 RAY PIVA 74 JOHN PRICE 71 EPHRAIM ROMESBERG 75 SAM SOCCOLI 70 KARSTEN SOLHEIM 73 BERND SPRING 70 WALT STACK 70 OJARS STIKIS 72 BEECHAM TOLER 70 MIKE TSELENTIS 71 DIETER WALZ 72 ROSS WALZER 71 JONATHAN WILLIAMS 86 EDWIN WILLIAMS 70 TOM WOLTER-ROESSLER 78 CARL YATES 70 *MEN* *WOMEN* IRIS LEISTNER 78 HELEN KLEIN 75 BARBARA MACKLOW 74 ELDRITH GOSNEY 70 Know what this list is? This is a list of everyone over the age of 70 years old that has completed a 100 mile race. It's an unofficial list compiled by ultrarunner Dan Baglione whom I met and ran with (walked...) at the Across the Years race. One of the many interesting guys and girls out there with a massive running resume that makes you want to quit your career, and become a running vagabond to try your best to catch up to his accolades by the time your his age. He's one of the many guys like Karsten Solheim, and others that are over 60 and still rocking it hardcore. The beauty of Across the Years is the depth of dedication these people have. I met a guy from Washington, Fred Willet, who has the body of a 57 year old (his age) as you would expect. A nice round belly he's worked hard in earning yet he was pounding out the miles with a consistency anyone would be excited about. After a while of running laps I saw Fred, shirtless, in the mid afternoon of his SECOND day and sparked up a conversation with him. He's 57 and he plans to run a sub 3 hour marathon when he turns 60. Amazed and honestly a bit surprised based on his outwardly non-in shape appearance I asked what his current marathon time is. "4:20 but I walked a bit so I could practice for this." Somehow after a few more minutes of running and talking with Fred I no longer had a shred of doubt that he would accomplish this. One story after another I hear from one person after another about determining something they want in life, setting that goal and by God, sticking to it until they reach it. I know Fred will do it, he's just that kind of guy. Later that afternoon, several hours later I was running past Fred and as I passed him I said as I tired, "Fred! I'm fading here!" Fred's reply? "The HELL YOU ARE!" A command with such a definitive tone you can't deny it. You're right Fred. I'm not tired. To hell with fatigue. I'm going to go faster. It was worth another five laps of effortless running. Many people I work with or I know use age as an excuse or reason for being as out of shape, unhealthy or incapable of certain things. They can't do this or they can't do that because they are "old." Which often or not is late forty's or fifty's. Hardly old. "Oh to be young again." "I remember when I was young and could do that." Bullshit. All of it. I do half my training with a 52 year old mother of 3 that has run Hardrock and races ultras all the time. Dave Mackey is the 2011 Ultrarunner of the Year. Older than almost every other Top 5 runner out there by a decade. Karsten Solheim (on this list) is still hammering out 100's and he was born a year or two after Moses. My point is, I'm not skinny because I run and my coworkers aren't fat because they are old. I'm fit because I train not because I'm skinny and my coworkers can be every bit as in shape as they want to be. Nothing is stopping them but themselves. Age is irrelevant. This list proves it. These people aren't "crazy," these people are living their lives as they want to, as they should and as they deserve to. Good for them, I hope to be in their shoes later in my life. The Mogollon Monster 100![]() Kind of nuts that the trail is kind of like this... I'm going to go out on a limb and make the statement that directing a 100 mile race is harder than RUNNING a hundred mile race. It's a lot of logistics, planning, organizing, budgeting and bureaucratic nonsense. And I love it. As much as it takes, the hours of planning, I know this race is going to be something special. The trails are amazing, views incredible and I'm confident the pieces are going to fall into place. I was disappointed after we had to postpone our trial run in December but now look forward to the May 5th running in weather a good bit more similar to the September date. Prior to that I plan to make several trips getting video of trail sections, additional photography, marking and planning for the coming race. With each big 100 selling out, going to a lottery, I think it's going to help the Monster fill to it's 100-125 capacity the first year and give everyone a good sized competitive field. There is a lot of interest, my email inbox remains filled and the offers to volunteer keep coming in. Check