tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214651332024-03-07T10:01:26.263-08:00Studies in ClydeologyFortitudine Vincimus my friends! Through Endurance we conquer!S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.comBlogger358125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-39547473454717144852016-01-24T16:35:00.000-08:002017-03-15T13:16:29.824-07:00Better late than never: A 2014 I.M.T.U.F. Race Report<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
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I am not a great runner by any means. I consider myself a kind of “everyman” runner when it comes to ultras. In a 100-miler or 100k I am usually a solid mid to back of the pack guy. I’ve completed 11 other 100-milers including two finishes at Leadville, two at Wasatch and one at Bighorn, well, now two at Bighorn since I’m coming back to this race report more than a year after starting it. I have also completed the Grand Slam. I say this up from not to try and impress anyone but to provide a good context for what I’m about to say. I.M.T.U.F. is the single hardest race I have ever done. It is even harder than running Wasatch with Western States, Vermont and Leadville in your legs.</div>
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I ran I.M.T.U.F. in the clockwise direction meaning that we got all the sweet, easy running done in the first 20 miles and the worst of the course was all piled in to the end. Intu<span style="font-size: 11px; text-align: center;">itively you might think that it would be better to get the tough stuff out of the way first and then finish up with the easier stuff but I’m not so sure about that. The hard stuff is simply going to hand you your ass and I can’t imagine enjoying the good stuff late in the race. I imagine you would just be grateful and because you don’t have to focus on every footstep you would have time to really dwell on how hard the rest of the course was. I think it’s far better to run in blissful denial as if you have nothing at all to fear.</span></div>
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Jeremy, the race director, said a couple things during the briefing that really resonated with me out on the course. When talking about the Crestline section he said that several trails around the country have a “Friends of” group like the Friends of the Western States Trail. He said “Nobody gives a crap about these trails.” That was funny but once you are out there you know what he’s talking about. Most of the trails in this section, and elsewhere, appear to have been built by someone like the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the 30’s and then forgotten.</div>
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There are some sweet sections on the course for sure. In the clockwise direction pretty much the whole first 20 miles is pretty sweet and then the next five or so after that isn’t bad either. However, in my mind there are five types of trail conditions that most runners don’t really like. 1) Overly rocky trails, 2) trails that are narrow and deeply rutted, 3) trails that have deep moon dust, 4) trails with a lot of roots and 5) trails with a lot of loose sticks and chunks of wood littering them.</div>
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Any one of these trail conditions can range from annoying to dangerous but it’s not uncommon to run into them to greater or lesser degrees on various trails. However, you usually hit a rocky section or you hit a section with a lot of moon dust or you hit a root section, maybe all in the same race. You may even run a race where one of these conditions predominate through the entire course. The trails at IMTUF stand out because it is quite common to have all five of these conditions going on at the same time for miles on end. The course as a whole is very scenic when you can look up and look around. However, the actual trail tread is something that I came to know as “more of IMTUF’s shit trails.” In fact, there was a section that was maybe only a quarter mile but it was so remote and choked with debris that the race director had to call in smoke jumpers to parachute in and clear the trail. Running through that section was pretty cool though. The trail was freshly repaired and there was a wall of logs and branches piled three to seven or eight feet high on either side. It was like running through a rough hewn wooden tunnel.</div>
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I found much of this stuff unrunnable. I could jog some of it but actual running was often out of the question, especially if the trail was heading downhill. This is in part because I have become a more cautions downhill runner since I developed a knee injury that doesn’t prevent me from running but can cause me some serious issues if Im not careful, but a lot of it also had to do with the trail conditions. However, the runners from Idaho seemed to be able to take advantage of the downhill sections well enough so it can obviously be done you just have to be able to practice on that kind of a crappy trail.</div>
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The other thing he said a few times is that the race has a rhythm and that if we had a pacer we shouldn’t completely rely on them to keep us on the course because they would not understand the course’s rhythm because they had not run as much of it as we had. As near as I can tell the “rhythm” of the course is similar to the rhythm of a sadistic parent who sweetly sings you a lullaby and as you begin to doze they blast you with an air horn.</div>
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And now here I am more than a year later wishing I would have went ahead and finished that last thought because I’m not entirely sure what I was getting ready to say. However, along the lines of surprise misery here is what I do recall apart from the horrible condition of many of the trails. There were a few sections that you were faced with a sudden and very steep climbs. At least one I remember had me on all fours and that took place deep at night. The other thing that was alternately pleasant and unpleasant was the spacing of the aid stations. I don’t think it was just my perception but the mileage between aid stations was not very exact, some were closer than advertised and some were farther away.</div>
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The worst time was towards the end of the race when I thought I was hitting the mile 93 mile aid station in a 100 mile race, I was actually at mile 83 or 87. It also happened that when I got to the last aid station, which was Cloochman Saddle, maybe that’s spelled wrong, I though it was mile 97 in a 100 mile race and it really turned out to be more like 93 in about a 105 mile race. The worst part of that is that for some reason I was thinking “saddle is in the name of the aid station, that means that it’s all downhill from there.” Don’t ask me why I thought that, other than going back from whence you came it’s actually more likely that you will continue heading up, which is exactly what we did.</div>
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This was particularly distressing for me because I was now unsure how much further I had to go and I was pressing up against the course cutoff, though it turns out not as badly as I imagined. Anyway, I was feeling kind of desperate and running uphill as hard as I could. It wasn’t all that steep but it was long and just kept going up and up and up for what felt like several miles. I’m pretty sure it was at least three. When I finally got to a section of trail that flattened out two people looking pretty fresh came running towards me. They were the sweeps that were sent from the finish line to the last aid station to then turn around and start picking off slow-pokes. That freaked me out and so I tried again to pick up the pace a little.</div>
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The sweeps told me not to worry because there was a big downhill ahead but when I got there it was very steep, deeply rutted and moon dust filed so not exactly fast, at least not in my condition. The final couple miles did mellow out a lot and I was able to do some easy walk-jogging. I crossed the finish line in my slowest time ever, 34:52 in a 36 hour race. There was beer and barbecue at the finish line and I actually was feeling pretty good.</div>
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So yeah, IMTUF is TUF for sure but here’s the thing about ultra running, or at least the people like me who do it. More than a year later here’s what I remember most vividly. Somewhere near the beginning of the race, when I was still running and the trails were still mellow, there was a couple who had backpacked their aid station into the wilderness, it was the only way to get it there. They had packed the stuff in and sent up a little camp complete with Buddhist prayer flags hanging from the trees. The aid was neatly laid out on a slab of wood, it was cool, they were kind of quiet but friendly.<br />
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Somewhere around two in the morning I was descending down into a ravine and I could hear a stream running through it. When I got to the bottom of that ravine I saw a campfire. I picked my way across the stream and there was a campfire with three huge goats laying nearby and an older couple sitting on some logs. They had packed their aid station in on goats. The man asked if I wanted some oatmeal and the woman asked if she could make me some coffee, which she did over the fire…fresh. It was magnificent. There were also a couple guys that had hauled their aid station in on ATVs, just a couple guys, in the woods, tailgating with strangers in the night.</div>
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Anyway, I guess what I’m saying is that despite the difficulty of the race it’s really not the difficulty that has stayed with me. I know it was a hard race, I have a vague recollection of the craziness of the trails but even that is really more my remembering talking about the trails. What has stayed with me was the coolness factor, the hard work the people had put into the race, the personal touches that only IMTUF has, the remoteness and the beauty…and yes, there are also some pretty impressive burn scars on the course as well but if you run in the west and southwest you are going to hit that.</div>
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I have even recently thought of going back, which is a little unusual because I tend not to repeat races unless I have a really good reason. I repeated Leadville and Wasatch to complete the slam and I returned to Bighorn because Misty still needed to get Wyoming in our quest for 50 states but IMTUF, no real reason to go back other than, it’s just kind of a cool race. I think it’s probably what ultra running was in the very early days of the sport when almost nobody did them.<br />
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I have started making videos of my recent races and discovered that I had a lot of pictures of the first day of IMTUF as well as a couple finish pics so without further ado, enjoy.</div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-68887423512148223692016-01-18T20:51:00.000-08:002016-01-18T20:51:34.178-08:00Holy crap, I'm actually starting to miss blogging a littleHoly crap, I'm actually starting to miss blogging a little. I've been thinking more and more about it but man, I just got so sick of hearing myself talk. My last post, as you can see was August 2014. Well, I've actually done some stuff since then. Back in September 2014 I actually started to write a race report after finishing the I.M.T.U.F. 100-miler in Idaho but couldn't bring myself to finish it. However, for whatever reason, I've recently begun to think about the blog again and have sent some time going back to re-read some of the old posts. It's kind of cool to see where I've been as a runner. Early on things were pretty dramatic, fresh experiences that where almost as fun to write about as to have. However, as I've been running longer, or maybe I should say doing various endurance events longer, I have kept the experiences increasingly to myself. That's not to say that I have lost any passion for the sport, it's really almost exclusively marathons and longer trail runs these days, it's just that, well, I keep it more to myself. I think that maybe this is part of my experience too.<br />
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Anyway, I think I might take another look at that old IMTUF report I never finished and then maybe also highlight some of what I've been up to in the last, what, year and a half almost.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just to recap, since my last race report <b>in</b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><b> 2014</b> after Ironman Boulder I did/ran:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">August 9<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Broke left big toe - ok, not an athletic event but it was noteworthy for the pain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">August 31<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>st </sup></span>Dam to Dam 10K</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">September 14<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Chips and Salsa half-marathon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">September 20th I.M.T.U.F 100-miler</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">October 11th Hartford Marathon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">October 12<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th </sup></span>Newport Marathon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">October 26<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Great Pumpkin Chase 10K</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">November 8<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Soldier Marathon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">November 9<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Pensacola Marathon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">November 15<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Pilgrim Pacer Marathon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">November 27th Turkey Trott 5K</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">November 30<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Seattle Marathon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and then in <b>2015 </b>I did/ran</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">January 1st Foothills Fatass 50K</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">January 17<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Charleston Marathon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">February 14<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Black Canyon 100K</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">March 28<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Clinton Lake, 30 miler</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">April 10th Zion 100 - DNF injured heal at mile 13! I remained injured for the rest of the year but it got increasingly tolerable if not better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">May 9<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">May 23<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>rd</sup></span> Jemez 50k</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">June 19th Bighorn 100</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">August 16<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Big Wildlife Run Marathon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">August 28th AA Fatass Half-marathon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">October 3<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>rd</sup></span> New Hampshire</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">October 4<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Maine Marathon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">October 24<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Cactus Rose 50 miler</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">November 14<span style="line-height: normal;"><sup>th</sup></span> Franklin Mountain 50K</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">November 26th Albuquerque Thanksgiving Day 5K</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">So far in 2015 I've run the Foothills Fatass 20-miler on January 1st and then the Bandera 100K on January 9th. I </span>crushed<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> my </span>previous<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> time for Bandera and actually finished in the top 1/3.