Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50

I finished! My time was 11:15, a new 50 mile PR and finishing 40 minutes faster than my time last year. [Right: pre-dawn start] It was a beautiful, clear day, with the temperature close to perfect for running. A day or two earlier or later and it wouldn't have been as good.

Preparation for the race was tricky. I had just five weeks from the Moab 50k+, so there wasn't time to really train, but just focus on maintenance running. I started the first week with 4, 4 and 8 miles, then the second week I did 8, 8 and 18 miles (all indoors, on a treadmill at a leisurely 10 min/mi pace). The third week I did 10 miles on Tuesday, and then feel sick to the flu on Wednesday. It had been going around the family, so I didn't have much hope in avoiding it. That took me out Thursday and Friday with a 103 fever, and Saturday I missed the last Antelope Island training run that I had been planning on doing. [Left: clear day on the island] The fourth week I didn't feel recovered too well until the end, but I managed 6 miles that Thursday and 12 on Saturday. The fifth week I was traveling to San Diego and San Francisco, so my training was on hotel equipment, 4 and 2.5 miles, attempting to add a taper to a disrupted training schedule. I rested Wednesday and Friday that week.

[Right: rocky section of trail] The race started at 6am, so we had about an hour or so of running in the dark. It was pretty windy and felt like it was in the 20's with the wind chill. I started with four layers on top and three below, with the outer most layer being a jacket and fleece pants. The jacket came off first when I started to notice the sweat building up underneath, but I kept the pants on until just before I would be in the sun the rest of the day (about mile 12). I wore a short sleeved technical shirt and two long sleeved technical shirts for the next couple hours, but finally removed one long sleeved shirt and tied it around my waist (in case I needed it later). So I finished with a long sleeve and short sleeve on top, compression shorts and shorts beneath. My wool Injinji socks worked well keeping my feet comfortable, although I wore holes in the second from the outside toes on both. As usually, my Montrail Hardrock shoes performed beautifully, and I never touched or adjusted them during the race.

I ran with my Suunto heart rate monitor with foot pod, and my Garmin Forerunner 101. They were pretty close on distance up to mile 20, but then the foot pod began giving distances that were farther than the Garmin. When I arrived at the second to last aid station, the Garmin reported it was mile 43 on the nose (the official race distance), while the Suunto reported over 44 miles. It appears I'll continue to use both, provide what they are each good at (the Suunto for heart rate, the Garmin for distance).

[Left: buffalo!] My goal on time was to finish in under 11 hours, which I missed by about 15 minutes. However my main goal was to finish without injury. As of this writing, I appear to have succeeded on that point. I also had no blisters or anything major to speak off. My recovery Sunday was going fairly well and I was considering spin and yoga classes Monday morning.

I was able to maintain a good pace for the first half of the race, finishing the first 25 miles in 5 hours (5 mi/hr average). That left me 6 hours to finish to make my time goal. I had pushed myself pretty hard to that point, so began to take it easier. However, at around mile 35, my left IT band was giving me early indications it was going to get injured, so I put on my band wrap I had been carrying and took it easier (walking more often, not pushing as much on the running). It improved, but I was still very cautious. Also, my right calf began feeling tight and sore, so I watched that as well. I was determined to finish, so I pushed on the best I could, abandoning the time goal and focusing instead on finishing without injury.

Nutrition wise, I ate a Gu packet and took a Succeed whenever I felt hungry. This varied from around 40 minutes to an hour. I drank lots of water, refilling my 2L hydration pack at every aid station. I also ate animal crackers from the aid station, not wanting to eat too much solid food, but at least something. The crackers seemed to settle well. I made it a point to stay at the aid stations only long enough to get what I needed then moved on.

[Right: at the finish with John Moellmer] The wildlife on the island was plentiful, and I saw around 60 buffalo, a few coming within a hundred feet of me on the course. I also saw an antelope. The clear conditions gave a panoramic view of the mountains surrounding the Great Salt Lake. It was a really beautiful day.

With this race done, I'm now looking forward to the Miwok 100k in six weeks in Northern California. The challenge will be to maintain my fitness and recover while not bringing on injury. The next couple weeks will be key on the recovery side, but maintenance will require continued training.