out the race website www.mogollonmonster100.com for more info. I'm the proud owner of a GoPro Here 2 so look out! Video's coming soon! So What's Next???![]() Training buddy Matt dominated with a 4:24...he's a road runner my ass. I ran this race last year with a wicked cold, 103 degree temperature and bailed after the 25K mark. My only DNF. Ever. Kills me to this day. I have to return. I'm going back. http://www.getoutgetlost.com/1/post/2011/2/san-tan-scramble-race-report.html Next after that the following weekend is the 12 hours of Camelback, a maniacal redundancy up and down Echo Canyon for 12 hours or until you fully tear each ACL. So I'll try to make it to that... Following weekend is the Grandpa Jim's 50K. Up Cholla, down Echo. Over the roads to the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, up Squaw Peak, around Circumference Trail and across the Trail #100 to the North Mountain Visitor Center. My home ground. My trails. My Mountains. If I don't win I'm going to become a professional badminton player. Ok, I won't do that but I train on these mountains, can hammer the super, super technical descents and hope to do really well at this event. Two weeks later I'm running a 55 mile backcountry Superstitions run with Jeff Jones and a few other brave souls. Repeat of last years run plus a few miles to retain the original route. I have my reservations about a few of those sections and repeating them again but ultimately I just love the Superstitions too much and have a hard time saying no. It's my heroin. The following weekend (I can see my overall times plummetting about now..) is the Mesquite Canyon 50K. This hopefully will be my third straight year running it, lots of climbing, great collection of runners. Competitive, hilly, technical, hot, snakes, boulders. Should be just as exhausted at the start as last year following a Superstitions run but I don't want to miss it so I'm already signed up. After that? Who knows? A beer under the sun at a Spring Training game? Let's hope so. Rough Night
I wasn't really sure how it was all going to go down. I spent nearly the entire night before the race awake. On and off throughout the night i would get up to cough up a lung in the bathroom, trying to not wake my fiance with all the hacking. I'd somehow contracted this chest cold and at the worst possible time. It started last week but went away over the weekend and returned after a freezing cold night run in 40mph winds in Thunderbird Park. I woke up the following morning knowing my body wasn't right. Fast forward to last night and my incessent and painful coughing and I was not in any shape to run a 50K trail race. So I did it anyway. My friend Matt picked me up at 5am and we drove out to BFE Queen Creek, Arizona. A town of people that thought cheaper and bigger houses in the real estate boom was a good idea despite they are basically in Mexico it's so damn far away from ANYTHING. All savings on the house purchase is eliminated with the 75 mile commute to everything. And I'm sure their house is worth next to nothing as well now...my point is, well, I don't really have a point except living in Queen Creek is just plain dumb. Anyway... San Tan Regional Park was the host of the inaugural San Tan Scramble 50k. I'd be running my first race of 2011 and my first since the Fat Ox 50 Miler back in late November. I haven't really trained for this race. I ran a 29 mile trail run with the Superstition Wilderness 50K on January 2nd and then proceeded to log less than 20 miles a week for three weeks before putting in a whopping 25 one week before the race. I did put in some fast (for me) 10 mile times but in the scheme of training for an ultra, I'm way behind on the mileage that i need. Excuses aside, I figure I'll just wing it everytime anyway. I have a terrible tendency to just assume I'm always ready to run 30 miles just because I've done it before. Again, I'm just as dumb as living in Queen Creek. Cold?? I'll show you cold. Race starting Temperature: 28 degrees. Freezing. 