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">So, maybe some more to come later. Maybe a bit of re-capping of prior races. My next big event is Rocky Raccoon on February 6th. I have decided to try and break my 100-mile PR of 22:31. I'm feeling pretty good but that's a tall order. I set that PR at </span>Vermont,which is overall probably a more runable course even though it has more rolling hills.</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-83405418373007697202014-08-04T19:12:00.000-07:002014-08-04T19:12:07.590-07:00Iron Retirement: An Ironman Boulder Race Report<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I want to believe that Ironman Boulder will be my last ever Ironman but I know myself and know I should never say never when it comes to things like this. However, I sincerely believe that if I do another Ironman it will be when I’m retired and I have my days to train. Ultrarunning takes up a lot of time but I really love running trails and so it doesn't feel like I’m “training” it feels like I’m playing and exploring.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Ironman, or even half-iron triathlon is a different story. You really need to train for those because of the distances covered in the bike and the swim and the money involved. Were it possible to train for these events exclusively by trail running then I’d probably do them whenever a larger group of my friends went out to do them but you can’t, not really, which brings me to my current story.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">About a year ago I somehow became aware that there would be an inaugural Ironman Boulder. I have no idea how I became aware of it because I have gone deeply into the ultra running and marathon worlds and triathlon has become somewhat foreign to me. However, through circumstance I discovered this event and immediately felt compelled to do it. Not because it was an Ironman, that was actually the only drawback. I wanted to do it because it was inaugural, because it was in Boulder, CO and because I had several friends who were talking about doing it and so I registered both myself and the GeekGrl and almost immediately regretted it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I knew I didn’t have the motivation to actually train for an Ironman, knew it. I knew that I think both swimming and cycling sucked and i knew that all I really cared about was running. However, I also had been sitting at seven Ironman finishes since 2008 and that has actually bugged me it just hadn’t bugged me enough to pull the trigger on an eight Ironman, that is, until last year.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My plan then was to “train” for this Ironman almost exclusively by running. Sure I told myself that I would get in a few long rides and get some swimming in but that never really materialized. On race morning of Ironman Boulder I had swum a whopping 16, 060 total meters for 2014 and I had ridden my bike, get this, 169.77 miles…for all of 2014 and that included two “long rides” of 38 miles and one 40K bike split at an Oly Triathlon. Actually, my running has been a bit sub-par because of a couple military schools that disrupted my schedule but at least that was at 1365 miles for the year. So, that was my Ironman Training.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">People kept asking me how I thought I’d do, how my training had gone and so on. I honestly had no earthly idea. I mean, my training was obviously crap if you think about Ironman training. However, in the six years since my last Ironman I have completed eleven 100-mile trail races and a mix of 67 other marathons, 50Ks and 100Ks. I have even completed the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning, in other words, I’m no stranger to serious endurance. However, that’s all running. Obviously I can run but what about a marathon that’s preceded by a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike. I didn’t know how to answer that one but now I think I do, we’ll call it fast-average.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Of my now eight Ironman races my first was 14:27:18, my second 15:54:46, my third, 15:35:52, my fourth, 15:05:51, my fifth (and PR and one I trained like a demon for) 12:31:21, my sixth, 12:47:40, my seventh, 13:12:25 and now my eight at ironman Boulder, 13:15:02.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Frankly, I was shocked. Hand to my heart I told someone I thought I might be able to hit 13 and a half hours but I thought something in the 14 to 15 hour range was more realistic. I kept thinking back to one particularly brutal 112 mile training ride that I had developed for myself and how i had utterly fallen apart at about mile 100 and I had to pull over to a gas station, get a big bottle of Gatorade and a liter of full-sugar mountain dew and a red bull and lay in the shade while I drank it. I kept imagining that kind of epic blow-up that would end in a 26.2 mile death march well into the night.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">First off, I liked the swim start. It began like a standard large marathon with people seeding themselves in corrals by their anticipated swim time. I seeded myself into the 1:16 to 1:30 group and when the cannon went off we all just moved forward slowly and they released groups of maybe five to seven swimmers at a time with a few seconds between each small group. It was not your typical Ironman washing machine start. From the get-go you had your own little block of water to swim in though there was still the usual bunching and bumping but nothing like IMCdA or IMAZ. I just found a comfortable groove and swam. Occasionally I would run into a group that seemed to be fighting each other for position but I would just move out of the way and find new water. What was more surprising is that my arms didn’t get tired. The worst of it was getting bored and ready to be out of the water. My swim time was 1:21:47, I think my third slowest IM swim.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">T-1 was smooth and took me about eight minutes fifty seconds, mostly because I really had to pee and so I stopped at a port-o-potty just before heading out on the bike. I had imagined that I would fumble around like a novice like I did at the recent City of Lakes Oly Tri but the fast transitions in the short local races are completely different from the giant transitions in an Ironman.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Once out on the bike I felt good and had driven the course the day before so generally knew what expect. The strangest thing about maybe the first third of the IM Boulder course is that it’s right up against the mountains and so while there really aren't any serious climbs there are a lot of shallow climbs and descents and because they are in contrast to the sharply sloping Front Range sometimes it looks like you are on flats but you are going uphill, sometimes it looks like you are going uphill but you are actually going down and sometimes you look like you are going downhill but you are going up. It was very weird but you just have to trust the way your legs feel or your bike. On the “flat uphills” it felt as if my tires were made pf gum and I kept looking down to see if I had a flat.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The next third or so of the course has some short climbs followed sometimes by big descents that would carry you up the next hill or long shallow descents that would peter out into equally long flats. This is a very fast section of the bike. The last third or so is continuous shallow rollers, which allow you to ride at a nice steady pace, that is until mile 100 where there is a monster climb that has about four distinct summits, the first is the worst.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I was pretty amazed and how well I was doing on the bike and how much of my bike handling skills I had retained. i am more nimble on a bike than most age-group triathletes and so was able to whip by a lot of people on the curvy downhills and 90-degree turns. However, my legs were NOT used to be clipped into one place and being forced to make exactly the same movement over and over for hours on end. I was motley concerned with having to sit on my ass for several hours but that really wasn't much worse than it ever was.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The thing that killed me the most were the balls of my feet. I swear to god by mile 80 I had several bouts where I just wanted to start crying. I felt like the balls of my feet had been split open and filled with salt. I kept trying to lift them off the pedal, I tried peddling more by pulling upward than pushing down and I got some relief but there really isn’t anything to be done, you are locked into one position and you have to use that one position. The other thing that happened is that the tendons behind my knees started to become painful and finally, about mile 90, my left hamstring and calf cramped up really badly and I could not bring it into an upstroke otherwise it would start cramping again so I basically coasted for the next 5 miles massaging my leg and drinking everything electrolyte I had on my bike, which was fortunately quite a lot. If you look at my race results for that segment you see I was passed by 61 people and my average pave dropped from 18.5 mph to 16.9 mph and that includes me still doing well at the beginning of the segment and making a comeback at the end. It was pretty brutal but I credit my general experience in ultra endurance events for my being able to pull out of it without any significant or lasting damage.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I hit T-2 feeling about like I remember feeling at my last few Ironman events when I was actually trained for such a think, legs were kind of sore and stiff, butt hurt, feet hurt but I was in good spirits and clear headed. I got through T-2 in about 10 minutes 40 seconds but I had to take extra time to find someone with some tape so I could tape my bib back onto my race belt, I had accident torn off one corner, and I had to stop for another bathroom break, which I don’t mind because it means I’ve been hydrating and the alternative costs a lot more.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I came into this race with two major concerns about the run, one, as mentioned above, I thought I might have a spectacular blow-up on the bike and have nothing left to actually run with and two, the course is 100% concrete and I have recently suffered a knee injury running a marathon on a course that’s probably about 60% concrete. Well, worry number one never really materialized and worry number two, all i can say is that it’s a hell of a lot different running a marathon on concrete at a 3:37 pace versus a 5:17 pace. I actually ended up really enjoying the run course. There was lots of support, lots of shade and it was composed of three out and backs that you ran twice so you got to see everyone as they worked their way through the course.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The only problem I had with the run was due to a completely rookie mistake. Somewhere around mile 16 at one aid station I ate a gel and some gatorade type drink, they call it Ironman Perform, I think I also downed some coke and water and I pretty much immediately became sick to my stomach and this cut my pace by two to three minutes per mile for the rest of the race. I didn’t start feeling better until I finally threw up somewhere around mile 25. However, I can’t even complain about this little mis-step because, once again, I knew exactly how to handle it. I knew how to minimize the damage and how to maximize my performance given the circumstances.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So what can I say other than I had a good race, all things considered I had a really good race but I don’t chalk it up to dumb luck. I have a deep base of endurance and the kind of strength that is needed for these types of events. I hals have a deep reservoir of knowledge related to taking care of myself under adverse circumstances and I can pretty much always diagnose what’s going on with my body and come up with the right fix. If those things weren’t true and I think things could have gone far worse.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All in all I had a pretty good time but the good time was really just visiting Boulder again and seeing friends and family. The race itself was fine but it didn’t spark anything within me that rekindled my desire to do more IM events. I was glad I finished as well as I did and i was proud to have finished but when I was done I was simply ready to collect my shirt, hat and medal and head back to our hotel room not only because I was tired but also because I didn't feel the pull of the Ironman scene. I guess I’ve come to like my sports quieter and less flashy. Having said that, I’m grateful there is such a thing as Ironman, I’m glad to have been a part of it and I’m not ruling out some additional events ten to 15 years down the road but for now I’ll take my eight finishes and call it good.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Next up, the Idaho Mountain Trail Ultra Festival (I.M.T.U.F.) 100 mile endurance run.</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-72716390754923175952014-07-11T20:18:00.000-07:002014-07-11T20:18:46.889-07:00Damn the ConsequencesWhen I'm ready to do something new I am REALLY ready to do something new. I don't wait until the old thing is over and then start the new thing fresh I jump into the new thing and then keep up with the old thing until it is completed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7Dz_B5XdE2Hhzx0q1vlsOPQOENTyVAZ-paYHRQPZDrqHd4lQWnxkyZZfVaby5Uh-MOzn95XM8IEAhYAzIddX2BpVzFvuaqFftAeDKCdNBpKar-z-otlC9Npp4cfB1kPaifPgwA/s1600/joncheplak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7Dz_B5XdE2Hhzx0q1vlsOPQOENTyVAZ-paYHRQPZDrqHd4lQWnxkyZZfVaby5Uh-MOzn95XM8IEAhYAzIddX2BpVzFvuaqFftAeDKCdNBpKar-z-otlC9Npp4cfB1kPaifPgwA/s1600/joncheplak.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Men's Masters Physique Competition Contestants</td></tr>
