The Virtual Runner

22 Friday Jun 2012

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Yet another digital photo of me running the Bolder Boulder.  I intend to keep posting these until I have new pictures from some other event.  I can’t always publish pics from iStockPhoto.com, those cost $3 to $5 a pop.  Considering I blog about once per week, we’re talking potentially over $200 per year and quite frankly – you’re not worth that much to me.

If I sound bitter, it’s because I’m irritated I haven’t been running much lately.  Posting weekly pics of myself running at least presents the image of a hardened, disciplined, dedicated athlete.  That hasn’t been me since my foot injury.  I like to blame the 12 hour work days but I could make time.  Truth is I’ve lost my discipline.  I got in a couple of 3 milers this week.  I did a couple of 10 mile trail runs with my neighbors two weekends in a row.  Those have been my longest slogs since the 25 mile CPTR.  I picture myself as a regular runner but reality over the past month or two suggests otherwise.  If I don’t get back on track I’ll have to change up the theme of this blog.  Maybe I could start to blog about my neighbors’ accomplishments?

Amy is sweeping up in her age division at all the local triathlons.  Even her grade school age kids are placing.  Keith ran a 10K PR recently, beating his age which is impressive for his dotage.  Jabe has targeted some bad-ass road bike event up around Vail.  It occurs to me there are more runners in my neighborhood now who can beat me in a 10K – probably half marathon too – than ever could on either my high school or college track and cross country teams.  And for as much as I tend to embellish in my blogs, I don’t think I’m over amplifying this.

I need to wake up.  Shake it off.  Climb back up into the saddle.  100 degree weather be damned, this weekend I’m getting outside to log some miles.  Stay tuned for a summary blog post on Sunday.

Dad

17 Sunday Jun 2012

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I have very few memories of my father, but they are all good.  Born in September 1930, he’s pictured here in his ’48 senior year football jersey.  He played tailback for St. Ambrose Academy – at the time both a Catholic high school and college but now a liberal arts university in Davenport, Iowa.

I remember him assuring me Santa Clause was real and driving in the back seat of the station wagon when my mom would pick him up from work.  He’d hand us kids chewing gum after sitting in the front passenger seat.  I didn’t know then that he didn’t drive because of the risk of epileptic seizures from his brain tumor.

I remember him cooking stove-top popcorn and watching television with us seven kids when Mom had her bowling night.  I remember him not spanking me for wandering out in front of cars in our residential street.  I can see him wearing a white t-shirt and at one point using a cane even though he was only in his 30s.  And I remember him being nice to me.  Dad passed away in September of 1967 after suffering with his cancer for ten years.  I was five.  This picture is of him in the Army stationed in Germany during the Korean War.  The Veterans checks I received related to his service helped put me through college.

So most of what I know about being a Dad came to me from father figures.  I had a step father from the time I was 10 or 11 years old.  We weren’t close but Hal taught me about responsibility.  How to maintain my car.  We even fished, but we didn’t share many common interests.  He was an electrical engineer and I have him to thank for being raised in the relative comfort of middle class America.

My first father figure from outside my family was my high school sweetheart’s dad, Miguel Lopez.  Miguel also had an engineering background.  He moved his family from Mexico City to the U.S., first to Wisconsin and later to Austin, Texas where I met them.  Miguel has three daughters and treated them with tremendous understanding.  Having five sisters, I could relate to that.  Once, after being caught in compromising circumstances with his daughter, he cleaned his gun collection in front of me.  Miguel was very much like a teacher, constantly coaching.  He’s still healthy living near Houston.

My final father figure is my father-in-law.  Dr. Collier is about as ideal a father and human as is possible in a man.  And he likes college football which is about all I really look for in any guy.  The example he sets helps guide me to be both a good husband as well as father.  At least I try.  Dr. Collier turns 80 this year.  We intend to celebrate with a family trip to the Lost Pines Hyatt along the Colorado River near Austin this July.  Having lost my father way too young, I very much appreciate having a father’s life to celebrate.

Fire and Rain

13 Wednesday Jun 2012

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Not good air quality this week for running due to smoke from the High Park Fire.  But I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.  We could have fires all summer.  This one fire alone will likely be in the air for weeks.  I did feel some allergies in my eyes from it but I took some Claritin and feel better.  I won’t run on days the smoke is super thick but depending on the breeze I’m not going to wait for perfect conditions.  This pic is me finishing the Bolder Boulder.  That was a tough final .2 miles.

I recall last summer when my plans to hike segment 5 of the Colorado Trail from the Long Gulch Trail Head to Kenosha Pass was nearly delayed by fire.  Fortunately that week had a couple days in a row of rain and snow to squelch the flames.  There were still fire fighters on the trail but it was open for hiking.  The trail was the actual fire break in places and the burn persisted in the air.  It’s sad a lady has perished in this current fire.  Hopefully some cool weather will blow in soon and drop some moisture.

Summer Trail Runs

10 Sunday Jun 2012

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The summer heat is here and I haven’t been getting outside enough.  I could have run everyday last week but hardly ran at all.  I lost some discipline from my last injury.  And then when I do knock out a few miles, I find myself walking it in from the heat.  I need to do a better job of running during the week.  At least I’m getting out on the weekends though – acclimated or not.

I ran 10 miles on the trail today with a pack of neighbors.  It was much cooler this morning but I’m still beat.  I actually felt good running but I’m tired now.  The air up near Lyons is pretty hazy from the High Park fire.  This was the first time ever that I didn’t stumble on the trail.  That’s a good sign.  Stumbling hurts almost as much as falling – it rips the muscles in your back and stomach trying to regain your balance.  I do like trails.  I don’t have anymore formal running events planned for the summer, but if I sign up for anything – it will be a trail run.  The picture here is in the 4th or 5th mile of the Bolder Boulder.

Stuxnet

07 Thursday Jun 2012

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My favorite story in the news right now is confirmation of sorts that the U.S. and Israel launched a first-strike in cyber warfare against the Iranian nuclear jihad.  One of the more fun debates is political party rhetoric about the importance of confidential information – they want to find the source of the leaks.  Nevermind the stuxnet wiki article at the time of me writing this blog already quotes from Gary Samore as an early White House leaker.  So there are discussions of that nature.

Of course I read blogs on cyber security and anything else I’m currently interested in.  I discovered a pattern with this topic – the industry I work in.  Everything I read takes the position that cyber war is bad.  This only leads to an escalation in cyber warfare.  Stuxnet points to the need for more protection.

I couldn’t disagree more.  I felt compelled to comment on a recent blog but noticed the site was an aggregator.  The blog itself looked well read but I didn’t like the idea of publishing my content to this site that’s nothing more than an index selling advertisement.  It seemed like less of a professional dialog* and more of being part of someone’s business model.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it occurs to me I have my own digital presence.  So rather than comment on that blog – I’ll blog it myself.

My position is this.  These security industry analysts are looking at this from inside the fish bowl.  In the context of a safe and free Internet and online commerce, this is a setback.  This is an escalation of arms and advances the bad guys.  In fact, by definition of cyber warfare, the bad guys are the government.

I look at this from the context of war.  A conventional approach to international conflict is to start out small and progress your actions slow enough so that they can be monitored by other nations and even weighed in on.  Going to the UN first or establishing a block-aid before the actual bombing of humans.  In the context of preemptive strikes, I’d personally prefer getting hit with a computer worm.  Cyber war is good.

Yes, cyber war leads to civilian casualties.  I’d argue maybe the damage is on par with a block-aid.  I understand Iran lost several months of production on their centrifuge operations.  In the context of war, this isn’t nearly as bad as the enemy sinking a passenger ship to stop the flow of supplies.  It’s a reasonable, less harmful approach in terms of human life.

I can’t interpret a blog written by someone in the computer security industry well enough to say what the blogger’s motives are.  I just know it’s bullshit taking the position this is bad for the industry.  Any company making security products or providing security services benefits from this.  The Cold War didn’t hurt the Defense Industry.  They say even art excels during times of war.  Innovation explodes in times of conflict.