35 or so toed the line and started out at 7am. Matt was set on sticking with the leaders straight from the start and I followed him out front and quickly we were a group of 5 or 6 a couple miles in after we pushed out some sub 8 minute miles to start the race. Far faster than I would typically start out but it was cold and I wanted to get warm. Three miles into the race Matt takes off and jumps farther ahead to make a group of three. I hold back knowing I'm not Ryan Hall and I'm not going to last doing 7 minute miles the first few miles into an ultra. Settling in to a steady 8 minute mile I plodded along the trail as I fought through the routine of "I feel horrible, I don't want to do this" that I always have in my mind at the start of the race. I know that right around 6 miles I start to really feel good and loose and the internal anger of the stupidty of paying to run 31 miles passes. Six Miles came and Went My legs are watered down logs floating down the river. Heavy, weak, cold. My breathing is sharp and my heart is beating hard despite a very moderate pace. This chest cold is killing me. I'm still knocking back the miles and the guy tracking me down is keeping me moving which is exactly what I need. Especially after a quick pee break that resulted in a false alarm on the "i'm done peeing." Great, that'll just freeze so I'll have frozen urine on my shorts. Perfect. I hit the aid station at mile five or so and went straight on through powering out 7:15/miles to keep the guy behind me off my back. No luck and he catches me at the base of the big climb a mile later. The "Big Climb" that was touted as "unrunnable" was definately runnable. Not by me of course but it wasn't that bad. I knew we'd be doing this climb up Goldmine Mountain 3 times by the end of the race so I walked the steep and ran the rest. At the top of the ridge a nice view of the local Queen Creek valley showed itself in all it's medicore glory and the decent down the mountain began. I'm the Fastest Downhill Runner Ever Not really. But i must be the fastest downhill runner in this race because everyone runs down mountains like they are worried there are baby bird eggs that could be laying under any rock. Tippy toeing down the mountain like they've never ran a trail before. Not me, I may suck at everything else in ultrarunning (training, speed, nutrition, hydration, training, training, training...) but I can kill it down mountain trails with a reckless abandon. I caught three guys in front of me coming down the mountain and two more after the turnaround point and coming back up and then down the frontside. Of course half of them just passed me right back on the climbs or flats but that's not the point. Point is I should really start taking advantage of that as a stregnth. I'll probably forget all about this by the next race. I hit the last mile or so at a little over 7 min/miles and felt a little better coming into the end of Lap 1 at the main aid station. Grabbed some food, dropped the long sleeve and gloves and headed back out in 6th place. I was promptly passed by two people in my first two miles. Let the Meltdown Begin I hate running in sand. I'm slow, I get discouraged and I get angry. I was also getting really, really tired. I just couldn't muster ANY energy at all. I'm at 12 miles and I'm spent. This isn't right, it can't be right. I try to push it and stay up with the guys that are up front of me and maintain their pace for about a mile more before I have to stop to have a coughing fit that rings my head like a bell. The thoughts of quitting resurface and I start to really doubt my ability to do another full lap plus what I have left of this one. My head is pounding, my chest is wheezing and my body is getting the chills as I plod along like a wounded deer. Strangely, just maintaining a 12min/mile pace keeps me from getting passed through this stretch. I keep turning around wondering when I'll see Jody or Michael Miller or someone. It never comes. So I keep going but never stop thinking about what I'll do when I get to the intersection of the mountain. Judgement Time Coming up on the aidstation at mile 15 I've nearly made up my mind. I cannot keep doing this or I'll be sick for a month. I need to stop and rest or I'll just make this far worse. Thoughts of embarrassment, shame and anger to even be thinking of this dominate my mind for every step into the aid station. I tell the woman I'm done and can't do another lap without really risking serious illness. They understand but say, "but you only have a few guys in front of you..." Yeah, that makes me feel better. I'm finally running in a position where I can finish with a good time and I'm quitting. Pathetic. To Quit or Not to Quit? I leave the aid station with thoughts of going on or turning at the sign and going back and calling it a day. I ran every stitch of this second lap, couldn't I make it one more lap?? I know I can but know I shouldn't. I turn right at the sign and head back. Shameful Finish I ran the last mile in 7:44. I quasi sprinted past two people doing the 25K distance and pulled up at the aid station to Nathan and