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It's a way of being that I think keeps me excited about my life and all the things there are to do but it is not without its consequences. As stated, I've hired a professional bodybuilder to help me remake my body composition to be much more lean and more heavily muscled. Something you would see in a men's masters physique competition like these guys. Yes, these are older guys.<br />
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When I was much younger I was into lifting somewhat and I was a bit more muscular but age and years of running has stripped a lot of that away and I have NEVER been as lean as any of these guys.<br />
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Actually, I have found that as I have aged, despite all the running, my body fat percentage is actually creeping upward. When I was at the peak of my running and weight loss about three years ago I was down to about 17 percent body fat measured in hydrostatic weighing. Earlier this year I had the hydrostatic weighing done again and they had me at 23%. I don't really believe I'm 23%, I mean I know that hydrostatic is the best you can get but I really think the people at the lab did something wrong. I think they guy who was doing the readings in the dunk tank didn't get good readings. However, my home scale puts me at 20% and so I know that I'm up and what's worse, I can see and feel that I'm up.<br />
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In addition to the extra body fat I feel weaker even though I've been doing the Olympic lifting. I can't explain what is going on with my body, I ran a marathon PR in February, I've been Olympic lifting, I run an average of 200 or more miles a month but the fact remains that other measures tell me there is decline in the wind. The strength thing isn't just a perception thing either. During my last PT test I did fewer pushups and sit-ups though I did run my third fastest 2 mile run ever, 13:49.<br />
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Ok, enough backstory, the point is I'm making this change right now and right now I am practically immobile due to soreness from my lifting and my trainer is strictly limiting me to 30 minutes of cardio per day for now. He says once he is able to see how the combination of diet and lifting is impacting my body and he feels like he has things dialed in for me I may get to start running more. This all means that I'm now limited to daily 3 mile runs because I'm too sore to knock out 4 miles in 30 minutes but even if I weren't, its still only 4 miles and, hmm, lets see what I still have on my race schedule for the year.<br />
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Ironman Boulder on August 3rd (assuming my new Commander doesn't nix that)<br />
Hartford Marathon on October 11th<br />
Newport Marathon on October 12th<br />
Soldier Marathon on November 8th<br />
Pensacola Marathon on November 9th<br />
Pilgrim Pacer Marathon on November 15th<br />
and the Tucson Marathon on December 7th (which I may nix because the only reason I signed up for it was to try and get a faster BQ time which will not happen with this new change.<br />
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So, yeah, all these races are going to pretty much be walk-a-thons. I also want to do several marathons next season so that Misty and I can finish off the 50 states. By any reasonable standard my plan simply doesn't make any sense. Most would probably say it's fairly stupid but here's the thing. I am utterly and absolutely terrified of returning to my younger, fat self. That's just the bottom line. I'm also not going to just toss the whole 50 state goal, I have 31 right now. I also have other goals in life that I need to start working toward.<br />
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Actually they are more my wife's goals but they are extremely important to her so they are extremely important to me. She has been nothing but supportive of me running the 100 milers and now she wants to transition into track and field when she hits 50 so that she can compete in the Senior Olympics, something that sound really cool to me too and time is ticking so really now is the time to transition. My life, my rules, damn the consequences.<br />
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S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-52804765555391949822014-07-07T21:21:00.000-07:002017-03-15T13:01:31.130-07:00Winds of Change Come AgainAs the 2014 season continues to roll on I have accumulated a few more races and a few more experiences. My new job with the Army has brought me a total of five weeks of schooling away from home. Three weeks was spent at Ft. Rucker Alabama in the Aeromedical Psychology training program, which means I am now officially a flight psychologist. That school was very cool but I'm not going to go into detail here. The other school was Captains Career Course; two weeks in my "home town" of San Antonio Texas. Another great school but this time focused on military officer stuff. The only problem with the schools is they put somewhat of a crimp in my training. Not so much the first school but definitely the second. However, they were well worth it.<br />
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As far as races go I did the Albuquerque Half-Marathon on April 19th pleasantly surprising myself with a 1:45:31. While not my fastest half it is one of my faster ones and I think my fastest at altitude. While I was at Ft. Rucker I also got up near Birmingham to do the Run for Kids Challenge 50K. This was a trail run consisting of 10 loops of single track trail through the Oak Mountain State Park. It was a great little low-key race but one in which I had some troubles. I have a hard time running on wooded courses because I'm not used to the roots or the dappled sunlight and so I end up tripping and falling a lot.<br />
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The trails aren't technical by any means but there was just enough to where I tripped and fell hard once per lap for the first four laps and then I just had to slow down because the falls were starting to take their toll. I finished the race in 5:39 and then headed back to Ft. Rucker for two more weeks of Army Training Sir!<br />
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Finally, on a whim, Misty and I traveled to South Bend Indiana to run the Sunburst Marathon. We had been apart for three weeks and i thought this would be a nice reunion and a way to pick up Indiana. The race was very well done and it was a nice urban course. My only problem with the course itself was that it had too much concrete. I think there were several opportunities where there could have been less. It was also pretty hot out but that's not something a race director really has control over. As I said, it was a good race. It started in the downtown area and finish at the Notre Dame football stadium. Normally the race finishes on the field but that was being refurbished zoo we finished up at the foot of "Touchdown Jesus."<br />
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After that race I haven't done any others and training has been very difficult because I have suddenly developed chronic left knee pain. I took a full week off and it has gotten significantly better but not completely better. So far I have seen a family doc, a physical therapist and a chiropractor. I have gotten that I have osteoarthritis, tight IT band and hip flexors and basically "what those guys said." However, I've also been told by the same three people that I don't have any internal damage and that my knees are strong so we are collectively hoping that better hydration and some glucosamine will clear it up.<br />
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In the mean time I'm feeling a bit like the writing is on the wall for the demise of at least some aspects of my running. I think that in order to preserve as much as possible as long as possible I'm going to try and stick exclusively to trails, limit myself to 50Ks and shorter and not worry as much about my time so I can do my races on lower weekly miles. However, I think I'm going to invest the extra time into some serious weight training and dieting under the supervision of a professional bodybuilder who lives here in Albuquerque. I know a body building approach isn't exactly compatible with distance running but it is more compatible with my body type and it won't prevent me from running, it will just slow me down, which I am cool with.<br />
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So, I still have lots of running left to do this season as well as another three week Army school (hopefully) but its also on to new and different things and hopefully a new and different body.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My new coach Korbie Ntiforo</td></tr>
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<br />S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-12156319909544280592014-04-13T08:09:00.002-07:002014-06-29T08:44:21.642-07:00Have you ever wondered?From time to time I've looked for race reports as a way of deciding if I wanted to do a race or not and sometimes to just try and estimate what kind of finish time I should shoot for. I've come across several blogs that just ended as I'm sure they all do at some point but I've always wondered what happened to the people who wrote them. I have known one person who's blog ended because they died but I suspect most people either just get tired of blogging or they stop doing whatever it is they were blogging about but I still wonder.<br />
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As for me, I've mostly just gotten tired of blogging. I think about it from time to time but I've actually been a lot busier at work than is usual because I've changed jobs and the startup in the new job has been pretty time consuming.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">However, I have not stopped running or Olympic lifting. In fact I've even set a new marathon PR this year and I think the extra few minutes I was able to cut off my old PR is due to the lifting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, we wrapped up the 2013 season by doing the Hawaii marathon and initially I thought I was going to try and PR there but it soon became apparent that it was way too hot and humid to do anything but survive. To make matters worse there wasn't a single bit of breeze and practically no shade so it was SLOW, I think I ended up with something in the 4:20 to 4:30 range. However, we stayed in Hawaii for a week and had an awesome time. We snorkeled, surfed, kayaked, ran trails and did a lot of general sight seeing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This year my biggest race is going to be the Run Rabbit Run 100 miler in Steamboat Springs, CO in September in an attempt to keep my Hardrock eligibility alive another year so before that I've been working my endurance back up and doing a lot of strength work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So far my </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">2014 race schedule has included:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">January 1st Foothills Fatass 50K, always a good way to start the new year and the weather was perfect. We didn't get much snow over this winter, which I know is bad in drought stricken New Mexico, but it meant that the trails were largely mud and ice free though not totally. It just happened that this race was my 80th marathon or longer race and I took 3rd overall in a time of 5:56:36. </span>Coincidentally<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">, being a fatass race on New yYear day I think that also put me somewhere near the middle of the pack but it was fun anyway.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">January 18</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>th</sup> The Duel Trail Marathon in one of my old home towns , Wichita Falls, TX, where I spent most of my high school years. I had not idea there were even any trails in Wichita Falls but they have at least one that was built for mountain bikes and it has all kinds of </span>triply<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> mountain bike </span>obstacles<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> on it, swinging bridges, </span>ranks<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">, narrow raised bridges, a big metal half-pipe and lots of twists and turns. The marathon is two loops and it is easily the craziest run I've ever done. I ran it in a time of 3:49:20 and was second overall and, strictly speaking, first masters. The guy who won was actually 44 but since he took top overall honors I got first masters.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">February 2</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>nd</sup> I ran Rock-n-Roll New Orleans and all I can say is that the weather was as close to perfect as I think it's possible to be. Well, that and New Orleans does have some awesome food but there could hardly be a bigger contrast between the people there to do the marathon and the vase majority of the people who were just there to eat, drink and smoke as much as they possibly could. Anyway, it is a flat fast race and a pretty nice course overall but I was so focused on running hard and using so much energy to run that hard that I really have very little </span>recollection<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> of the course as a whole, more like an impression. I ran a new PR of 3:24:31 and promptly got sick as hell the next day and that cold hung on like grim death...which is also how I felt. The reason I am so sure that it's the Olympic lifting that has allowed me to run a new marathon PR is because it's the only thing that is different about my training since I started running. My old marathon PR was 3:28:13 and I ran it almost four years and just over 40 marathon or longer races ago and I was maybe five to seven pounds lighter.