Whatever your qualms over cyber warfare, get over it.  It beats real attacks against humans.  It promotes growth of the industry.  Turn your focus to lessons learned.  How successful was the attack at mitigating Iran’s nuclear development.  How fast did production return to normal – what was the downtime?  Was this effective in the context of international conflict?

* Poetic license on “dialog” because in social networking it’s really a broadcast.  A many-to-many discussion.  A party line.

Foot Injury Update

01 Friday Jun 2012

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Because I’m sure everyone wants to know, here’s a current status of my foot injury.  The injury occurred six weeks ago.  The Internet suggested it might be broke and to expect six weeks for it to heal.  I attempted running a couple of days the following week with significant swelling as a result, but ran the 25 mile CPTR that weekend.  Like so many injuries, after warming up it didn’t really hurt until after the workout.

I visited a podiatrist on week two.  He suggested I could do some light running while it healed after the xray didn’t indicate a broken bone.  I tried running once or twice each week but the swelling was such afterward that I didn’t continue running every day.  At the end of five weeks, I ran the Bolder Boulder.  While I lost my rate of progress, I don’t think I lost much of my original conditioning and ran respectably.  More importantly, my foot didn’t hurt much afterward.  So in this 6th week of my injury, I’ve started running again.

My ankle is a bit tight but I’m feeling pretty good about it.  I won’t over do it in terms of distance but I think it’s safe to run every day now.  I kept my calories derived from alcohol in check – well except for that week in Mexico – so my weight hasn’t increased much this past month.  I’m good to go.

On a sad note, I missed the registration for the IPR.  Registration opened at midnight and I tried registering around 10am this morning.  Registration closed at 9:37 am MDT.  Unbelievable!

Bolder Boulder 2012

28 Monday May 2012

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I’ve run a few of these now so I expected rain.  Memorial Day had to be the best weather ever.  But that’s not why Steve is smiling in this pic.  And it’s not because he scored such a sweet parking spot in his firm’s lot near Walnut.  I think it’s because he ran a faster time than me today.  It’s the little things that make Steve happy.

I’m pretty happy too with today’s run.  I’m mixed because of how it ended up.  This is my 3rd year in a row running the BB and I improved my time last year from 2010.  I hoped to do so again today but accepted that wasn’t going to happen considering I haven’t run in 3 or 4 weeks.  But I still thought it might be possible to beat my age.  I did last year and thought this year would be a done deal.

I started off too fast as usual with a 7:43 mile.  I was shooting for an 8 minute mile average and that’s not too far under.  But really, I do much better if I start off with a 9 minute mile.  And that’s not an issue with a half marathon because there’s so many miles to make it up.  I was tired climbing the hill in mile 2 but figured 6 miles is so short from what I’m used to, I just need to hang on.  Mile 2 was in 8:02.  Mile 3 was slower in 8:36 and put my average over 8 minutes.  Mile 4 came in at 8:23 which wasn’t aggressive enough.  I felt like I’d run faster.  The 5th mile felt on target although not quite fast enough in 8:05.  I did the math on the run by keeping an over/under tally of seconds from 8 minutes per mile.  I’m 46 seconds over with 1.2 miles remaining.

I picked up my pace running down Folsom and tried to keep running strong as the street gained elevation after Arapaho.  I told myself I’d put on a kick if that’s what it took to run under 50 minutes.  I don’t generally kick in races.  Seriously, in half marathons – what’s the point?  I even typically slow down a bit for a cool down the last half mile.  This is not unusual behavior for older runners.

I think I would have made it.  After 6 miles I was under 49 minutes and as I turned down that little seemingly downhill stretch before ascending into Folsom Stadium, my stomach cramped up and I began to heave.  Dry heaves I suppose, but the same motion as vomiting.  I can’t remember the last decade I threw up during a race.  This added another minute when I only had 90 seconds of running left to go.  That’s a bummer and I am a tad bit irritated.  But as I thought about it, I heaved from pushing a hard pace that final mile.  Had I run slower, I would not have cramped up and lost those precious minutes right at the end, but then I would have been slower from start.

I’m amazed with myself for running that hard.  This shows something.  This is not the same Ed who slows down the final half mile.  I’m ready to run another 10K soon to try for under 50 again.  Still, I wish I hadn’t gotten sick in front of the camera that feeds the jumbo stadium video screen.  There’s just no privacy anymore.

I waited in the stadium for my other friends to finish.  Everyone seemed to have a good run.  Watching the runners come in is quite a spectacle.  My favorite was when they played an uncensored version of Little Lion Man and then cut it short – but not before a few F-bombs were released.  Next up – Steve is talking about running the Sunrise Stampede on June 9th.  I smell a rematch.

Chicago Lakes Trail

27 Sunday May 2012

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I met up with Rob Friday evening at the Tommyknocker Brewery on Miner Street in Idaho Springs.  The place was okay.  The town was hopping.  Families have started their summer RV excursions to Colorado.  A year ago today I was hiking across the Georgia Pass where the Colorado Trail first crosses the Continental Divide.  This weekend’s hike is the Chicago Lakes Trail at Mt. Evans.

Rob found us a killer camp site off Hwy 103 just south of Idaho Spings and a few miles north of the Chicago Lakes trail head at Echo Lake.  We enjoyed the view of a nice meadow from our camp site as we smoked Cohibas that I smuggled back from Mexico a week earlier.  I’m not much of a cigar smoker, but these were seriously smooth.  Very nice.  The temperature dropped quickly as the sun set.  Bummer there’s a fire ban but the Cohibas kept us warm.

We slept in late by typical standards, not waking up until sometime after 5:30am.  Rob brewed some coffee and then we drove a few miles further down Hwy 103 to the Echo Lake Lodge and trail head.  We started off planning to climb Mt. Evans but pulled up a couple of miles short.  The hiking was extremely slow going – 2.2 mph overall and 3.3 mph moving – as the trail was buried in places by fallen trees from a recent blow-down.

We encountered a pretty Colorado girl returning on the trail shortly after embarking ourselves.  She said the blow-down was too difficult to cross.  Some of the trees could be scaled but other patches required a bit of bushwhacking to get around.  It certainly contributed to a slower pace.  The decision to skip Mt. Evans was less due to time however and for me more about avoiding the wind.  The weather was decent for this hike with temperatures in the 60s and mostly sunny skies, but the wind and blow-downs presented obstacles.  Understand when I say wind, I’m referring to massive chinook gusts that could seemingly pick a hiker up off the trail and carry him down the mountain as it proved it could do with the trees.

I imagine this is a popular hike.  Discounting the fallen trees, the terrain isn’t too steep and there’s numerous lakes.  The slope actually declines for the first two and a half miles and the rise after that isn’t too tough.  It rises dramatically from where we turned at the 11,800 foot Upper Chicago Lake and the 14,265 foot Mt. Evans summit.  This is also an easy 90 minute drive from Denver, and there are tons of cabins and really nice camping areas.

I was of course concerned about my foot injury, not knowing if this stress would cause further strain.  I’ve gone three weeks now without any real running.  I tried a few miles in Mexico over a week earlier and that hurt, but my foot felt stronger this week.  I wore my pair of Salomon trail running shoes, thinking the tread would be stiffer than my other options.  Turned out to be a good call because we had to traverse a few decent sized snow packs and these shoes have good traction.  They are also water-proof.  The next day my foot was a bit stiff but not that sore and I can feel it’s improved.  I plan to still run the Bolder Boulder 10K on Monday.

We dined at the Echo Lake Lodge that sits at the trail head.  This is convenient for sure.  I can’t recall anywhere on the Colorado Trail where a cafe was ensconced right at the trail head.  The Mt. Princeton Hot Springs and Spa is pretty close to the Chalk Creek Trail Head south of Buena Vista.  The food at the lodge was fantastic but their specialty is pie.  I didn’t finish my entree so that I’d have room for some dessert.  Wow!  The Echo Lake Lodge is worth a weekend destination drive just for lunch and pie.

Puerto Aventuras

19 Saturday May 2012

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Say hello to my little friend.  This iguana seems to prefer sitting pool side with us gringos all day.  Not used to the heat and humidity of the Yucatan, I prefer sitting inside the pool all day.  This is day 8 of my vacation in Puerto Aventuras with friends and we leave for the Cancun airport in a few hours.

