Kahtoola Bigfoot Snowshoe Festival

The last couple weeks have been mixed. The first week, I trained my regular 8 miles on Tuesday and Thursday, with cross training on the other days, but ran 10 miles on Saturday (indoors on the treadmill). Then during the next week, I only cross trained on Monday, ran 6.2 miles on Wednesday (sort of a modified taper week).

[Left: getting ready for the start] This past weekend I completed my first ultra for this year: the Kahtoola Bigfoot Snowshoe Festival in Midway, Utah. The distance was 50k (31 miles). I completed 20k in snowshoes and ran the other 30k with Yaktraks. 10k of the course was in mountains and 40k was groomed trails that wound around a golf course.

[Right: on groomed trails] The weather was perfect that day: clear with temps in the high 30's during the day. When the sun disappeared behind the mountains, the temp did drop fast (into the mid to low 20's) and a slight wind picked up, making the last ~8k pretty cold. I hadn't packed my balaclava or anything else for the last loop, with just three layers of shirts on (short-sleeved base layer, then two long-sleeve layers on that) and a running hat, I became mildly concerned about my core temp dropping. I found that keeping my heart-rate around 140 kept me pretty warm. I also drank and ate a lot to help keep my core temp up.

I did fairly well, finishing in 9:08. I slowed down after the first 15k to conserve energy by walking uphill and running downhill, doing a mixture of walking and running on the flat areas. It was a small group with around 16 runners in the 50k and only one DNF (due to blisters). What was nice about the course was being able to see other runners throughout, so we'd wave and cheer each other on. At the first, everybody was welcoming the finishers and congratulating them. It was really good event to be in. I completed my goal that day: finishing without injury.

[Left: mountain part of the course] I used Body Glide to great success. I also used a trick I learned while training: with a hydration pack, hold open the valve to let the water drain back into the pack. Not only does this keep the valve from freezing in cold weather, but the water stays insulated and doesn't chill you when you drink.

My next race is the Moab Red Hot 50k+ on February 16. I'm trying to figure out my training plans for the next 2 1/2 weeks. I want to avoid the injuries of last year, yet at
the same time improve my fitness throughout the year.

I also made it into the Miwok 100k on May 3rd in Northern California. The race filled up quickly on Jan 6, but I made the waiting list and the race director increased the number of entries they would accept. I will also find out this coming Saturday whether I'll do the Wasatch 100 this year or not (entries are selected by lottery and many more apply to get in than there are slots).

So far, this year is off to a great start.

Mid-January Update

I missed posting an update last week, so this one will be for two weeks.

I had progressively improved times on my 8 mile Tuesday/Thursday runs, going from 1:05:27 (8:11/mile) to 1:03:46 (7:58/mile) from January 1 to January 10. My cardio maintained around a 155bpm average while increasing my times as well. I maintained my Monday/Wednesday/Friday cross-training with spinning and yoga, and some weights as well.

[Left: finishing on Antelope Island] Saturday, January 5, I ventured back up to Antelope Island for another training run. Like the December trip, the weather was very bad and this time only five other runners showed up. It was snowing really good at the entrance, so I left my hat and sunglasses in my car and rode in with two other runners, a mistake I soon realized when we arrived at the start. It was no longer snowing and signs that the storm might let up were already showing. We ran 17.6 miles with varying conditions, from icy mist to full sun. The zipper pull on my jacket broke and I had to improvise with a key ring to unzip my jacket. I finished in 3:37 feeling pretty good. I would wake up the next morning with sore back and shoulder muscles, though.

[Left: Alpine Loop near Timpooneke] Then on Saturday, January 12, I embarked on my longest long run since the Bear. Knowing that my 50k race is only two weeks away, I wanted to do at least 22 miles on snowshoes, an increase of 6 miles from two weeks earlier, but still 9 miles shorter from my race distance. I started out at Pine Hollow and ran the Alpine Loop to Aspen Grove. The weather was absolutely beautiful, with only patchy clouds and lots of sun. The trail conditions were difficult. It had not been groomed recently and fresh snow from the week's storms and lots of snowmobile traffic left the road uneven with powder. On the return trip, I started to feel colder and the sun soon dropped behind the mountains, not to be seen again that day. I also ran out of water about 1 hour from returning to Pine Hollow (3 liters) at 3:39 into the run, and was feeling the effects of not hydrating as I ran on. Reaching the car (16 miles) around 4:43, I was tempted to call it a day. [Right: elevation vs. heart rate profile] Instead, I added two liters to my pack and started back up the road. The trail groomers were out and that helped alot as I passed them 1.7 miles back up the road. I also spotted a moose sitting on the ground about 1000 feet away (unfortunately, the picture didn't turn out too well). By the time I reached the 3 mile turnaround, it was beginning to get dark. I continued on until about 1.5 miles remaining, it was too dark to see (the trees were thick and the road very uneven), so I pulled out my green headlamp. The green helped alot, as it didn't reflect too much off the snow. I finished the run at 6:43 and actually feeling pretty warm.

Also in the last two weeks, I failed to get into Miwok 100k (might be on waiting list, but won't know until Feb. 1), but I did register for the Moab Red Hot 50k+ (is actually 34 miles) on February 16. We will see if I can pull off two 50k events in the next five weeks.

2007 in Review

[Right: elevation profile of Saturday's run] I ended the year with a good week. I attended spin and yoga classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (even adding some weights on Friday), and ran my 8 miles on the treadmill each on Tuesday and Thursday around a 8:12 pace. Then Saturday, I headed up to the Alpine Loop for a cold 16 miles from Pine Hollow to Aspen Grove and back. The sun peaked out on a couple brief times on the first half, but it snowed for the second half of the run. It was 15° at the top of the loop with a wind chill down to 5°. I wore four layers, three of which got soaked in sweat, but as long as I kept moving, I felt quite comfortable. Round trip took 5 hours.

[Left: freshly groomed road] In 2007, I logged 1560 miles and about 365 hours (training and events). I completed all the races I started: a marathon, two 50 milers, one 100k, and one 100 miler. I worked through four separate injuries during the course of the year. Looking back on where I was one year ago, I fell like I have accomplished a lot, but I'm not finished yet. I have an ambitious scheduled planned for 2008 and hope to do it with less injuries, as well as decrease my times on all events.