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">February 15</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>th</sup> was the Black Canyon Trail 100K. It was to be my return to really long distance running after taking a year away following the Grand Slam but it was not to be. Both my wife and I had the same thought prior to driving out to Arizona, that I should not be doing this race. I had been too sick too recently. The day started out well enough but somewhere around mile 26 things started going badly. I was slower and slower and getting weaker plus it was about 90 degrees out and I wasn't warm at all. By the time I got to the 50K aid station I was </span>shivering and coughing and I knew it was time to stop and so that's what I did, I <span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">DNFd at 50k. My cold had come </span>roaring back and while I might have been able to finish it would have been horrible and taken a huge toll; stopping was the better choice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">March 29</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>th</sup></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Forest Gump Challenge, MO - 4:41:59</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">March 30</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>th</sup> Hogeye Marathon, AR - 4:09:46This weekend was just meant to be a state getting weekend in the quest to get 50 states and a good endurance training weekend. The Forest Gump Challenge is a </span>tinny<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> little race that I'm not even sure how I found because every time I went to look for it to get more information it always took a while. The race takes place in a very small town called Reeds Spring, which is maybe 20 miles or so from Branson. When I registered for the race I couldn't find any information other than it was at least a marathon and possibly a 50K as well and it was in Missouri. I registered for the 50K even though I wasn't 100% certain there was one, which I know seems weird because I </span>registered for it but the actual registration pace was the only place that a 50K was mentioned, everything else I could find advertised their marathon and shorter distances. The race ended up being a 3.1 mile loop on roads, a mix or state highway, "main street" in the middle of town and some residential road. After the first loop I really thought it would be a dangerous race because about half was on the narrow to nonexistent shoulder of what was obviously the major street running through town and it crossed a state highway at two locations. However, I actually never felt unsafe and didn't hear anyone say they felt unsafe. The drivers were all very friendly and as far as I could tell always gave the runners right of way and a wide berth. Also, despite the fact that it was 10 loops for the 50k I didn't find myself getting bored. There was a fair amount of variety in the course and it was made up of about three distinct sections that made it easy to break down in your mind. I ended up taking second overall three minutes behind a guy who was 27 years younger than me. I was pretty happy with the result.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Day two of the weekend double was the Hogeye marathon in Fayetteville, AR. In addition to running the 50K the day before I had also run one additional lap of the course with Misty as she finished up her marathon so I had a little over 34 road miles in my legs at the beginning of the race. Whenever we do these double weekends we are basically just in and out very quickly and we don't get to do much other than run and eat but it's a good way to see each location where we are running. Most of the time this is fine with us because neither of us are very big on staying in one place and doing a lot of sightseeing. We find that running 26.2 miles through a city gets us pretty much a lll the sightseeing we want but Fayetteville seemed like the kind of town that it would have been nice to spend an extra day in. The course was a good one as city based marathons go. A pretty large portion of it, maybe as much as half, was on nice paved bike paths and it included a trip around a lake set in a large city park. I ran maybe the first half of the race pretty well, on pace for a sub-4 marathon but during the later half of the race the running from the day before really started to take it's toll and I began to fade back. I figured that if I had only run a marathon the day before rather than 34 miles I probably would have gotten that day two sub 4 but I didn't so no big deal. It ended up being a great training weekend and I actually still got 3rd in my age group.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">April 13</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><sup>th</sup> Cedro Peak 45k is a </span>reach<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> that I had actually told myself I would never run because of how rocky I thought it was. The race is put on by local friend of mine and the first year Misty and I ran an aid station and had a great time, the second year we were out of town as Misty and I were running a double in Washington </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> Oregon and this year we had it on our schedule to run the aid station again but it </span>happened<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> that we weren't called to do that so at the last minute I decided to sign up because I had missed several miles of training earlier in the week and felt like I really needed a good, long training run. It </span>turned out that the course wasn't nearly as rocky as I thought it would be. I had just happened to run the very hardest sections of it in prior runs. However, it is a rocky course and there are some pretty evil sections so it's nothing to be taken lightly. Anyway, I projected that since I was training through the race and spent the evening before it doing a lot of squats at lifting that I would probably finish in about six hours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My time ended up being <span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">5:54:11, which was close to what I thought I'd do but the way I did it was not what I had </span>imagined. The first 20 miles or so wen't by better than expected and I think I was pretty far forward in the pack, maybe the leading edge of the mid-pack or somewhere thereabout. However, right about mile 20 you start this long rocky climb that lasts maybe two and a half miles and that climb ground me down pretty badly. By the time I got to the final aid station, which is 4.5 miles from the finish, I had recovered from the climb somewhat and was running pretty well on the mostly easy trails in that section but then the course turned upward again and I was seized by a serious cramp in my right adductor, the inner thigh. It hurt like hell and I was in a position where I couldn't really bend my leg because when I did it would start to cramp again. As I hobbled along the trail I was favoring my right leg so my left calf started to cramp too and it was pretty nasty, both legs cramping and the trail still climbing. A few people asked if I was ok as they passed me and one person gave me so electrolyte capulets but the dam mange was pretty well done and I had to move really slowly on the uphill and rocky sections, basically anywhere that required I lift my legs. If the trail sloped down or was smooth I was able to run with a gait that barely lifted my feet off the ground but that kind of trail was not particularly abundant in the last couple miles of the race. In the last 4 miles my average pace for the entire race dropped by a minute a mile and i was passed by several people but I finished and once I started to get rehydrated and got some food I actually felt pretty good. I had never cramped that badly or that persistently in a race before so I'm not sure if it was all the squats from the night before or the fact that this race has Heed as its electrolyte drink and I do not drink Heed because it makes me sick. It was probably a combination of the two. Anyway, I actually felt like I had a good race, I got what I came for and now that I've run the course i think I'd pretty happily run it again. Not only is it always fun to run with friends but it's also nice to run a race that is actually run by friends. Albuquerque has an awesome ultra community.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So, if you have ever wondered what happened to a certain blogger that suddenly seems to have fallen off the face of the earth it may just be that they needed a break from blogging and they are still as active as ever.</span>S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-45132468392810607852013-11-23T18:02:00.000-08:002013-11-23T18:02:12.739-08:00Hamstrings and Hope: A Marine Corps Marathon Race Report
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5E43lg-eCHTQ9IOuUoDS55veCnwEaS5gOFYLWLgt_wTRLr4rk2MdDd_tIceBVcMZmJv2y7q46jmwpD8oQfFie4INZJVjgRj4rApMaQEY2Txbp8rhGQAJUwGSni7Uw0zk_2gv2A/s1600/Marine+Corps+Marathon.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5E43lg-eCHTQ9IOuUoDS55veCnwEaS5gOFYLWLgt_wTRLr4rk2MdDd_tIceBVcMZmJv2y7q46jmwpD8oQfFie4INZJVjgRj4rApMaQEY2Txbp8rhGQAJUwGSni7Uw0zk_2gv2A/s1600/Marine+Corps+Marathon.PNG" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Marine Corps Marathon is an awesome race and it has
great crowd support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I would
have to say that of the 77 marathon or longer races I have done the MCM ties
for second best crowd support along with Cincinnati’s Flying Pig Marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crowed support at these races is second
only to Boston, however, I have to add the caveat that I have not run the New
Your City marathon or the Chicago marathon, both of which are supposed to have
amazing crowed support as well.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I went into the MCM coming off a heavy training schedule
that included four consecutive 60 mile weeks and Olympic Weightlifting four
days per week. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, within the previous
35 days I had run two marathons, one 55K and a 12 mile mountain run so my goal
for the MCM was just to run it as hard as I could as a final training run for
the Honolulu marathon where I plan on trying to BQ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course my other goal was just to run it
because as a 50-states runner it gets me Virginia, as a former Marine it seemed
like the thing to do and of course, it is “The People’s Marathon” and as such
one of a handful of “must do” marathons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7q8HyJGDap9ErfM98qwvhKCcPLMOWjRp6gYms1iBESQW4ARBeVGnE7_zQiwjkSrKh_X3ufzsusTC6frALFmZX_RHgbfRxGo7UdLFYI5-t61zmwIk9-DUOQ1aRGWcHWab6MQzLVw/s1600/Marine+Corps+Marathon+aid.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7q8HyJGDap9ErfM98qwvhKCcPLMOWjRp6gYms1iBESQW4ARBeVGnE7_zQiwjkSrKh_X3ufzsusTC6frALFmZX_RHgbfRxGo7UdLFYI5-t61zmwIk9-DUOQ1aRGWcHWab6MQzLVw/s320/Marine+Corps+Marathon+aid.PNG" width="320" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before going into the MCM I had talked with several people
who had run it and read reviews and everyone seemed to mention at least once
how awesome it was to have the Marines out there supporting them at the aid
stations and at the finish line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
is no doubt that the aid stations were well done and the Marines were
supportive and enthusiastic but I didn’t experience them any differently that I’ve
experienced similarly well done civilian staffed aid stations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pondered that for a while and think it has
to do with the fact that I was in the Marine Corps and I am in the Army now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have lived, and live, a military life;
something, according to a recent New York Times article, only .05 percent of
the American public does any more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
suppose for a civilian to have America’s war fighters out there supporting them
through a run is pretty special, for me it was just my peeps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8RIucbb92trQnL4vd2Z9G1_u1WT69nNpBET0ay6JbdsXhevPFWKe2iJyPBuNzpvgNOoYOEIQb2d2nkGfmOpbezkhbzcalj7oZ2X9nI68gdKpszvHhxfZpGYIKZFysVrc2e9rQ7g/s1600/Jemez3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8RIucbb92trQnL4vd2Z9G1_u1WT69nNpBET0ay6JbdsXhevPFWKe2iJyPBuNzpvgNOoYOEIQb2d2nkGfmOpbezkhbzcalj7oZ2X9nI68gdKpszvHhxfZpGYIKZFysVrc2e9rQ7g/s320/Jemez3.PNG" width="301" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, one thing that I really did love was all the
military members from other countries’ armed forces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know for a fact that I saw members of the
Norwegian Navy, the Dutch Army, British Royal Marines and Australian Army.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course there were representatives of all
of America’s Armed Forces and I wore my New Mexico National Guard racing
singlet so we were represented as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I got a kick out of the Norwegian Navy’s shirts because on the back they
said “525 years of innovation.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In addition to all the different militaries and military
branches that were represented, there was also a huge swath of humanity
represented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was probably more
diversity at this race than anything I’ve seen before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s one of the cool things about DC, it
has enormous diversity and you can meet all kinds of people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ZpWlJPnHRl87Y5ZS_WD9kp-TK_oozIr63Bgzx1e-JWbPdE5xcNmBEt4EIukwZ5yYCNDIk2A5RGrdCwJEHiZpGBvZetAewmIwiOAaGiNHtDg4CXRhyphenhyphenso5UtvohyphenhyphenDcOqKiCUUWLw/s1600/Marine+Corps+Marathon+start.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ZpWlJPnHRl87Y5ZS_WD9kp-TK_oozIr63Bgzx1e-JWbPdE5xcNmBEt4EIukwZ5yYCNDIk2A5RGrdCwJEHiZpGBvZetAewmIwiOAaGiNHtDg4CXRhyphenhyphenso5UtvohyphenhyphenDcOqKiCUUWLw/s320/Marine+Corps+Marathon+start.PNG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The race, of course, is one of the largest ones in the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, in 2012 the MCM was the