Day one travel was uneventful until driving out of the rental car agency.  The Policia pulled us over within the first mile for a gratuitous shake down – ostensibly for not wearing seat belts but the steepness of the fine appeared negatively correlated to my ability to negotiate in Spanish.  Mexico 1 – Ed 0.

The drive to Puerto Aventuras was easy enough, especially since I wasn’t driving.  It’s less than an hour south down Carretera 307.  We met with Doug, the proprietor of Brisa Caribe.  Doug’s an interesting Canadian ex-pat who designed this casa and had it built after a 27 year career in the seismic exploration for oil and gas.  He showed us around and then trusted us to ourselves.  Tina – the German chef – cooked us an outrageous Greek dinner and we enjoyed some night time swimming.  Per Amy – “the beer flowed like wine.”

I tried running Sunday morning but the subsequent swelling in my left foot was enough for me to give up on that idea.  There’s been no noticeable healing after a week of abstention.  I suspect I’ll need to take off a good 6 weeks.  Even snorkeling with fins at Akumal stressed my injury.  Really nice beach and quaint pueblo though.  I saw 3 tortugas and a stingray.  I picked up some nice gifts for the girls at the local shops and finished the visit with an ice cream at Lucy’s.

Karen and I have been able to stay in touch with the girls via a mix of texting and Facetime.  For a prorated $10 we can send and receive 50 international messages per month.  I disabled all Tweets from forwarding to my iPhone along with my data feature.  Brisa Caribe has decent wifi and Facetime allows us to video call Brit and Ellie.  We regret missing Ellie’s 4th grade talent show but Brit recorded it and posted it to YouTube for us to watch.  I also have an international calling plan but have used that sparingly since it’s still 59¢ per minute.  Other than Brit, I think the only person who called me was Karl my tenant.  Not sure why because I told him I was in Mexico and ended the call short.  I called my mom on Mother’s Day of course.  Otherwise I mostly used my iPhone to text my friends on this trip.

I have absolutely no idea of where the time has gone.  I mostly chilled on Sunday, exploring Puerto Aventuras by walking around, read “The Mongoliad” on my Kindle, and napped.  Tina cooked us another one of her fantastic dinners – this time it was Malaysian curry.  Monday included deep sea fishing.  Tuesday was Akumal and Dave grilled tenderloin for us.  Wednesday was a big road trip to Chichen Itza with Keith and Susan.  I think I hung out and read mostly on Thursday.  We celebrated Keith’s 50th that night while Karen led us all in Zumba.  Karen and I took the ferry from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel on Friday.

The Mayan ruins were so cool and certainly a highlight.  We drove a northern route through Cancun and then west on the 180 tollway.  There were two tolls, one for about $15 and another for maybe $2.  There was another small fee for parking and then we had to buy two tickets to enter.  One from the state and another from the federal government.  Apparently they don’t trust each other well enough to staff a single ticket master.  We arrived early but the crowd was already fairly thick – mostly Mexican tourists.  Entering was quick however and as soon as we walked inside we were within a few shorts steps of the ruins.

Our Mayan guide Luis explained to us how the pyramid was an architectural calendar.  The 91 steps on each side represent the days per quarter – with a final step on top for 365.  The terraces count their 18 months.  Tourists visit on the Equinox because of how the sun illuminates the snake that adorns the edges top to bottom.  Discovering the acoustics was surprising.  They bake the limestone to better bounce voices and stack them large to small stones in order to carry sound up the walls.  We returned on a southern route via Tulum, stopping off in Valladolid for lunch.  We took advantage of that stop to pick up a nice bottle of Mezcal from a Tequileria.

I’ve only been averaging a few drinks per week ever since Moab in a vain attempt to lose weight – which has been successful.  That was closer to my hourly average down here.  This week, fishing was really drinking.  Swimming was really drinking.  Volleyball?  More drinking.  With that said, I rarely felt drunk.  Either the beer here is hops flavored water, or I’ve been sweating out the alcohol as fast as I’ve been taking it in.  I can’t say the same about the Mezcal.  At Keith’s birthday party, the Mezcal flowed like wine.  We polished off those 750 milliliters in 3 nights.

This trip was mostly planned by Amy and Julie and I can’t thank them enough.  Well, actually I think I can as Karen and I bought each of them a little souvenir salsa bowl in Cozumel.  That will have to do.

I suspect everyone enjoyed themselves equally.  Most were religious in their morning runs.  Amy and Julie were in constant facetime contact with their families.  It occurs to me I might be only one without an iPad.  For the most part we did everything together.  Not everyone golfed.  Karen and I skipped the Cenotes for Cozumel.  I didn’t read as much as I thought I would.  I did very little work – mostly processing email from my iPhone.  This has been a true vacation.  I feel bad that this trip worried my mom but fortunately the Cartels kept missing us.  I can’t say enough about how nice La Brisa Caribe is and highly recommend it.  Click on the link above.  Doug has established the perfect vacation home for large gatherings.  And take advantage of having Tina cook for you.  She cost less than most meals out and her food is wonderful.  We mixed up the venues, eating mostly outside.  Brisa Caribe has four different settings with tables large enough to seat a dozen guests.

I’m about ready to hit publish on this blog and get dressed for my last morning in paradise.  We’ll have a few hours to do one final activity before catching our flights home.  The adjustment back to reality will be hard but I’m looking forward to seeing my kids again.  Jack too.  Adios Puerto Aventuras.

No Running for Old Men

09 Wednesday May 2012

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I tried to run through this foot injury but it’s a busy week with work and I just don’t feel like it anymore.  I haven’t run now since Saturday.  I’m going to do what any sensible slacker would do and take time off until I heal properly.  There’s no running for old men.

I’m a little bummed because I was starting to average longer runs of 7 and 8 miles per day.  This ain’t intramurals brother.  Running starts to become addictive at that daily distance.  Fortunately, I have a box of Buster Bars to help me get over the sudden decrease in endorphins.  Thanks Jules.  I also wanted to train for the Bolder Boulder 10K on Memorial Day weekend but I don’t care really.  I might not beat last year’s time but at least I know I can run that distance regardless of my conditioning.

These pictures finally arrived from the CPTR.  If it looks like Rob and I are walking, well we probably are.  That picture above was taken at the crest of the first big climb at the 11 mile point and 9200 feet.  So yes, these two old men aren’t running here either.  Neither was anyone else.  These mountain trail runs are more of a shuffle really than balls-out running.  You take what the course gives you.

I really liked the fact Rob and I were able to stay together the entire course.  We didn’t plan that and it’s rare I run a full race alongside a buddy.  Although this is one event I didn’t need a friend to talk to.  Ultra runners are the chattiest group of athletes I’ve ever encountered.  I had maybe a dozen conversations on this run.  The CPTR was a very enjoyable event.  I’ll consider it again next year.

Zumba Party

06 Sunday May 2012

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Karen dances too fast for me to get a clear picture, but you can see clearly enough that she’s smiling.  I’m trying to think if I’ve ever smiled while working out.  Doubtful.  Zumba is dance fitness and it must be fun because Karen smiles throughout the hour long sessions.

She went to a Zumba Party last night.  This was essentially a 2 hour Zumba workout.  Only Zumba would refer to a 2 hour workout as a party.  Karen lead 6 of the songs.  She gets a real kick out of Zumba – whether she’s teaching the class or participating.  When she practices her routines on the living room hardwood, I sit on the couch and watch.  It’s pretty sexy.  This workout has everything going for it.

Internet Diagnostics

03 Thursday May 2012

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Turns out the Internet was wrong, my foot is not broken.  My visit to Dr. Steed (pictured here with his family) at Flat Irons Foot & Ankle today countered what the Internet diagnosed to be a broken metatarsal in my left foot.  To be fair, an MRI might find a crack but the X-Ray was negative.  The really good news here is that Dr. Steed feels it’s not necessary to totally demobilize.  I told him I’d like to continue running 3 and 4 mile distances.  He responded that I would need to run in my normal training shoes and not the minimalist pair, and advised to shore up my stability with some more inserts.  Otherwise he wasn’t concerned I would cause more damage.  He also advised applying a topical analgesic.