What worked well:

• Layering clothes
• Wool Injinji socks
• Montrail Hardrock shoes
  
• Succeed tablets
• Gu packet when hungry
• Body Glide
• Nip Guards
  

Moab Red Hot 50k+

[Left: waiting for the race to start] The challenge of the last three weeks has been to recover and maintain fitness. My runs have been mostly 6mph with heart rate in the 120's to 130's, with spinning and yoga as usual for course training. For the three weeks, my distances were 4 - 4 - 6.2, 6.2 - 6.8 - 12, then 4 - 2 last week. I also experimented with a Suunto T3 heart rate monitor with the foot pod. I tried it for a week and a half, but had problems and returned it. I was able to get a replacement the morning before heading down to Moab.

[Right: race start] This weekend I completed the Moab Red Hot 50k+. The official distance is 34 miles, just under 55k. I completed the run in 7:43. The weather was perfect: clear and sunny. The temperature at start was 27, and it warmed into the 40's during the day. There was a light snow and ice on the ground, and a few spots that were muddy, but overall the course was clear. The course was low to medium difficulty, with around 4500 feet elevation gain. Alot of the course was over slick rock trails, which was hard running on the downhill sections, but made climbing easier.

[Left: slick rock climbing] I ran with John Moellmer and Paul Hart for the first 20 miles, but continued on when they stopped for a break. They finished 11 minutes after me.

The first half of the course took me about 3:20, but alot of the climbing on the second half slowed me down for a 4:20 split. I maintained hydration for the first half, but struggled to keep hydrated during the second half. I carried a 2 liter hydration pack and filled it at every aid station, but still drained it once. On the second half, I passed around 6 other runners. The last two aid stations on the course required technical 4wd to access.

[Right: aid station at mile 22] Next race: Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50 miler on March 22 (Easter weekend). I did register for the Big Horn 100 on June 20 (20 days after Squaw Peak 50).

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.

Alpine Loop Winter Run

I began the week with spinning and yoga on Monday, then a 6.2 mile run on Tuesday and 8 mile run on Thursday, both on the treadmill. The Tivo is set to record re-runs of Stargate SG-1, giving me something to pass the time indoors. I have been building my speed a little, finishing the 8 miles at an 8:13 min/mile pace.

[Right: ]This week I returned to the Alpine Loop for my Winter snowshoe training. It had snowed a few feet during the week and the road hadn't been grated yet, so it was still fairly powdery. Many snowmobiles helped to pack the road, but 3 miles above Aspen Grove, nobody had broken the new snow, so I decided it was time to turn around. I had started out thinking I would do 16 miles (Pine Hollow to Aspen Grove and back), but ended up doing just under 10 miles in just under 3 hours. The snow was fresh enough to still be challenging and this was my first outing with snowshoes this season.

[Left: video running downhill to the turnaround] As is always a challenge in the Winter, I varied between too hot and too cold. I started about 1pm, so it was beginning to get chilly as the sun hid behind the mountains on the return trip. My left gaiter creeped up and some snow got into my shoe, bringing back concerns of getting frostbite from last season. Overall I did well, and only started to get really cold a couple times.

Indoor Training

I continued this week with running on the treadmill for Tuesday and Thursday. Recovering from a cold for most the week, I didn't want to worsen it by running outside. I also took Monday, Wednesday and Friday off from training to get additional sleep.

[Left: chart from Saturday's run] Saturday I was faced with a difficult choice: where to run. My goal was to get 15 miles done, and I had originally planned on going up the Alpine Loop. However, the forecast said the lows would be around 6 Friday night up there, with it getting only into the low 20's for a high. And there was a chance of snow. I weighed going up there and staying home, and staying home won out. I ran the entire distance on the treadmill. I took it at a casual 6mph pace and did really well the first couple hours. That is when fatigue began to hit me. I could feel it in my legs and my heart rate began to rise. Overall, I was able to have a average heart rate around 139bpm, and a cadence around 80rpm. The breaks in the graph represent two bathroom stops, once when the treadmill's timer stopped at 99:59 (reset to zero), and when I slowed to 4mph to eat a Gu. Next week, I definitely want to be outdoors again.