8<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> largest marathon in the world with 23,519 finishers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year, 2013, saw 23,512 finishers and you
could really tell at the start line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
MCM has starting corrals like any large marathon but also like any large
marathon, there is an annoyingly large number of people who completely ignore
them so you have six hour runners lined up in the three hour corral and from the
first seconds of the race they are like bounders in a fast moving river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided to line up in the 3:35 corral
because I thought I could run something close to that if I ran hard as
planned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I figured that if I started to
falter due to the accumulated fatigue of the last 35 days it would happen later
when I wouldn’t be getting in anyone’s way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_WYPIJPQv5LozoeJYTFmaM48YfztPRuITWz88MPQazDKA5M2_RiPS4xVsBKlBBB0VlNCNHiSCLtDHem6eZB9nNiL-FcOu51432tIzVLg_kg9FwoEIuMKppuuv6Qxn8BnzA6pDA/s1600/Marine+Corps+Marathon+elevation+numbers.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_WYPIJPQv5LozoeJYTFmaM48YfztPRuITWz88MPQazDKA5M2_RiPS4xVsBKlBBB0VlNCNHiSCLtDHem6eZB9nNiL-FcOu51432tIzVLg_kg9FwoEIuMKppuuv6Qxn8BnzA6pDA/s1600/Marine+Corps+Marathon+elevation+numbers.PNG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjxvDAVHm-wsF8Xr_vVmQc0MT9XSxtB6lg_PH4fKo-bZtvYGo2QQI6c0UHiCF9NNnuITSOJumU7xhyvftc-HfYvT20P3iQ1T7UC34i3U_0Q8YAv0X-lMb2CoBLLGfkiTjhYfOjZA/s1600/Marine+Corps+Marathon+profile.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjxvDAVHm-wsF8Xr_vVmQc0MT9XSxtB6lg_PH4fKo-bZtvYGo2QQI6c0UHiCF9NNnuITSOJumU7xhyvftc-HfYvT20P3iQ1T7UC34i3U_0Q8YAv0X-lMb2CoBLLGfkiTjhYfOjZA/s320/Marine+Corps+Marathon+profile.PNG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When the howitzer went off the crowd of 23,000 plus runners
lurched into motion along two two-lane roads that were separated by a low
median.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took maybe a mile before the
roads converged and we were just one mass running through DC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apart from the crowding, the first thing I
notices about the course was that it was fairly hilly in the beginning and
actually rolled at least gently almost throughout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I once again just decided to run by feel and
not look at my watch very much at all, mostly just to check if it was time to
take another gel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This strategy has
worked well for me because worrying about my pace isn’t really going to help
any.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m experienced enough to know if I’m
probably going too fast and on the other end, I can only run as fast as I can
run, looking at a watch isn’t going to make me any faster.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpL_j8yjUiT1pxcpvydHvQt-rLhQza97Z8zfxG2W-5f3urY3v2WjAg_E5tXNhzWqF4Lnk8G9EWyx6aa-IKZ2trNtLshfmtUN7u2oCbZ5YHQqcK8npMrTxphejSMIvDLgebJQ650A/s1600/Marine+Corps+Marathon+map.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpL_j8yjUiT1pxcpvydHvQt-rLhQza97Z8zfxG2W-5f3urY3v2WjAg_E5tXNhzWqF4Lnk8G9EWyx6aa-IKZ2trNtLshfmtUN7u2oCbZ5YHQqcK8npMrTxphejSMIvDLgebJQ650A/s320/Marine+Corps+Marathon+map.PNG" width="320" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Despite the fact that the MCM runs past many interesting
things I really didn’t see a lot on the route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was aware of when I was running a segment of the Army 10-miler and I
knew when I was on the National Mall but I just didn’t see much because I was very
focused on running my best race.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I’ve mentioned before, this past summer has been a big
experiment for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took this year to
recover from the Grand Slam of last year and stuck with running marathons and a
couple 50ks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d struggled with my weight
and mileage all year long so by the time May hit I was ready to try anything
and the thing I tried was Olympic weightlifting coupled with a bit lower
mileage than I had been running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MCM was
going to be the first race where I really planned on putting that training to
the test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, I ran well at the Air
Force marathon but there I lined up with the 3:45 group and didn’t exactly try
to race even though I ended up with about a 3:37.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I said, at MCM I lined up with the 3:35
group and intended to race.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNot5zDhset-vuD_7PxVbpWzeg7Uu1VIIS8cHSv1rELEmn4S5lli2f8K40EjTcZ5HUegbxcV49DewEFkhUqVkCrtK3DbBnBGjCUW_RRjrCMD_jGng0ivLIIJIyLCtWpP2r_0jn1w/s1600/Carpe+Ferrum.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNot5zDhset-vuD_7PxVbpWzeg7Uu1VIIS8cHSv1rELEmn4S5lli2f8K40EjTcZ5HUegbxcV49DewEFkhUqVkCrtK3DbBnBGjCUW_RRjrCMD_jGng0ivLIIJIyLCtWpP2r_0jn1w/s320/Carpe+Ferrum.PNG" width="227" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, because I had only been lifting for about four
months I am not lifting anything heavy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most of that time has been spent just getting down technique and
building the supporting muscle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
quickly discovered that I am weak as hell, at least compared to everyone else
at the Oly gym, but my coach kept at me to keep it light and repeatedly told me
that getting the technique down early is the key to being able to lift to your
potential later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In any case, I wasn’t
in it to become an Olympic weightlifter, I was there to become a better runner,
develop more thrust, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Probably somewhere around mile five or six I left the 3:35
pacer behind and just cruised along hoping that maybe I could keep them at bay
to the end of the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just focused
on how I felt, tried to push the pace and kept looking for people I could
target for passing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran well until
mile 24 when suddenly, for the first time ever, I had a bad cramp in my left
hamstring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was bad enough that I
pulled up sharply and grasped it to try and keep it from causing my entire leg
to seize up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that point I still wasn’t
exactly sure how well I was doing but I knew I was doing well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was hoping there would be an aid station
soon where I could slam some Gatorade thinking maybe I was low on electrolytes
and immediately ahead I saw one, score!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I hobbled up and said Gatorade? And they said, nope, doughnut holes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WTF?! Doughnut holes in a marathon?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At mile 24?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGr3rWtkgONt9_y5miq2_nOalP3Tu8tYNdTatcmG1hftYZ1VmvPr_xSztQTQ2Dtgtkoc4Ya8RSDkqewq4OLDqXQyJ2nR3xIfkkaJhpeHAXz5CddTgP3fqIea85uurOctDrHakjMg/s1600/Donut+holes.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGr3rWtkgONt9_y5miq2_nOalP3Tu8tYNdTatcmG1hftYZ1VmvPr_xSztQTQ2Dtgtkoc4Ya8RSDkqewq4OLDqXQyJ2nR3xIfkkaJhpeHAXz5CddTgP3fqIea85uurOctDrHakjMg/s320/Donut+holes.PNG" width="276" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I hobbled on by running as fast as I could while still
grasping my hamstring and squeezing it to try and get it to release.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did that for about a mile and I was finally
able to let go but the hamstring was still really tender.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My pace at mile 23 had been a 7:42, mile 24
was a 9:01.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was able to pick up the
pace to an 8:48 in mile 25 but the hamstring was still threatening to go
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 1.2 miles left I was feeling a
little better and I ran mile 26 in 8:12.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The very end of the MCM has what is called Marine Hill, which is the
access road to the Marine Corps War Memorial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Marine Hill climbs about 50 feet in a tenth of a mile, is lined with
cheering Marines, and has a sign that says “charge the hill!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is where my old Marine self kicked in
and I charged the hill at full speed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was no easy feat but I passed several people, there were ALWAYS several people
in your immediate vicinity so passing several doesn’t require much
acceleration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, by the same
token, getting passed by several people doesn’t take much deceleration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpeec2SnCSLeaRwu5dATwNv1ACh2pEm5EOWacxzmZIejZojk25FDkq3mvlqsqn3akOf96lox8dYYsFMDNjw3GZeguxgtBNHLQCHY1Db4-hg8OVkiHxdzAiyJ1jYmIrtzi8xZqz4A/s1600/Marine+Corps+Marathon+War+Memorial.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpeec2SnCSLeaRwu5dATwNv1ACh2pEm5EOWacxzmZIejZojk25FDkq3mvlqsqn3akOf96lox8dYYsFMDNjw3GZeguxgtBNHLQCHY1Db4-hg8OVkiHxdzAiyJ1jYmIrtzi8xZqz4A/s320/Marine+Corps+Marathon+War+Memorial.PNG" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, I charged Marine Hill and it was a good thing I did
because it put me across the finish line 3:29:03, my second fastest marathon
ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My fastest, 3:28:13 is at Tucson,
a mostly downhill course where I was three years younger and maybe 10 pounds
lighter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have been very easy to
lose 57 seconds in that final 1.2 miles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I really feel awesome about my finish and about my new
approach to training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have great hopes
for Honolulu though I continue to be worried about the heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I sit here writing this it has been below
35 degrees in Albuquerque for the past 2 days and is getting colder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Honolulu has been having lows in of between
68 and 71 and highs between 82 and 85.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The forecast for race day, we are 14 days out now, is a low of 68 and a
high of 83.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh well, I have checked a
running calculator that checks such things and it assures me that at temps of
up to 75 degrees I shouldn’t lose more than two minutes and since the race
starts at 5:00 a.m. I am hopeful that I’ll be done by the time temps hit 72.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am still going to try for a BQ, I am still going to line
up with the 3:25 pace group and try to beat them in by two minutes, that would
be a 7:44 minute mile average pace and what I figure I need to run in order to
actually qualify for Boston.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just making
your cutoff doesn’t cut it anymore.</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-31605515547296295542013-10-21T20:29:00.001-07:002013-10-21T20:29:24.919-07:00Faster than Buck Wheat: A Duke City Marathon Race Report
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This weekend was the 30<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> anniversary of the Duke
City Marathon right here in Albuquerque New Mexico.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve run Duke City once before and, I guess
because it’s mostly on a bike path that I have literally logged thousands of
miles on, I don’t find it particularly inspiring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, since it was the 30<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> anniversary,
which is pretty cool and something to celebrate, the GeekGrl has never run the
full marathon but has been dying to run if for maybe the past four years though
something always happens to derail her plans.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRqlqptPJizPprrMdpcyaec3igy23seBX3ogqJgnOZcIPRo0r_rMcUPJnwNcXcXJpp4bTDrEwiwFIQrUCpfUkVgS6Fs3OPnWqzqhsGPP4yeuuqnFyB8TMshmBJq5UoRhoS8eVYQ/s1600/Duke+City+Marathon+2013.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRqlqptPJizPprrMdpcyaec3igy23seBX3ogqJgnOZcIPRo0r_rMcUPJnwNcXcXJpp4bTDrEwiwFIQrUCpfUkVgS6Fs3OPnWqzqhsGPP4yeuuqnFyB8TMshmBJq5UoRhoS8eVYQ/s320/Duke+City+Marathon+2013.PNG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This weekend was supposed to be a Drill weekend with the
Army Guard but we were told there was no money and so no Drill. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As soon as I found out I wouldn’t be at Drill
I asked the GeekGrl if she wanted to run and, well, her answer is pretty
obvious by this point. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Considering I just did a 34 mile ultra last weekend and a 12
mile mountain run the weekend before I probably should have just taken it easy
this weekend but I’ve really been on a roll with my training over the past four
weeks for the first time this year and I have finally started to drop a bit of
weight so instead I decided to throw in Duke City and train right through the
Marine Corps Marathon, just go there and enjoy the race and not worry about
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My plan moving forward is to back
off in November, taper for the Honolulu Marathon and see what I can achieve
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My only concern for that race is
that it might be too warm to do really well but I guess that’s something I’ll
discover on race day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyVsSRGPZXQRNhE97owQuVeLbv45owP3_FNpk8okZYIUDUtQJt9hWE0zihfXVkfitCXOat92JlOMGDrwBEMAzqwBl_p9dOOMkJ1R2uuw9mLXnKtIQw7TSPIxAYpaqFqVWD0sIFvQ/s1600/Buckwheat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyVsSRGPZXQRNhE97owQuVeLbv45owP3_FNpk8okZYIUDUtQJt9hWE0zihfXVkfitCXOat92JlOMGDrwBEMAzqwBl_p9dOOMkJ1R2uuw9mLXnKtIQw7TSPIxAYpaqFqVWD0sIFvQ/s320/Buckwheat.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, given that I’m training straight through I decided
to run this fairly easy as a long-supported training run but a marathon is