It also turns out that my pain is not in my metatarsal, but just north of there in my medial cuneiform.  Or maybe between that and the cuboid.  There’s no swelling or bruising.  If I have time today, I’m going to squeeze in 3 miles this evening.  Four days without a run is a modern day record.  I can’t let it go to five days.

CPTR

29 Sunday Apr 2012

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Airplanes typically maintain cabin pressure at an equivalent altitude of 6,900 feet, by pumping pressurized air into the aircraft.  This is to avoid hypoxia, altitude sickness, decompression sickness and barotrauma.  The starting line to the Collegiate Peaks Trail Run hovers at about 8000 feet – and routes runners upward from there.  Actually there was a small dip the first half mile down to the river crossing, the rest seemed forever uphill with over 3000 feet of elevation gain.

I met Rob in Buena Vista Friday evening.  We listened to some of the pre-race prep at the information session at 7pm, then we went to eat some pizza at the Eddyline Pub.  The place has pretty good food.  Pizza was outstanding.  Our waitress Sara sat with Rob for a picture.  This was walking distance from the Community Center where the race will start and where we heard the pre-race information session.  We stealth camped within walking distance yet again.  There were a few RVs and other runners camping in their cars.  We chose to setup our tents.  Being so close to the race start would be convenient considering the gun fires at 6:30am.

We woke at 4:30 and I discovered what gear I forgot at home. First was my coffee cup.  It fell out of my camping bucket after my Moab trip and ended up in a kitchen cabinet – where it still sits.   I used an empty Gatorade bottle for my coffee.  Worked out ok.  As we were gearing up, I learned that I also forgot my gators.  I figured they probably weren’t critical and turns out they weren’t.  Would have been nice though.  It’s difficult determining what to wear that early in the morning when it’s still cold out but I planned to wear the long-sleeved tech t-shirt I got with my race packet.  I added my short-sleeve tech t-shirt I got from the Moab race as a bottom layer to cut the wind.  I was able to take off the bottom shirt later as I warmed up.

My big decision was on shoes.  I seriously wanted to wear my new Merrell’s but my recent foot injury precluded that option.  I needed some cushion.  I went with my road training shoes over my trail shoes.  I had the impression these trails wouldn’t be too technical and my road shoes are softer.  I’m pretty lucky to be able to run at all.  I had to take off two days from running after straining my foot.  Then I ran 3 miles Tuesday followed by 7 miles Wednesday wherein my foot hurt too much again to run Thursday or Friday.  I drove out here on faith that I’d be able to put some pressure on my foot.

My new Camelbak running vest helped keep me warm as we queued up for the run.  There could not have been much more than 300 runners.  These ultras are smaller affairs.  Everything’s different about an ultra.  The runner’s all look amazing.  I love to see a crowd like this of such fit people.  The age skew is definitely older.  And I would guess over half were women.  Mostly really pretty women.  I call this an ultra because while some of us are running 25 miles, others are running 50 today.

I’m blogging this before I receive pictures which is too bad because this is one of the most scenic courses I’ve ever run.  I wish I would have carried my iPhone to take my own shots.  Bad call leaving that behind.  But at least I didn’t lose it like I did my car key.  I stored my key in the vest pocket and it dropped out on the trail.  Thankfully a runner picked it up from the trail and turned it into lost and found.

The trail and course were incredible.  We launched from the community center on a little bit of road but hit the trail quickly.  A funnel squeezed the line of runners after a half mile as we crossed the river but generally there was ample room to pass – even on the single track although there were lots of jeep trails.  The ground was rarely rocky and oftentimes sandy.  It was soft from rain earlier in the week.  The first half of the course provided the most awesome views of the Collegiate Peaks – simply spectacular.  Quite a few runners would stop to snap pictures.  The second half of the course wound through canyons on sandy river beds snaking through rocky walls on both sides.  The course was very well marked and easy to follow.

Many runners were willing to chat, especially after the line thinned out half way into the course.  An ultra has a different feel to it.  The participants enjoy what they’re doing.  It’s not a workout to them.  As hard as running 25 can be, these runners are in their essence and enjoying every minute of it.  I don’t know the science behind it, but women do very well at ultra distances.  And I think of the younger runners at this event, most were girls.

My biggest pain in this race was from my shorts chaffing my legs.  There wasn’t any vaseline at the aid stations so I had to tough it out.  Otherwise the aid stations were perfectly positioned about every four miles and offered good food and drink.  My legs were completely spent by 18 miles and it reminded me of the IPR where the last 7 miles were downhill.  Thankfully the down slope was rarely steep, unlike Telluride.  I was surprised I did some downhill walking but my legs were that exhausted.  I even walked a bit of the final mile.  If you look at the garmin results I linked above, you can figure I was mostly walking anywhere the mile split is over 15 minutes.  My time was 5:33 (a 13 minute per mile pace) which is what I expected to run and I’m pretty happy with it.  With two big climbs, this course isn’t easy, but it’s possibly one of the most beautiful in Colorado.  As bonus, BV has some good eateries.  From the town to the runners and race direction, this event is an outstanding experience.  Highly recommended.

Foot Injury

25 Wednesday Apr 2012

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Ouch!  Last weekend’s 14 mile trail run strained something in my foot.  I’m not sure exactly but it feels to be around the navicular, perhaps in one of the joints.  It’s sensitive if I push down on the top of my foot and hurts to run.  Actually, I couldn’t run for two days afterward.  I could barely walk Sunday but was able to finally run 3 miles on Tuesday in a pair of cushioned shoes.

This is a real bummer in light of my plans to run 25 miles Saturday.  I was in panic mode at first thinking I wouldn’t be able to run it at all.  Now I’m thinking the biggest casualty will be that I won’t be able to run it in my minimalist Merrell Trail Gloves.  I worked so hard to accustom myself to running in them in a two week window before the CPTR.  Hard to ignore the possibility this aggressive training contributed to the strain.  Ironically, my calves didn’t even hurt after the 14 miler, but it felt like I broke my foot.

I recall the probable cause.  I twisted my foot, actually entire leg, somehow around 4 miles.  It didn’t hurt and I didn’t notice any pain throughout the run.  It was just some weird tweak that ran up my leg as my foot hit the ground at an odd angle.  Pretty sure that’s the event that strained my foot.  If the pain persists, I’ll visit a doctor.  I don’t want to before Saturday though because that can only turn out badly.  According to the Internet, I might have a stress fracture.  I can just picture myself having to walk around in a splint of some sort for the next six weeks.  No thanks.

Chia Fresca

21 Saturday Apr 2012

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Met up with Enrique, an old friend, yesterday for drinks at the West End Tavern.  We caught up while enjoying a view of the Flat Irons from the rooftop seating.  Enrique said his parents, whom I care for as deeply as my own, are virtual fountains of youth and doing well.  That was nice to hear.  We had a pleasant happy hour, then he drove to DIA and I went home to the family.  Drove Ellie to a sleep-over and then it was just Karen and me – and the dog.  Around ten in the evening, Karen decided to practice her Zumba routines on the living room hardwood.  She was working mostly on “Proud Mary”.  I sat on the couch and watched.  I rose the next morning at 6:15 and felt great.

Winter is over, and so are three half marathons.  Four months into twenty-twelve, I’ve discovered some weight gain from an ever slowing metabolism is affecting my performance.  I’ve discovered a few other things as well.  How to lose weight.  Minimalist running shoes.  Chia seeds.  And a leaky Camelbak.  Today was a test run on some of these topic areas to prep for next Saturday’s CPTR.

I can remember Karen telling me before we were ever married that I would suffer the sins of my fast metabolism.  That my eating habits would make me fat once my metabolism slowed down because I wasn’t learning healthy diet discipline while I was young.  I scoffed at her bruja predictions and married her anyway.  Twenty-five years later Karen weighs the same and, well, I’ve gained more than one pound per year of marital bliss.  I used to always be able to start running and get it back under control.  Now, I’ve had to moderate my calories derived from alcohol and increase my running mileage.  Three and four miles do nothing, it takes a good six or more to stoke my fire nowadays.  That’s fine, I like running.  And I’ve had some success recently at driving back the beast within my belly.  Today’s 14 miles burned nearly 1800 calories and afterward I weighed 180.  Nice progress.