told him I was done. I hate it. I spent the next couple hours watching people cross the finish line, coming in at the end of their race. Jason came in from his 25K strong in 6th place or so. Matt was still out there but suddenly came screaming in super fast to WIN the 50k!! We were supposed to take pictures of him but never thought for a second that he was going to roll in at 4:23 to win the entire race. Amazing and adds to the sting just a little more. It's Not the End of the World It's just a race. DNF's happen. It was bound to happen eventually. I made it through 2010 without failing to finish and if it wasn't for this chest cold I would have made it without a problem in this race. I was even on pace to run a PR with a sub 5:30 time despite the cold. So if I am to take a positive aspect from this race it's this: I'm faster on downhills and sloping downhills than most runners. I can definately take advantage of this on the very hilly Mesquite Canyon. I'm also in need of some real training or I'm never going to get close to or win a race. I know that if I actually apply myself into some dedicated training I can put out some fast times. With time and energy I know I can do that. Will I do it? Doubt it. But until I do nothing will ever change. At least I still got the t-shirt. Pass Mountain 50K did not go as well as I planned. While I did finish it took me 6:12 total and there was only 2,700 of elevation gain. My nutrition was off, my energy levels inconsistent, I took the wrong trail, I ran solo for three and a half hours. It was all in all a challenging 32 miles. Pass Mountain of course was the race to lead me into the Fat Ox 50 Mile the following Saturday.
Now only two days away I'm sitting at the keyboard with a fever, wicked headache and chest cold in the making. Am I going to run? Of course. But this is just going to be an additional hurdle to cross. I haven't run a step since Pass Mountain, a rareity of epic porportions for me. I skipped WMRC Wednesday because my stomach was a wreck, my head was boiling and I just couldn't do it. So I should be pretty rested going into Fat Ox. I just need to shake this cold asap. The race itself is going to be quite interesting. The ASU ultrastudy portions will have me checking in every five miles with a status check of my general health (dizzy, nausea, diahrerra, knee pain, stomach cramps, leg cramps, etc.) as well as a "difficulty meter" at that particular mile marker. Also, they will be tracking all the food, water, and supplement intake we will have and tracking all laps we do that are full ran. Any laps that we partially run are not going to be counted. There will be 161 laps total to combine for the 50 mile total. Not having a major climb or multiple climbs to "break up" the entireity of the run will be what I think is the most challenging portion of this run. I literally could run this entire race without stopping but can I? I don't know. I'm used to those hiking opportunities that break up the running and stretch out the different muscles in the legs. Add in the fact that you run right by your car 161 times as well as your friends and family that show up 161 times. The opportunity to stop or rest longer is so much higher in this style of race so mentally I think the challenge will be greater than somewhere like the Grand Canyon where your mind is overwhelmed with the mystique of the Canyon and the trail itself. The intriguing part of the race though is that you DO pass your vehicle 161 times. You DO pass the aid station crews 161 times. That can be a motivating notion in itself and I've been thinking of ways to break up the running for some time into mini challenges along the long day. Maybe running various laps at much faster times to stretch the legs out along the way or running certain stretches of the 500 meter loop at a faster pace to break it up a bit. Plus, there is about 30 runners doing 50 miles out there on only a 500 meter course. There is always going to be someone near you, passing you or you are passing. Reeling someone in is motivating in itself. Either way the concept of this race has me very interested and I'm really stoked for the experience itself. My strech goal is for a 8-8:59 total time. Overall I want to keep it under 10 hours if at all possible. I feel if I am fueled correctly and I don't run into any issues with GI I can keep it under 9 hours. Goals are important but the ultimate goal is to simply finish. No matter what the course, or distance. Finishing is always the most important. |
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