still a marathon so it was still kind of tough to run easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was averaging 8:30 minute miles out to the half-way
point and feeling good but on the return I felt like I needed to back off and
so dropped my pace down to 8:45 and eventually to 9s and the last couple miles
were low 10s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ended up finishing in
3:55:02 and still feeling pretty good but ready to stop running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, the day after the race, I took off running
as planned but I was able to get right back to Olympic Weightlifting and
knocked out several sets of squats and split squats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The other thing I did the day after the race was look up the
official race results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I was looking
at my age group results I noticed a guy with the name “Buck Wheat.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ended up beating Buck Wheat by 12 minutes
so now I know, I am faster than Buckwheat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-88979593689396293252013-10-19T11:08:00.002-07:002013-10-19T11:16:06.175-07:00Roots Running: A Meditation on the Canyon de Chelly Ultramarathon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nVVluM5mjXXONyUGtfr11NucZsxMoU23t2Jlb_u7L3t_7oU8qXdQoNaTJl5H4W1EpGJh6gl2iE-Y2IRE-yWzRlhztfeYJhvFYd-z18CO9I5qoD9h7tjuZlCxWH6oAddaeKx1Ug/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nVVluM5mjXXONyUGtfr11NucZsxMoU23t2Jlb_u7L3t_7oU8qXdQoNaTJl5H4W1EpGJh6gl2iE-Y2IRE-yWzRlhztfeYJhvFYd-z18CO9I5qoD9h7tjuZlCxWH6oAddaeKx1Ug/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly1.PNG" width="303" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This was the first year of the first ultra to be run on the
Navajo reservation in the sacred canyon, <a href="http://canyondechellyultra.com/" target="_blank">Canyon de Chelly</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though it was technically a race and had
prizes for the overall and age group speedsters this run was more about running
for running's sake or </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">as race Director and elite Navajo runner Shaun Martin put
it, "This race is about running in the Navajo tradition, running as a
prayer."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an awesome
experience.<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In case you haven’t noticed I am not Native American and
while I do have an ethnic identity, it is, for the most part, something I
rarely consider; it just isn’t a salient part of my life in any regular way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In fact, when the <a href="http://athenadiaries.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">GeekGrl </a>and I first moved
to New Mexico our youngest son, having grown up in rural white South Dakota,
came home from school one day and asked “Where do our people come from” and the GeekGrl laughed and said “Our PEOPLE…the suburbs."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8J7wh_MsMVSaMRpuvI70G8zfAuRHo7DkRUpAkiHf_GSDma1NEL5lhgghLX-kPs4z8ODzrB08kAex9UXrMs9XNFtDNY6F9vwFgGBqYFbS4G9Xhn8NM0hJCFPG_wpITa6dZ8vKlng/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8J7wh_MsMVSaMRpuvI70G8zfAuRHo7DkRUpAkiHf_GSDma1NEL5lhgghLX-kPs4z8ODzrB08kAex9UXrMs9XNFtDNY6F9vwFgGBqYFbS4G9Xhn8NM0hJCFPG_wpITa6dZ8vKlng/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly2.PNG" width="320" /></a>However, I do relate strongly to the culture of running and
the people who call themselves runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thing about running is that it’s such a foundational
human activity it is able to span race, time and cultural context uniting
apparently disparate people into one community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is actually what the ethic of the modern Olympics proposes, that sport
spans all differences and unites humans in the fundamental pursuit of
excellence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEC3hTXNVEKta44DiCfoSddsOPkMj-sRcB76XUJKTH35M_nr1WWzoN60bVGwpSHANWPxsZ3PvyeWnQ38X1YNrcocycUVD6jAMR0Xz7tNmlC37Lv-IB5i_bV0kmJqFCY3pVd8xMkg/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEC3hTXNVEKta44DiCfoSddsOPkMj-sRcB76XUJKTH35M_nr1WWzoN60bVGwpSHANWPxsZ3PvyeWnQ38X1YNrcocycUVD6jAMR0Xz7tNmlC37Lv-IB5i_bV0kmJqFCY3pVd8xMkg/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly3.PNG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>Running has given me a great deal and the longer I have
participated in it the more complex and varied my cultural identity as a runner
has become.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started out as a very
mainstream, hyper gear-conscious triathlete who fully embraced every advantage
of modern technology and always raced close to home with the sole goal of going
fast, placing well and winning awards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
over time I have drifted further and further to the idea of running as a kind
of quest for understanding and connecting, understanding myself for sure but
also understanding and connecting with people at a more fundamental level.<o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcOePrqzCrdht55-kRtvxs9OiXKtBdpW0yA4KjJ6GUj5J2-mQ6pgqeJ9A89q3EY1c6Wx6TAIWMGTEvQ2ulbx9U219KA1drLNyp04mFSWXUbZlHK-3-Z6iZHJSZ5gNwcu4su4lfQ/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly4.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcOePrqzCrdht55-kRtvxs9OiXKtBdpW0yA4KjJ6GUj5J2-mQ6pgqeJ9A89q3EY1c6Wx6TAIWMGTEvQ2ulbx9U219KA1drLNyp04mFSWXUbZlHK-3-Z6iZHJSZ5gNwcu4su4lfQ/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly4.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
There are no pretenses in running and no masks for those who
run long distances to hide behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have run the gritty working class streets of Cincinnati, the upscale
waterfronts of Chicago and San Francisco, the genteel horse country of
Kentucky, the remote hollows of Alabama, the beautifully desolate hill country
and canyon lands of Texas, the high mountains of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming
and Utah, the lonely deserts of Arizona and Nevada, the rugged terrain of
California’s Sierra Nevadas, the damp forests of Oregon and Washington and so
much more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have even run the hallowed
grounds of the Boston Marathon and they have all revealed to me some aspect of
myself and provided me with some deeper connection to my fellow human.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFRO-rtS0dTj1RJthYKbhjGCECFNJ_cz6IXdygUClyuRAOEj7CP3lgtsS_zZyFTbaEeYt6XaWNDwmv0bJdolDLzSO5yJCNUfuLQxZaUIAWuOVI1djsGBP3WrC0LrgMbN7L1nDeFw/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly5.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFRO-rtS0dTj1RJthYKbhjGCECFNJ_cz6IXdygUClyuRAOEj7CP3lgtsS_zZyFTbaEeYt6XaWNDwmv0bJdolDLzSO5yJCNUfuLQxZaUIAWuOVI1djsGBP3WrC0LrgMbN7L1nDeFw/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly5.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
When I was interviewed about having done the Grand Slam of
Ultrarunning I said “Doing the Slam was about reaching back into history and
joining with those runners who came before me and with them, attempt to do
something so audacious.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doing Canyon de
Chelly was very much the same kind of reaching back, the same kind of seeking
kinship with the past while tying that past to the present. However, Canyon de
Chelly involved reaching WAAYYY back in history, back to a time lost in the
mists of time when running wasn’t just a sport but human kind’s fastest mode of
transportation and something that was not only practical but also spiritual.<o:p></o:p>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwchXm-ZoK10SWoWU-Xx9IIPnoY28cGFwoQH7ibAjg6H3Pg3syhF0q4e_IxatCF3aiArc4U5YWcet-POvqx4egGcfZosiWF_rgmGL2yAIvgZnAMCnKXdwv7vfqOFANLdlBPVyVg/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly6.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwchXm-ZoK10SWoWU-Xx9IIPnoY28cGFwoQH7ibAjg6H3Pg3syhF0q4e_IxatCF3aiArc4U5YWcet-POvqx4egGcfZosiWF_rgmGL2yAIvgZnAMCnKXdwv7vfqOFANLdlBPVyVg/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly6.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Running as a way of connecting to the distant past and
running as a form of spiritual quest is not something that’s entirely new to
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back when I was an undergraduate in
college, actually before I became a runner, I did an independent study with a
locally well-known poet, V.B. Price.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
called the independent study “In through the Outdoors.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In some ways, apart from the title, it mirrored
the concept of the famous Led Zeppelin Album, “In through the Out Door” in that
I was trying to regain something lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Specifically, I had just completed six fairly disappointing years as a
low ranking enlisted man in the Marine Corps and my goal was to try and
reconnect with who I had been and who I wanted to be as opposed to who I felt I
had become and who others demanded I be.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBn5Gh7SqlUcT7SmyDdGf3kZK749doeOssTSfl-JRCtbGibt5iwOqRmBTJb2HJ8nYd7sWxPuShNLarBfWgea_EywPn8hhF0czxJMirDwa9UwEYUdEj7JNol2m2OrII5xTEg9Leyw/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly7.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBn5Gh7SqlUcT7SmyDdGf3kZK749doeOssTSfl-JRCtbGibt5iwOqRmBTJb2HJ8nYd7sWxPuShNLarBfWgea_EywPn8hhF0czxJMirDwa9UwEYUdEj7JNol2m2OrII5xTEg9Leyw/s400/Canyon+de+Chelly7.PNG" width="400" /></a>To that end I <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes
the outings were mellow and contemplative and sometimes they were relentlessly
aggressive and exhausting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, each
of the outings resulted in new insights that were chronicled in a series of
poems I wrote and discussed with V.B.<o:p></o:p><br />
spent a few hours a week hiking and jogging in the Sandia
mountains east of Albuquerque.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5ZG_xzT1AHviohHBZoFNZq4vkg_S2DTel-TbQtlzMzUNCJ8RHAwGnqksKSaj9aXqZt50gIJ1W86HR9Y8yzJKrkMIUX1kvJ73_7k79_IJQXPBXa-1FzdtY_gPh1uSQb3w6FFi4w/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly10.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5ZG_xzT1AHviohHBZoFNZq4vkg_S2DTel-TbQtlzMzUNCJ8RHAwGnqksKSaj9aXqZt50gIJ1W86HR9Y8yzJKrkMIUX1kvJ73_7k79_IJQXPBXa-1FzdtY_gPh1uSQb3w6FFi4w/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly10.PNG" width="201" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDlbZTdhYa1UddNtiwNmuaTo_5D8I9k6aK5fhmVpUc6gkdVH6CslWHSSKtY-kItPvpYJ2w3EZg36QeaIDCYwArOHIbsW9YVIb_TQpq8UHwrOZReVdAZvx3R6L86WDj5165U8acw/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly8.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDlbZTdhYa1UddNtiwNmuaTo_5D8I9k6aK5fhmVpUc6gkdVH6CslWHSSKtY-kItPvpYJ2w3EZg36QeaIDCYwArOHIbsW9YVIb_TQpq8UHwrOZReVdAZvx3R6L86WDj5165U8acw/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly8.PNG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_fD3X1iTeR3Y3f7YBqFMIGTrEsvyZ-CPjem1WbKSuwA8XM8hid4wHfbgs-bWYW8AfAgbq7U8tDXc3-DdGwI2B_K8OTUsCcRfiKMG3vZXl02mCE0HgrPjYETsLTNcNf_Yo__PCw/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly9.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_fD3X1iTeR3Y3f7YBqFMIGTrEsvyZ-CPjem1WbKSuwA8XM8hid4wHfbgs-bWYW8AfAgbq7U8tDXc3-DdGwI2B_K8OTUsCcRfiKMG3vZXl02mCE0HgrPjYETsLTNcNf_Yo__PCw/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly9.PNG" width="320" /></a>When I did become a runner my natural curiosity lead me to
reading about the ancient practice of persistence hunting whereby a group of
tribesmen strategically run down prey until it is too exhausted to escape them
any longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While humans are naturally blessed
with the ability to run phenomenally long distances at moderate paces, our four
legged brothers and sisters have speed but only over short distances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we were able to jog along and repeatedly
startle the animal into bolting for a few hundred yards, the animal could only
bolt so many times before it was done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As long as we could keep sight of the same animal it would eventually
become too exhausted to run away and we would move in for the kill.<o:p></o:p></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxSgoarraKaaKKIJoFT8jINhzvBVM7GVSbpOK39sDn8IxY1Gmw-7rZzd5k_zvEUbw4H7JpqJzNUlf40SV4dU9s_Hkb34Zqk6uLzddrLRVofmCa9d8nCTR9gLHuI5b7xLqqP54dWA/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly11.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxSgoarraKaaKKIJoFT8jINhzvBVM7GVSbpOK39sDn8IxY1Gmw-7rZzd5k_zvEUbw4H7JpqJzNUlf40SV4dU9s_Hkb34Zqk6uLzddrLRVofmCa9d8nCTR9gLHuI5b7xLqqP54dWA/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly11.PNG" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
Theoretically, at least in the pursuit of large animals, a
group of hunters would divvy up with the smaller, speedier tribesmen actually
running the animal to exhaustion and the larger, slower tribesmen following
behind wielding clubs or stone axes to deliver the killing blow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have often been out on a run and imagined myself
as one of those large, slow, stone ax wielding hunters.<o:p></o:p>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOEc91yrTKV-RbePlqK-riD7ugzYCqKkGnRjjaO1tkSt-JufTCLmX2h7obMZUdCz5-9KlH2dcEnVurpXPn0e4Y2nd4ZKCPTMhmhe700XaTydBfxzl_NDBDsQHNUt2zmWq1laZxw/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly12.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOEc91yrTKV-RbePlqK-riD7ugzYCqKkGnRjjaO1tkSt-JufTCLmX2h7obMZUdCz5-9KlH2dcEnVurpXPn0e4Y2nd4ZKCPTMhmhe700XaTydBfxzl_NDBDsQHNUt2zmWq1laZxw/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly12.PNG" width="320" /></a>Indeed, there have been many trail races where I found
myself in a small line of men running down a single track trail though the
canyons, mountains, deserts or forests and I suddenly find that in my mind’s
eye I can see and experience my own distant past as a persistence hunter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am transformed from an urban dweller with
an office job and a mortgage into a man with nothing more than his few clothes,
his fellows, the beauty of nature and the running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In these moments everything is right with the
world, everything is as it should be and I am at peace. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think running trails allows us to move