The shoes were today’s big gear test.  Most advice I’ve received regarding running with barefoot or minimalist shoes as I am now suggest running in them for 2 to 3 miles perhaps every other day.  I’ve worn them on every run since I bought them last Sunday.  I didn’t run every day this week – too busy – but I started out with 4 miles and worked my way up to 7.  My calves felt it but they would loosen up enough to run again the next day.  The question today is, could I run 14 miles on a rocky trail with my Merrell Trail Gloves?  If so, then it will add confidence to my plan to wear them for Saturday’s 25 mile trail run.

The other test project has to do with chia seeds.  True to plan, I’ve been eating them all week.  I don’t know if they’ve helped me necessarily.  It’s hard to feel.  But when I consider that I’ve run with these minimalist shoes all week – shoot – maybe the seeds are helping.  I simply followed the chia fresca recipe during the week.  That involves a couple of table spoons of seed in a ratio of 7:1 water sitting for a few minutes in the fridge.  It gels up a bit into the base for Iskiate.  First I drank it as is.  There’s no flavor but the consistency isn’t all that great.  So I quickly evolved the drink into a Chia Fresca by adding Gatorade.  Not bad.  Today I made my first smoothie with the seeds.  This is definitely the way to go but I’ll probably only do it on weekends, or maybe later in the summer as it gets hotter.  I added a banana, a tangerine, a dollop of blackberries.  Basically any fruit sitting around the kitchen.  I topped it off with ice, Snapple’s apple juice and the Iskiate.  When are smoothies not good?  I had this after today’s 14 miler.

Other gear that got tested today included a new Camelbak Ultra hydration running vest.  My old one burst on this trail last weekend.  The new one worked out nicely.  It contains a 2 liter (70 ounce) hydration reservoir.  I only drank half the water which isn’t enough.  Rule of thumb calculations suggest I should drink 15 ounces per hour.  That would be 45 ounces for today’s 3 hour run.  I tend not to hydrate enough but this wasn’t too far off.  It does tell me that I’ll be fine carrying 2 liters for Saturday’s 25 mile run.  I expect to run it somewhere around 5 and a half hours.  I’ll also plan on drinking at the aid stations.  Hopefully their drinks will be chilled.

Today’s run was on the same Picture Rock Trail in Heil Valley Ranch that I ran 11 miles on last week.  My pace was nearly a minute slower overall at 12:30 per mile but I actually ran the first 5 miles quicker than last week.  The Garmin site offers a nice compare feature for multiple activities.  I’ve found my trail legs and these Merrells seem to help.  I focused on lifting my legs and trusted my feet to land safely among the rocks.  It’s a good sign of my trail experience that my feet found the right surface with each stride.  These shoes help as they almost force you to land on your forefoot.  Feet need to work independently on trails and I feel that these minimalist shoes aid that process.  I did step on pointy rocks a couple of times with my heel.  This hurts but it was rare.  My feet became a bit fatigued though.  I think this is why I returned slower than last weekend.  More so than the 3 extra miles.  I was barely breathing on the return decline but my feet were becoming too tender to blaze downhill.  I’ll monitor my progress next week but the plan of record is to wear these shoes for the CPTR.

I finished up today feeling strong other than fatigued feet.  I stopped off at the Black Bear Hole in Lyons to soak my feet and calves in the St. Vrain River for an icy bath.  I credit that with my recovery today.  Gotta get up the strength for a neighborhood party tonight.

Barefoot

15 Sunday Apr 2012

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REI, like my USAA home and car insurance company, is a Co-op.  At the end of each year, they give their customers members rebates.  I used my rebate this morning to buy these minimalist trail shoes from Merrell.  I even got $5 back in change.  From REI, I took Canyon to Broadway and worked my way through The Hill over to Baseline.  At the Chautauqua Trailhead, I slapped on my new shoes for my first experiment with the “barefoot running” hype.

The advice, and I’ve received plenty, says to start off with short distances to allow your feet to adapt.  Immediately I felt like I probably won’t need to take it slow.  I expect to be able to run all week in these.  They feel fine.  But I only did about a 3 mile hike in them.  The Amphitheater Trail is extremely vertical, so I did very little actual running.  Today’s workout was more of a shuffle.  First uphill and then back down.  I ran in spurts but honestly my legs were too fatigued from yesterday’s trail romp in Lyons to do much running today.  I covered 3 miles in an hour which is essentially a walking pace, but it was also 1000 feet of elevation in 1.5 miles which is essentially a ladder.

Snow began to fall a mile into my run and the wind picked up as I neared Green Mountain.  I was dressed fine for it though with a long-sleeved all-weather gear shirt from Under Armour.  The trail was wet from yesterday’s rain.  The shoes did well navigating mud but I had to be careful on the descent over the slick rocks and logs.  Still, assuming I adapt to these shoes over the next two weeks, I think I might be able to wear them for the 25 mile CPTR.

The experiment with minimalist shoes has been on my radar for awhile.  My left foot still suffers from plantar fasciitis.  Not nearly as bad – I’d say about 20% of the initial pain remains.  I assume part of this is from getting better support in all my shoes but I actually suspect the improvement stems mostly from stretching.  The argument for minimalist shoes, or even barefoot running, is that modern shoes cause most injuries.  Or said another way, Nike created a boon for Podiatrists with their waffle trainer in the ’70s.  The extra protection against impact and pronation and supination isn’t needed and in fact causes us to run in ways that lead to injury.  Without modern footwear, runners take a shorter stride and fall more mid to fore foot.  And this leads to less injury.  The other reason I’m willing to experiment with barefoot style flats is these shoes were sort of free with my REI rebate.  We’ll see how the next couple of weeks pan out.

Caballo Blanco

14 Saturday Apr 2012

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I laced up my training shoes as Karen pulled up in the car – returning from teaching a Zumba class.  A little after 1pm.  I was seriously itching to hit the Heil Valley Ranch trail today for a big run.  Partly because the front was expected to hit any minute.  I would be fine in the rain and snow but my weather channel app showed the wind increasing steadily with each passing hour of the day.  The other reason for my impatience was I just couldn’t wait to get out on the trail.  I might be picking up a little addiction to the endorphins.  Most of my runs  go for an hour or more now.  That’s enough time to fire up a nice runner’s high.  My runs are becoming a nice little habit.  Today’s 10.5 mile run was exceptional.

I got to the trail head a little before 2pm.  I’m prepping for a mountain trail run in two weeks and decided I would use my weekend runs to replicate the race as much as possible.  I wore my small pack with a 2 liter camelback.  I added cytomax to the water.  And I brought along a selection of running clothes to make the last minute decision on what to wear.  The weather was cool and breezy, but no rain or snow yet.  It will definitely be storming before I finish this in 2 hours.

I layered shirts with a summer-thin Under Armour long-sleeve high-tec fabric underneath covered with a light fleece pullover.  The thought was the undershirt would whisk away sweat into the outer garment.  This ensemble performed perfectly.  I simply wore shorts for my legs.  This was comfortable starting out although I pulled up my sleeves after two miles.

This course is great prep for Buena Vista.  It rises non-stop until I decide to turn around.  I turn after 5.5 miles where there’s a sign noting the trail joins a loop near the crest of the hill.  My garmin actually shows this to be 5.25 miles.  This garmin result link shows all the stats.  You can see how the course rises from 5400 feet to 6400 feet where I turn.  1000 feet in elevation change over 5.5 miles.  The CPTR rises 1000 feet in 9 miles – including a 200 foot drop on the 7th mile.  So the steepness of the grade will provide decent conditioning to my legs.  Then the rocks on this trail require constant vigilance.  I decided against listening to a playlist so I would focus on the trail.  The attention required for each footfall, thousands of repeating footfalls, is almost hypnotic.  I could have run forever in this ultimate escape.

You have to plan each foot placement on the rocks in micro seconds.  When a decision to yield to bikers coming the other direction must be made, I make it at the last possible second.  So do many of the bikers.  I generally feel like we can both pass without anyone stopping.  The bikers were aggressive today and few ever yielded.  I rarely yielded as well, especially as I was flying down on the return.  Hills, footwork, gear testing, but the best part was the total escape of the run itself.  I felt great.

Testing my gear was brilliant.  Turns out I have a leak in my camelbak.  I’ll pick up a new one tomorrow at REI.  The drink leaked out over the back of my shorts.  As the wind and cold increased near the end of the run, I got a bit chilled.  So the dry clothes in my car came in handy.  Good test run.

In honor of the Caballo Blanco, pictured above, this will be the summer of mountain trail runs.  I’ll be training on trails every weekend that I’m not actually running a trail race.  My first will be the Collegiate Peaks Trail Run on April 28th.  I could feel Caballo Blanco’s spirit on the trail today.  Hope to see him again tomorrow when I climb the Amphitheater Trail up the Flat Irons in Boulder.  It should be snowing.

Iskiate

14 Saturday Apr 2012

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Yes I did.  I ordered three pounds of chia seeds online.  I was completely sober and not responding to a TV sales pitch.  I’m currently reading Born to Run where the author describes how chia seeds fuel the Tarahumara Indians (the running people) to run ultra distances without tiring.  And I went for it by ordering some seeds and energy bars.

Chia seeds are said to contain the following nutrients:   linolenic acid, linoleic acid; antioxidants: chlorogenic and caffeic acids, myricetin, quercitin, and kaempferol flavonol. chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid and flavonol glycosides; mucin, fibre; 8 essential amino acids (score 115).  Plus these vitamins: A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B15, B17, C, D, E, K, choline, folic acid, inositol, PABA.  And these minerals: boron, calcium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorous, potassium, silicon, sodium, strontium, sulphur, zinc, amylose (a slow-burning starch helpful in treating hypoglycemia), and electrolytes.

I intend to experiment with various portable recipes over the next two weeks in order to carry the optimal solution on my 25 mile CPTR run on the 28th.  I’m thinking Iskiate might be the best choice – a mix of seeds and water with a little lime.  I expect my order to arrive Monday.  Stop by for a drink of Iskiate.

Running Five-0

06 Friday Apr 2012

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So this is it.  I become a 50 year old runner later this month.  I now carry an AARP card in my wallet.  Seriously looking forward to the discounts.  I’d like to say I’m also looking forward to being more competitive in my age division, but that’s doubtful in Colorado.  In my defense, I’m about as competitive with the 25 year old age division.  It seems to be that way with distance running – you can only slow down so much without tipping over.  Truthfully, it’s not unusual to maintain or even increase aerobic capacity with age.  Sort of like nose and ear hair.  And I can honestly say I ran the same Bolder Boulder 10K time in 2011 as I did in 1991 – 48 minutes.  Of course I ran a 41 minute 10K in 1990.  Not sure what happened in ’91 other than Brit being born.  Karen recalls my favorite phrase at the time was, “I’m putting on sympathetic pregnancy weight”.  I’ve always been a team player.

I would like to improve my speed a bit because I like racing fast, but it’s more important to me to simply be fit at this age.  And to demonstrate that, I am planning for a big year of runs.  I’ve already run 3 half marathons this year.  The picture above is of me finishing the 2012 Boulder Half.  My next big event is a 25 mile trail run at high altitude – the Collegiate Peaks Trail Run on April 28th – four days after I will have turned 50.  I expect to run that with my high school cross country buddy Rob Graham.  The dude’s 51 and I struggle to keep up with him.

The next run I’ve registered for is the 2012 Bolder Boulder.  My goal there will in fact be speed as I would like to beat last year’s time.  Or if not, if I can just beat some of my neighbors I’ll be content.  I expect to run more half marathons.  I like that distance – mostly on trails.  And then, assuming I’m in shape, I would like to run the Denver Marathon again in the fall.  Or perhaps the Boulder Marathon which I’ve never run.  And the biggie of the year will be a return to Ouray for the Imogene Pass Run.  That’s only 17 miles but in my estimation is much harder than a marathon.  I do that and it’ll be a good year.

Boulder Half 2012

01 Sunday Apr 2012

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It’s been two weeks since I had a drink.  So I woke up this morning and had myself a beer, immediately after having run the 2012 Boulder Half Marathon in 2:03.  Except it wasn’t really 13 miles at a 9:24 pace.  It was 2 x 6.55 mile runs, the first one at about a 9:40 pace and the second half around 9:05 per mile.  I broke this run into two routines, like I did last year.  Part of the reason for doing this is because this course goes out uphill and returns downhill.  I’m just taking what the course gives to me and making a workout from it.  I did repeat last year’s negative split by a similar margin, although I ran quite a bit slower overall today.

I arrived at the Boulder Res around 7am.  I parked and began to walk around.  I wore fleece sweat pants and a wind jacket, but might have been fine without them.  It was warm.  I walked around the setup in circles until the race started.  I used the facilities a couple of times and returned my warmup gear to the car before the start, fairly certain that shorts and a tech t-shirt would be fine for today.  It was.

One thing unique to this race is how runners just mill around like fitness Zombies until the last minute before the race gun fires.  And this is fully orchestrated by the race director from his mic.  There is no sense of where to stand with the line of runners until he gives the go ahead to line up.  In 60 seconds, everyone does.  It’s like everyone around here is an old pro at this stuff.  The only reason I notice this is because I’m looking for a pace sign to stand next to – as an aid not to start off too quickly.  There are none.  I decide to take my chances by simply standing where I’m at.  I’d start in the very back, but I don’t know where that is in this shapeless queue.

I didn’t wear my Garmin thinking I wouldn’t need it.  I’m going out slow and hoping to run back fast.  I know what slow and fast feel like.  Having run this last year, I also know the results will include splits for the two halves of the run.  That’s all I’m interested in knowing.  To reiterate what I said up top, it appears I ran my game plan, but I don’t know that I did entirely.  I almost wish I did wear my garmin to prove this but I am certain I started out way too fast.  I was tired the first half.  I did recover and settle into a nice pace by the turn around point, but I felt heavy until the course turned downhill.   Last year I ran fairly hard the entire run back, except for a cool down the last half mile.  This year I only ran hard on the noticeably steeper downhills.  Then I would slow back down again.  Sort of an organic fartlek set by the natural course terrain rather than timed rest intervals.  Even though this is perhaps my slowest overall half marathon time in recent memory, I’m happy with the workout.

I should add the heat played a factor today.  I drank at all the aid stations except for the final.  I don’t usually drink at more than two of them for a half marathon.  I made a good call on wearing the single short sleeved t-shirt.  The breeze felt cool at times, but of course that was welcome relief.

The story on the picture above is this.  First, I don’t have any race photos yet.  That might take a few days.  The other thing is I discovered this drink today after the run.  Vuka setup shop next to the compost and I grabbed one of their aluminum bottles from a barrel they stocked with ice water.  I used it for a few minutes like an ice pack, cooling down my head and neck.  I loved this thing before I ever drank it.  I don’t know what good stuff it’s made from, you can read up on them if you click on the link.  But it’s a tasty beverage.  I only took a few sips of the complimentary beer because I liked this more.  I grabbed a stack of Vuka coupons before leaving.  Actually only four, it felt like more at the time but they are a bit thick.  I’ll leave them on my porch for anyone who stops by and wants to try it out with a $1 discount.

I didn’t hang around very long for the post-run festivities because I didn’t know anyone and it was hot.  I tossed my beer after a few sips and headed home slurping my Vuka.  I’m not overly concerned that I ran slower than my typical pace because I treated this like a workout.  I was happy to see my weight afterwards was 184.  I haven’t seen that number on a scale since 2010.  I’ll take that as my win today.

Boulder Half Prep

30 Friday Mar 2012

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I ran into Keith on the LoBo Trail this afternoon.  We finished up the second half of my run together.  I took advantage of the opportunity to try shaming him into running the Boulder Half on Sunday.  We’ll see if he shows up at the Boulder Res on race day.  This is another pic of me running the Moab Half two weeks ago, apparently later in the run as the crowd is a bit thinner.