through the world at a human pace rather than a technology driven pace,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it allows us to move through a natural environment
rather than a built environment and that, I believe, is what results in the
sense of peace and calm that arises from trail running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me the equanimity <o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cJxMlIJWDV3YuQGYJWl7uPPoIHag7auAExd5zaKUevyl-H-I7Bs00LjrxCHmVOlDs75t3cfuhQtgdxpYmNNc0sHG4jJnoIlupqgrzK242Y29Mr4r5e1lxlGlLI_ZaA4ppzgxOA/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly13.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cJxMlIJWDV3YuQGYJWl7uPPoIHag7auAExd5zaKUevyl-H-I7Bs00LjrxCHmVOlDs75t3cfuhQtgdxpYmNNc0sHG4jJnoIlupqgrzK242Y29Mr4r5e1lxlGlLI_ZaA4ppzgxOA/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly13.PNG" width="311" /></a></div>
won on the trails
translates directly into resilience back in the modern world.</div>
While the experience of traveling back in time as an ancient
runner in a natural environment brings me great peace it does not have any
particular story that is connected to me in any real way, it’s only a
fantasy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, William Yazzie, race
director Shaun Martin’s father-in-law and spiritual mentor does have a story
that ties together running through time, creating continuity between my most
ancient of ancestors and my own life today.<o:p></o:p>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
During the race briefing the night before we began our
journey into Canyon de Chelly he recounted part of the Navajo creation myth for
us runners.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBeAgIjzvpLIOsRx2JDNCP0veN2q-7hP4NVrYEPkIPQUR1Ot65NGXbgm8uztc_IlzYTzcfE87Ft4-PDH2knM9Eeb86C0DnfvKDPiIjXcqDfOil-GqJpkfi4TlQpWUir_ixwtGMg/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly14.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBeAgIjzvpLIOsRx2JDNCP0veN2q-7hP4NVrYEPkIPQUR1Ot65NGXbgm8uztc_IlzYTzcfE87Ft4-PDH2knM9Eeb86C0DnfvKDPiIjXcqDfOil-GqJpkfi4TlQpWUir_ixwtGMg/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly14.PNG" width="299" /></a></div>
<br />
What Mr. Yazzie had to say not
only held cultural significance for him as a Navajo, it also held significance
for us as runners and for me personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mr. Yazzie told us, “At the beginning of time back in the old days
monsters plagued the Navajo people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These monsters roamed the earth causing trouble and misery for the
people. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Changing Woman (a.k.a. mother
earth) gave birth to twins. These twins wanted to rid the world of the monsters
and by doing so make the people safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through
running long distances with the holy people, the twins became powerful war gods
who defeated the monsters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today there
are still evil monsters that are plaguing the people, monsters like alcoholism,
drugs, and diabetes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You runners are
like the twins training and running long distances, defeating today’s evil
monsters and by doing so you inspire the people; when they watch you running
they have hope that maybe they can <o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4zR7s76SPBFEpY_3brUKQr1D6BDsJJ3RgAZUAK_Bhg1mtBAis_ULYmV3zZXAP21E_tsVJsU0FdYj6kDyi3WjHRNnPA0rb2_NOlFYSFFAVXnb7k81kKtU3urxwEWu0bBlH2nyg0w/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly15.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4zR7s76SPBFEpY_3brUKQr1D6BDsJJ3RgAZUAK_Bhg1mtBAis_ULYmV3zZXAP21E_tsVJsU0FdYj6kDyi3WjHRNnPA0rb2_NOlFYSFFAVXnb7k81kKtU3urxwEWu0bBlH2nyg0w/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly15.PNG" width="292" /></a></div>
also defeat the evil monsters of today."</div>
When I thought about this I knew there was no more accurate
way to describe my own journey of running, a journey of defeating the evil
monsters in my life, monsters like obesity, self-doubt, anger, fear and
hubris.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were things that I had
spent a lot of time hiding from, things that constantly plagued me and that
caused me great pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through running I
have at least tamed them if not completely defeated them and I dare say that I
have inspired at least a couple other people to pick up running shoes and
defeat their own monsters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so, with
that recounting of the Navajo creation myth and my reaffirmation that I was
indeed going to run a spiritual race it was off to bed.<o:p></o:p>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSVGmtR3IzRbZ1hLwWylfQ3PYCe2sYNb1p4cyX8GUdbA3zVjTowAnGdM9VuMEmO4c9_S5ug_fDRh-FQy6TFaawjwodPcvvFQdhNFbMsblGuL1M0Ms7zqPPzYfBfYfE57MQQJPcAg/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly16.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSVGmtR3IzRbZ1hLwWylfQ3PYCe2sYNb1p4cyX8GUdbA3zVjTowAnGdM9VuMEmO4c9_S5ug_fDRh-FQy6TFaawjwodPcvvFQdhNFbMsblGuL1M0Ms7zqPPzYfBfYfE57MQQJPcAg/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly16.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
Race morning dawned clear and cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An intimate community of around 85 runners
and a few volunteers gathered around a small bonfire and stood silently at the
mouth of Canyon de Chelly, all facing east, all contemplating the journey
ahead, all listening as William Yazzie welcomed the day’s new dawn in the
traditional Navajo way, with prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
Mr. Yazzie finished singing his prayers to the new day a Navajo spiritual
leader introduced himself and let us know he was going to prey for our health,
our safety and our journey in the Navajo way.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVhmuj1cdgVFZDFW3wf90MYw0vNiiM1pi6E_mH8o9XWgi7iNT2X_7uhNKOJ77sA9pXdAZ-ShgrTnGBKDWVLGBU_0U04aizF8JWm8FGq8XNQT7FvRccATNa4yTCGjplI_p3hnwDw/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly17.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVhmuj1cdgVFZDFW3wf90MYw0vNiiM1pi6E_mH8o9XWgi7iNT2X_7uhNKOJ77sA9pXdAZ-ShgrTnGBKDWVLGBU_0U04aizF8JWm8FGq8XNQT7FvRccATNa4yTCGjplI_p3hnwDw/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly17.PNG" width="318" /></a></div>
He held aloft a bundle of Eagle feathers in one hand and in the other
scooped some cedar shavings from a leather pouch around his neck and tossed
them onto the hot coals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the smoke
began to rise he began to chant his prayer and then instructed us to cleanse
ourselves in the smoke of the cedar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
then laughed, tossed some more cedar on the coals and said, “Maybe we should
make sure and do a good job of cleansing.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8uQfxo9SOxWmRS2aJ6SUrJ2eN915QVpWyATU28tkYAq_4k8L9p9YfUcyIbtoUh70KBFY2Ykk8gK5Cwm2q9H3Sy96PMvl4NYXKleabxOA7M0-wvM5PZAwVFEZmwyHzh0HmIxrP7w/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly18.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8uQfxo9SOxWmRS2aJ6SUrJ2eN915QVpWyATU28tkYAq_4k8L9p9YfUcyIbtoUh70KBFY2Ykk8gK5Cwm2q9H3Sy96PMvl4NYXKleabxOA7M0-wvM5PZAwVFEZmwyHzh0HmIxrP7w/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly18.PNG" width="320" /></a>Despite Shaun’s joking the night before at the race briefing
about “Rez time” he had us all lined up and ready to go right at 7:00 as
advertised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gave us our final
instructions and told us “When I say go be sure to yell out in the Navajo way,
yell out to introduce yourselves to the Canyon and to announce your selves to
the gods” and with that he yelled, “On your mark, get set, go!” and in unison
all us runners let out loud yips and yells and surged forward, running into the
east, into the dawn of a new day in the traditional Navajo way. The rest, as
they say, is history.<o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsZ8_0G5Kha8QiNxKv_36vyc01w8ndzegPztLBHYnvMYIh87Kt_5e7xtsat42qrtgPgqv2Y71R9bq6YXgi-y6YW_QcgOqVx8ER22nEwrMvt78d8umeCFsQc9g0kn0NQsMhBbcMNg/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly19.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsZ8_0G5Kha8QiNxKv_36vyc01w8ndzegPztLBHYnvMYIh87Kt_5e7xtsat42qrtgPgqv2Y71R9bq6YXgi-y6YW_QcgOqVx8ER22nEwrMvt78d8umeCFsQc9g0kn0NQsMhBbcMNg/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly19.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
</span>While I can’t adequately convey my experience of running
Canyon de Chelly in words, I can, in the White Suburban Guy way, tell you that
the course was mostly flat sandy roads, some sand was pretty deep but most was
not and all was blessedly compacted by recent rains, there were a total of
around 70 stream crossings, also courtesy of the recent rains, all about ankle
to mid-shin deep and maybe five to 15 feet wide, I spent the majority of my day
running alone and I finished in 6:44:23.<o:p></o:p>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
I made no attempt to run fast but I did embrace running as a
form of prayer and in that largely solitary experience, found my brothers and
sisters on the trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also did my best
to try and document my journey through many, many <o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic-B_y1dV7HrAwEm11Kvba6VLYncIl9siQFpdvb6NseXZ8RG7SMH5TbuZW7RYWiK2Y2Fg-B6V5DDzViX9sOCJDg-GrqrPriWIOA3Wz_HyGUGhFobwGfixbD0AXNqOXfC4R31q5oA/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly20.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic-B_y1dV7HrAwEm11Kvba6VLYncIl9siQFpdvb6NseXZ8RG7SMH5TbuZW7RYWiK2Y2Fg-B6V5DDzViX9sOCJDg-GrqrPriWIOA3Wz_HyGUGhFobwGfixbD0AXNqOXfC4R31q5oA/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly20.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
pictures that I hope will
convey some small sense of the stark grandeur of the Sacred Canyon.</div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
That is my story about running in the Navajo tradition,
running as a prayer, and now I’ll end with a traditional Navajo prayer that has
been slightly modified for runners.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOx2h4leOrH4CbRDC6vWCIYA8SJXLTWOsN5sIbrZkcvz23ae5Kt_2eXcQFZZ0qEIr7nLz83YNehgy0Ize6hX0Hh-eJsH1tQ9Xdlg90ELXC0f8E-MRkJbAAr6iSfjlj64T61FfVOQ/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly22.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOx2h4leOrH4CbRDC6vWCIYA8SJXLTWOsN5sIbrZkcvz23ae5Kt_2eXcQFZZ0qEIr7nLz83YNehgy0Ize6hX0Hh-eJsH1tQ9Xdlg90ELXC0f8E-MRkJbAAr6iSfjlj64T61FfVOQ/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly22.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
</span><br /><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Navajo Beauty Way
Ceremony</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In beauty may I run</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All day long may I run</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtltUMq1Ap9rovDuZZbC2l9JFt8sMYlV1a_EpGCGVoYwTffTaZDg3hoNtl3V0AaJ1DPi6QrFpfPH_cEYIIS42VmDLAhNq6BzFJ3JTF-UqAhP52PGLAh9eS1RZT8JLZZEfDEmYPVA/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly24.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtltUMq1Ap9rovDuZZbC2l9JFt8sMYlV1a_EpGCGVoYwTffTaZDg3hoNtl3V0AaJ1DPi6QrFpfPH_cEYIIS42VmDLAhNq6BzFJ3JTF-UqAhP52PGLAh9eS1RZT8JLZZEfDEmYPVA/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly24.PNG" width="292" /></a><br /><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Through the returning
seasons may I run</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Beautifully I will
possess again</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Beautifully birds</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span>
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</span><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Beautifully joyful birds</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On the trail marked with
pollen may I run</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With grasshoppers about
my feet may I run</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With dew about my feet
may I run</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With beauty may I run</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With beauty before me may
I run</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With beauty behind me may
I run</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With beauty above me may
I run</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With beauty all around me
may I run</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ_C0L8DlgkID_7avxr5H-M1LZxEF7sPku1TJ0ChyftC08_HD6ZA66r-bFaqcsxcPr8gxRxqYSon4qswUqqdNKDrkRGriMREmKdpsnxDA7EISGPSqK9z8HgNLhGVgO3QQGToDtOA/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly26.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ_C0L8DlgkID_7avxr5H-M1LZxEF7sPku1TJ0ChyftC08_HD6ZA66r-bFaqcsxcPr8gxRxqYSon4qswUqqdNKDrkRGriMREmKdpsnxDA7EISGPSqK9z8HgNLhGVgO3QQGToDtOA/s320/Canyon+de+Chelly26.PNG" width="218" /></a><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In old age, wandering on
a trail of beauty, lively, may I run</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In old age, wandering on
a trail of beauty, living again, may I run</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is finished in beauty</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is
finished in beauty</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Ahe’hee Shaun Martin!<br />
<br />
Ahe’hee William Yazzie!<br />
<br />
Ahe’hee Din’e!<br />
<br />
H’ago’onee’ my friends, until
we meet again.<o:p></o:p></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7y-fRbF7riTfnNRE7ai2Wb2HjhPl3zp90RZF7a_2J_3UKXf-q8Z8VJvbdTw17tYSfTPfPZl6j6kiiJkEsyHNnYbMPGdcawZqhGU3c44aBtoVyb310RhIjGvtUFXbYXf6YZ4H0XQ/s1600/Canyon+de+Chelly44.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7y-fRbF7riTfnNRE7ai2Wb2HjhPl3zp90RZF7a_2J_3UKXf-q8Z8VJvbdTw17tYSfTPfPZl6j6kiiJkEsyHNnYbMPGdcawZqhGU3c44aBtoVyb310RhIjGvtUFXbYXf6YZ4H0XQ/s640/Canyon+de+Chelly44.PNG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And of course, my favorite sight of the day, my beloved wife. Ahe’hee my love.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-30449482030829380052013-10-14T15:07:00.005-07:002013-10-14T15:07:57.369-07:00Ups and Downs: A Tesuque Peak Trail Run Race Report
The <a href="http://bigtesuquetrailrun.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Big </a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://bigtesuquetrailrun.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Tesuque Trail Run</a> is a race up in Santa Fe that I’ve been looking