I’ve been putting in some decent distance since Moab.  Now that it’s daylight savings time I’ve begun to run after work and that gives me more time for longer runs.  And I hammered out 23 miles over the weekend.  I’m not considering resting my legs for the Boulder Half.  Like last year, I’ll treat it more like a workout.  If things go the way I want, I’ll start off slow the first half – which is uphill, then run faster the second half back downhill.  In a sense, it’s really only a 6.5 mile run.

Of course, the entire run could turn into a giant 13 mile slog but I’m hoping for a fun downhill 6.5 miles after an easy 6.5 mile warmup.  The whole thing is a warmup really to prep for my next big event – the 25 mile Collegiate Peaks Trail Run on April 28th.  That’s the big enchilada I need to get in shape for.  That’s almost like a marathon.  Seriously, despite being a mile short, it stands to be much tougher.  And longer time-wise.  Trail runs at altitude usually are.

This puppy will begin at 8000 feet and rise to 9200 feet after 10 miles.  Then it drops back down to 8400 feet only to rise yet again to 9400 feet at 18 miles.  By contrast, Moab only changed 100 feet in elevation – several times – but hardly the same as this.  The Collegiate Peaks are awesome.  I hiked this area for the first time last summer as part of the Colorado Trail.  These trails will be different, east of Buena Vista, but I’m excited to get back out there.  I’ll be blogging more on this over the next month as I train for my first big run of the year.

Thanks Sir – Have a Good Run

27 Tuesday Mar 2012

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With the Austin and Moab half marathons behind me, and spring having launched this past week, I’m officially in spring training.  Daylight savings time has allowed me to move my runs to after work which gives me time to run farther.  And so I’ve begun to run a route that’s 6.8 miles.  But this weekend I really kicked it into gear, running 10.4 miles Saturday and 13 miles Sunday.  I ran pretty slow on both days – in the range of ten minute miles.  But these trail runs are seriously hilly.

The East Boulder Trail I ran on Saturday begins and ends with a 3 mile section of massive hills.  And Sunday’s run at Heil Valley Ranch goes up until I turn around.  I didn’t time myself because I expected to be crawling and I was.  Of course it’s downhill all the way back but my legs were too wasted to take it fast.  This is an extremely rocky trail, one that I’ve fallen hard on in the past, so I maintained control and focused on my foot work.  The uphill slog is all about thighs and foot work while the downhill return is all about knees and foot work.  The foot work is because of the rocks and is fine because I need to rediscover my trail legs since I intend to run several trail events this summer.  And my knees held out ok on the way down since I went slow enough.

A biker called out to me on the incline that he was impressed I still had the knees for this punishing trail.  The backwards compliment didn’t occur to me then and I shouted back that my knees are fine going uphill.  Later I realized he was also suggesting I’m an older runner.

This trail was actually crowded with bikers – it was a perfect spring morning with a cloud cover that never fully dissipated and a strong enough breeze of crisp cool air to keep me from over-heating without water for 2 hours.  Each time I passed some bikers either they would stop or I would pull over to let them pass.  There is official etiquette on who should yield to whom, but I make the call each time based on situational merits.  If they look like they will stop or if they need to stop, I’ll keep running.  If they look like they need to keep their momentum more than me or if they simply look strong, I’ll yield.  Sometimes there is room for both of us to squeeze by without stopping, but it is single track.

There’s typically a polite exchange.  If they pull over I say something like, “Thanks buddy”.  I received quite a number of “nice run” and “looking strong” comments.  Bikers always think runners have it tougher on hills.  But the very last biker to speak to me in the final mile said this as I pulled over for him.  “Thanks sir.  Have a good run.”  I shared little dialogs like this with over 20 bikers easily.  Some were even awkward as we would both stop not knowing who should yield.  Despite my exhaustion at this point, this guy irritated me.  Who the hell is he calling sir?  That’s fine when the bag boy says sir to me at the grocery store, but out here on the trail, when I’ve just completed 12 miles at altitude, don’t call me sir!  I’m on par with everyone out there, regardless of their age.  I passed my share of bikers, and other runners, both going uphill and back down.  I’m not a “sir” running like that, I’m a total bad-ass.  That skinny little runt probably didn’t even bike to the top.

Canyonlands

26 Monday Mar 2012

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My first night of camping in 2012 went fairly well.  It didn’t rain and the wind didn’t start up until late morning.  I woke up refreshed, despite the previous day’s countless beers.  Rob and I drove into Moab well before the 8am cutoff time when they would close Hwy 128 for the run.  It was barely after 6am when we walked into the Red Rock Bakery and Net Cafe.  And net cafe is an apt name – their wifi is screamin’ fast.  We had coffee of course, a cinnamon roll and banana.  We hung out longer than necessary to eat since we were fairly early.  The buses wouldn’t load up until 7:30.  And the bakery bathroom was going to be as good as it gets for some time.  I took the opportunity to catch up on IBM email since I’d taken Friday off.

Around 7:30 we left the bakery and car parked out front to walk over to Swanny City Park for the bus shuttle.  We weren’t in a hurry since this was a hurry up and wait scenario.  The sooner we got to the bus drop-off area, the longer we would have to wait sitting on rocks.  We took a 7:50 shuttle.  20 or 30 minutes before 10am, the race director instructs everyone to walk the quarter mile or so further up the hill to the race start.  A couple of gear drop-off trucks are on the way.  I committed to a short sleeve shirt and threw my gear bag in with the lot.  This was a little risky given the strong wind but it wasn’t as cold as last year and short sleeves would have been fine then once I got running.

The race starts on a hill top where the wind howls non-stop.  Enough to make me want some warm fleece, or someone to spoon with.  We ran into some of the ladies and told them we’d be starting at the 2 hour pace sign.  I expected to run under two hours but hoped to start off at a 9 minute mile pace for the first mile if not two in order to loosen up without tiring from oxygen debt.  There would be plenty of miles to speed up later.

The guys never showed up, although they could have been standing almost next to us and the crowd would have made it difficult to know.  I found out later Keith was in fact in the 2 hour group, ahead of us and on the right bank.  We were center and toward the back of the group.  Amazingly, we would run almost the exact same time and never see each other.  But I don’t know Keith’s splits.  Mine are in this graphic, and you can read them well enough if you click on the picture to enlarge it.  I started off too fast with an 8:25 pace the first mile and 8:40 the second.  This was fine for Rob as he left me after two miles and apparently sped up as he finished with an 8:22 overall pace.  Once I slowed down, I felt great.  I was more interested in running comfortably than speedy, and that’s what I did.  I’m somewhat impressed really at how consistent my splits are.  Eight of my 13 miles are in the 8:50s, and of course my overall average was 8:51.  I even ran the 9th mile, which as you can see from the elevation stats (or elevation profile map) has the big hill, in 8:55.

I’m disappointed that I slowed down to 9:13 on the 12th mile.  I had planned to run hard from the top of the 9 mile hill to the finish.  I did do well in mile 11 but the wind on mile 12 was a real bear.  And it was up hill again.  Many people think this course is essentially a downhill run.  The elevation map makes it appear that way, but actually for every 4 feet of elevation loss there are 3 feet of gain.  It’s a hilly run.  At altitude.  Something about the canyon though just sucks you in and makes you want to run this course fast.  Running into mile 10 is one of the coolest parts of this course.  As I see the canyon walls narrow up ahead I can’t help but think, “Indian ambush”.  Before I know it I start to hear drums.  I suspect maybe I’m hallucinating and tell myself to drink water at the next aid station.  The drums beat louder as I close in on the end of the canyon – nearing the junction where Hwy 128 will turn left onto Hwy 191.  That will start the uphill headwind toward the finish and I do expect that to be a battle.  Suddenly I turn a bend and come face-to-face with the green drummers.  Sort of sounds like they could be playing an Irish tune in honor of St. Patties Day.

Rob and Kelly sped through the Canyonlands with really good times.  This is Rob likely shouting “mahalo” to the cameraman and Kelly is in the red and white shirt in the first pic at the top of this post.  They didn’t seem to notice the hills and wind.  I’ll point out that neither of them beat my time from last year of 1:47, but I’ll admit the wind was considerably stronger and more persistent this year.  I’d like to know their splits on mile 12 when running into the head wind from hell.  There was a guy earlier in the race, maybe as early as mile 6, but somewhere in the second half that an aid was trying to pull off the course because he looked ready to topple over.  Safe to say he didn’t make it past mile 12.  Perhaps if I’d started out 20 seconds or so slower per mile I might have been able to keep up with Rob longer.  Or Kelly if I would have found him before the run began.  I didn’t exactly push myself to run hard in this event, but might have run a bit faster if I had someone to pace with closer to my speed.  I suspect if Keith and I had run together we would have run about a minute faster and felt none-the-worse afterward.  I didn’t even put on a kick.  I rarely do nowadays.  My final mile was in 8:50, again in line with my 8 splits in the 8:50 range.  That’s Keith in the pic below in a dark t-shirt with Steve – who also ran the same pace as us.

Despite the wind and hills, and the earthy-tasting, rock filtered air that clogged my mouth and throat, this year’s run was quite successful for my neighborhood.  Susan ran an unbelievable pace and the four of us that make up the twelve oclock running club all finished in under 2 hours.  Coach Jabe had a nice turnout from her training team – several running their first ever half marathon.  In fact, I don’t think Barb had even run a 10K before and yet she completed this challenging run like a seasoned pro.  Jabe is pictured below with the white hair and denim jacket.

As Rob and I were camping, we took advantage of Jabe and Eve’s hospitality to shower at their condo.  Actually Rob showered, I bathed in the hot tub for an hour drinking beer like camper trash.  The rest of Team Prospect came over later for dinner.  Camping out Saturday night was much less enjoyable than Friday as the howling wind made sleep difficult.  I returned to the camp site to discover my tent upside down and twisted from the wind.  Only laying in it kept it from blowing away.  At times the wind would completely flatten it over my body, which leaves me quite impressed with the flexible strength of my poles.

It was too windy to make coffee Sunday morning so Rob and I drove into town for breakfast at the Jailhouse Cafe.  Power was out all over town when we arrived so we had them heat us water from the gas stove which we used for our Starbucks Via Ready camping coffee.  The power was out from the wind but came on soon enough that we were able to order a hearty breakfast.  I dropped Rob off in Grand Junction and made it home by the afternoon.  I weighed my self to discover I somehow gained 5 pounds in Moab.  WTF?  I’m suddenly 195.  Apparently a mix of lactic acid and beer.  So I’m going two weeks – up until the Boulder Half Marathon – without drinking alcohol.  It’s been a week now and I’m back down to 190.  Actually 185  after a massive weekend of running, but that’s likely temporary from sweat loss.  I figure I drink 300 calories in beer and wine per day.  Minimum.  That adds up to a full day’s calories per week.  If it helps my weight, I might continue the booze free diet longer.  Depends how thirsty I get.

Fisher Towers

18 Sunday Mar 2012

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The 2012 season’s first hike and camping began not in Colorado but near Moab, Utah off highway 128 at Fisher Towers.  I drove to Grand Junction Thursday night on my journey to run the Moab Half Marathon on Saturday.  Rob was still returning from Durango where he was getting some new ink to mark the Mayan Apocalypse.  Sue hosted me and we watched 11th seed CU win in the first round of the NCAA tourney over UNLV.  Rob returned in time to see the victory.  Afterward we watched some Comedy Central shows Rob had recently DVR’d.

Friday morning the three of us ate breakfast at The Egg & I, Sue warned me to look out for Rob, and then we drove out of Colorado west on I-70.  Moab is less than two hours away and we took the exit for Hwy128 rather than Hwy 191.  Most mapping apps might suggest highway 191, but Hwy 128 is infinitely more scenic.  Plus this is the route to the trail head where Rob planned for us to get in a short hike.

Fisher Towers is a series of sandstone pillars that emerge in a southwesterly direction from a mesa on its northeastern flank.  Wikipedia describes them as “fins”  – three primary clusters of multiple sandstone spires.  These rock formations are instantly familiar as everyone has seen them in the movies or most recently in the Citibank commercial where Katie Brown summits the Ancient Art tower and stands on top.

I had suggested we get in a 3 to 5 mile run today since I hadn’t run much during the week and Rob thought this hike would be as good as any run.  Boy was it.  We started off running in fact, and I rediscovered my trail legs.  The hike is a bit technical in places, such as when we had to climb down an iron ladder.  After scaling the ladder, we turned left and continued back uphill.  We didn’t take any water on this hike thinking it would be short enough, but the dry air was aggressive in its attack to our mouths and throats.  My lips felt as if they had three  years of dead skin caked on to them.  Not bringing water was a gear fail, otherwise our shorts and t-shirts were perfect for the weather.

We watched some climbers working the cork screw summit of the middle cluster termed Ancient Art.  This was mouth-open, awe-inspiring, scary stuff.  Sometimes you forget what it’s like to watch death-defying stunts in real-life.  We watched a guy stand on the top like Katie in the commercial. For reals.  If Charlie Sheen has tiger blood, these climbers must have Mayan DNA.  Incredible!

After roughly an hour for 2.5 miles, we made the trail end.  If I described the view as high altitude desert, you probably wouldn’t be very impressed.  You have to experience it.  Hiking over the slick rock and breathing the rock-filtered air.  This is an amazing part of the world and well worth driving across the state border to hike or mountain bike.

The trail wasn’t crowded exactly, but we had company.  The trail head was full of cars, but mostly for climbers.  As we turned to depart from the trail end we encountered 3 sirens.  They nearly talked us into staying before our thirst brought us to our senses and we continued back to the trail head.  We discovered this rock window on the return – not sure how we missed it on the way in.  I could picture Wilma serving up a rack of dinosaur ribs to Fred at this spot.

I can’t faithfully recount every sight on this most visual hike.  There was also a flock of teenage hikers strolling barefoot across the trail.  Natives.  Back at the car we drowned our thirst with bottled water.  We then headed toward Moab on Hwy 128 and stopped near Negro Bill Canyon to stake out a camping site.  After pitching our tents, we resumed the trek into Moab for lunch, our race bibs, and beer at the one state owned liquor store.  We spent the remainder of the day ensconced at our camp site drinking beer until it was time to meet up with friends for dinner at The Red Cliffs Lodge, where we continued drinking and generally prepping our bodies for the next day’s half marathon.

Slow Road to Moab

11 Sunday Mar 2012

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I initially thought this picture from the Austin Half Marathon was fuzzy because I was moving too fast.  That’s just the way I think.  But after seeing how slow I appeared in some of the race video, I now suspect it’s simply a blurry shot – maybe the cameraman was moving.  And my runs this weekend add further support to this second opinion.  Man did I run slow Saturday and Sunday.

That’s okay I guess because I really just need to get in the distance to prepare for Moab next weekend.  Speed isn’t necessarily important.  I had a really good run on Friday though in which I felt fast.  Felt like I was back at sea level in Austin.  More likely my body was just well recovered from not running the three previous days.  It was a busy work week and the runs I did pull off on Monday and Friday were short.  Despite running an old man’s pace this weekend, at least I got in two back-to-back 6 milers.

Work will be just as busy this week – especially since I’ll be taking off Friday.  But I just need some short runs.  Ideally I’ll get out every day.  Distance won’t be any more important than speed – I just need to maintain.  Daylight savings will give me more time in the evenings so that should help too.  I have a business dinner Wednesday but maybe I can squeeze in a short run before hand.  Thursday isn’t likely since I’ll be driving to Grand Junction to meet up with Rob.  Perhaps we can pop off a few miles Friday morning before heading on to Moab.

The half marathon is Saturday.  Moab will be number two out of three half marathons I’ve registered for this late winter/early spring.  The first was Austin and the third will be Boulder in another three weeks.  I haven’t scheduled my summer events yet.  I’m going to finish this half marathon trilogy before designing my next challenge of 2012.