at doing for a few years now but for some reason I’ve never gotten around to
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wasn’t really planning on doing it
this year but the <a href="http://athenadiaries.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">GeekGrl</a> and I had a free weekend, felt like we were rested
enough from our travels and so thought a day trip and race would be fun.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3SvOjEb1sJuRpkzw_85tdt4wiEqIVYSA5vUTMIfs03OAQZrE8pCfXDRUhF0eTv-3f23k5xAEWi30m5E0IglswNO9KgKEZDEM90RayN6MQBb7zLX2gJotc5eh3LDGDH8fNuLJ4qg/s1600/Big+Tesuque1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3SvOjEb1sJuRpkzw_85tdt4wiEqIVYSA5vUTMIfs03OAQZrE8pCfXDRUhF0eTv-3f23k5xAEWi30m5E0IglswNO9KgKEZDEM90RayN6MQBb7zLX2gJotc5eh3LDGDH8fNuLJ4qg/s320/Big+Tesuque1.PNG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The race has been ongoing since 1985 and so is one of the
oldest continuously running races in New Mexico.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it is a fairly small race because it
is basically a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyrunning" target="_blank">skyrunning</a> event, lots of elevation gain coupled with high
altitude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The race gains just over 2100 feet
in just under 6 miles with a starting elevation of about 10,000 feet and a peak
elevation of just over 12,000 feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
Garmin gave a starting elevation of 9,990 and a peak elevation of 12,024 feet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The race, despite being called a “trail run”, is run
exclusively on a dirt service road that is used to access the radio towers on
top of Tesuque Peak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The road is kind of
rocky in many places, not enough to be called technical but definitely enough
to make you pay close attention to your footfalls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other aspect of the race, probably the
best aspect of the race, is the amazing fall colors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time of the race the high altitude
Aspen groves are in their full fall glory and the entire mountain race is
dappled in green and gold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh52CAtzpd_fCOaf7I5Ui-fnKt6A8ewNMl8d1EHn494Knn4YACx_DLIwhQSzAeHtWXy1YwQH0plU9gSaYaubuv1TfCfmr-V1lo80381jJlImje1VmP45ADlvo1YQgsmV1H-IMHRcg/s1600/Big+Tesuque+elevation.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh52CAtzpd_fCOaf7I5Ui-fnKt6A8ewNMl8d1EHn494Knn4YACx_DLIwhQSzAeHtWXy1YwQH0plU9gSaYaubuv1TfCfmr-V1lo80381jJlImje1VmP45ADlvo1YQgsmV1H-IMHRcg/s320/Big+Tesuque+elevation.PNG" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I wasn’t really expecting much from myself as far as racing
goes because I have not been training much at altitude and I haven’t done much
climbing at all this season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since I’ve
been focused this year on recovering from last year and running flat marathons
I’ve spent all my time either in the gently rolling foothills of the Sandia
Mountains or down in the Bosque flat lands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In any case, this was really just a supported training run and a chance
to get out of town and run somewhere new.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Race morning was cold up on the mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the morning temperature at race start
was 35 degrees but I still opted to wear shorts and a short sleeved shirt with
gloves and arm warmers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew I’d warm up
pretty quickly once the race started.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When the gun went off I started running but my pace was too
quick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I rapidly became winded and had
to slow down as runners more acclimated to the altitude surged past me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was able to regroup pretty quickly, get my
head in the game and approach the race as I should; power hike the steep stuff,
run anything that was flatish and jog anything that was only a mild
incline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using this ultra strategy I
quickly regained control over my breathing and was able to run the race on my
terms rather than being reduced to slogging up the mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, this meant having to watch several
people disappear ahead of me but I kept telling myself that I would most likely
catch them on my way down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSM-3Qgk-cfv_FiWFkYVrtbVyjdWfd-R-aLZqc1_21-2eloHMfuEe0AYb6p7RmfRzFTTDHhRcEapDeQIUsmBVleHkVPWIxUmawQV9JsDj_eHHQC5k7yR8M3J_AVP3KaJiuZBK96A/s1600/Big+Tesuque.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSM-3Qgk-cfv_FiWFkYVrtbVyjdWfd-R-aLZqc1_21-2eloHMfuEe0AYb6p7RmfRzFTTDHhRcEapDeQIUsmBVleHkVPWIxUmawQV9JsDj_eHHQC5k7yR8M3J_AVP3KaJiuZBK96A/s320/Big+Tesuque.PNG" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Several people who were running just up ahead of me or near
me were running continuously, no walk breaks just a slow steady jog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though I was keeping up with them I was
still impressed by their efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew
that if I tried to run this thing continuously I would have blown up within a
mile or two and been forced to walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
done enough racing to know that I have to run my own race using my own strategy
and part of that strategy is to never put myself in a position where I have to
walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will always start hiking or
walking before my body tells me I must and that keeps me stronger longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using my strategy at Tesuque I slowly churned
out the miles playing leap-frog with several runners for the first couple miles
and then gradually leaving them behind while catching new runners as I neared
the peak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The views from the top were
amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the crystal clear New
Mexico sky you could see for miles in all directions but I didn’t linger
because I wanted to see how many people I could catch and pass before the
finish line.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The descent off the peak was invigorating at first and then
it became increasingly sketchy as my legs tired and the rocky road continued on
and on in a relentless descent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the
way down I averaged about 7:23 minute miles, passed several people and was
passed by no one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though the road
was not technical the rocks, dappled shade and weariness caused by staying so
focused on your footing really took its toll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>About half-way down the mountain a guy maybe 10 yards ahead of me
tripped on a rock and went down hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I imagine
it was pretty painful because there was nowhere soft to land just a packed dirt
road imbedded with rocks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDBaFPPr7GMiPGUfdyhxoLwgcaUVBTqYNkvWhSoXJW1mNRBMzKP1tXBhf5rVFMWeB1pMKt2sD7eA6UrvVzSB0curZZjYwx7Av2HLvPBrmEHxayJRwHuqeMKI8g-3SJZW1dWJfAQ/s1600/Big+Tesuque+splits.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDBaFPPr7GMiPGUfdyhxoLwgcaUVBTqYNkvWhSoXJW1mNRBMzKP1tXBhf5rVFMWeB1pMKt2sD7eA6UrvVzSB0curZZjYwx7Av2HLvPBrmEHxayJRwHuqeMKI8g-3SJZW1dWJfAQ/s320/Big+Tesuque+splits.PNG" width="278" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I continued my descent and tried not to think too much about
the guy who went down because I knew that would start making me paranoid and overly
cautious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Onward I hammered trying to
stay focused and trying to stay upright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I finally reached the finish line in 2:03:59, not a great time but it
put me in the top third of the pack overall and I felt really good about my
effort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I waited for the GeekGrl I
helped myself to the best breakfast burrito I’ve ever had at a race finish and
in New Mexico that’s actually saying a lot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Big Tesuque Trail Run is a very cool race, tough but
well worth repeating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’ve never
run it and are in the area I would definitely say this is a must do race, a
real New Mexican classic.</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-87321929688067814462013-10-14T11:44:00.000-07:002013-10-14T11:44:20.276-07:00Cruise Control: An Air Force Marathon Race Report
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This past September the <a href="http://athenadiaries.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">GeekGrl</a> and I ran the <a href="http://www.usafmarathon.com/" target="_blank">Air ForceMarathon</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was our fourth military
marathon in this the year of our Military Marathon Slam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So far we have done the Navy Marathon, the
Army Marathon, the National Guard Marathon and now the Air Force Marathon so
now all we have left is the Marine Corps Marathon and the Slam will be
complete.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7QNFiiOxGAlWgpPRVykQDvs8lyCGKkzntRb6JxtPWs-6ELskO9Uk51VssyuTESrkpWhZjPufowtw_FZI9NwekRMtFUURL2IuUjX9uf8ajWQ9GPeCRmBmsGuyjUM5W6oZpxX4NEw/s1600/Air+Force+Marathon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7QNFiiOxGAlWgpPRVykQDvs8lyCGKkzntRb6JxtPWs-6ELskO9Uk51VssyuTESrkpWhZjPufowtw_FZI9NwekRMtFUURL2IuUjX9uf8ajWQ9GPeCRmBmsGuyjUM5W6oZpxX4NEw/s1600/Air+Force+Marathon.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For the Air Force Marathon we just did another quick flight
out, race and turn around the next morning to fly home because it was all about
getting the race and not seeing Dayton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, Dayton was a homecoming of sorts for both of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The GeekGrl‘s family was originally from
Dayton and so growing up she went there for visits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I was in the Marine Corps I visited
Dayton once to play in the Military National Rugby Championships but we were
just there for the race, not a trip down memory lane.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I really wasn’t sure how I would do because my training has
been very different this summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Originally I had planned on making a BQ attempt here because I knew it
was a fairly fast course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had I been
ready for a BQ attempt the weather would have been perfect but the course would
have made it tough because of the big rollers at the beginning and end of the
course and because of the crowding at the end of the race when the
half-marathoners rejoined the marathoners for the last four miles or so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I’ve said in other posts I entered this season still
pretty worn down from last year’s Grand Slam of Ultrarunning and I have
steadfastly remained about 15 pounds up from what had become what I thought of
as my race weight over the past couple years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Throughout this season I have not been able to drop the weight and I
haven’t really been able to get back on track with the big miles I’ve been
running in the last couple years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I
could seem to muster is 40 to 50 mile weeks though in the last three months
leading up to this race I have been hitting 200 mile months.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Because of my higher weight and lower mileage I thought I
might be able to maintain some speed by turning to weightlifting so I looked
into different styles and found that Olympic weightlifting was considered best
for runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of May the
GeekGrl and I joined an Olympic lifting class at a local Crossfit gym but the
hours were really inconvenient and it was expensive relative to what we
got.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looked around and found one
Olympic lifting gym in town that doesn’t advertise and doesn’t do anything to
increase its membership.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9x6pr3ol9NaYytbqcqq_l6hOPK4NGVrqpNFpJCBWvmNW0cBx9DQZHaG8_4wID-zKlSijeXdxKp8EWaj8fr7kC2RbTx0y_HrLi8xpzv3Ft1myyP7GIbxIkMYZi9tzGerGONgskoQ/s1600/USA+Weightlifting.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9x6pr3ol9NaYytbqcqq_l6hOPK4NGVrqpNFpJCBWvmNW0cBx9DQZHaG8_4wID-zKlSijeXdxKp8EWaj8fr7kC2RbTx0y_HrLi8xpzv3Ft1myyP7GIbxIkMYZi9tzGerGONgskoQ/s1600/USA+Weightlifting.png" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The gym is in an industrial complex and is mostly set up for
strength training for athletes from the University of New Mexico.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is appointed with about 14 Olympic lifting
platforms, each with its own squat rack, and all top of the line Eleiko bumper
plates and bars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guy who runs it has
been coaching Olympic Weightlifting for over 30 years coaches people like the
GeekGrl and I in his spare time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His day
job is as a strength and conditioning coach at the University of New Mexico and
has a level 4 coaching certification through <a href="http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Weightlifting" target="_blank">USA Weightlifting</a>, the highest
level of certification possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We are really fortunate to have someone this experienced
because Olympic Weightlifting is actually a pretty obscure sport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There has been a recent explosion in “the
lifts” thanks to the popularity Crossfit but in my very limited experience the
Crossfit world really doesn’t know much about Olympic lifting and really only
see it as another exercise, therefore, there are a lot of Crossfit gyms improperly
teaching the lifts and there are a lot of athletes out there who are not really
getting the benefits that the lifts can confer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am sure there are very good Olympic lifting coaches at some of the
Crossfit gyms around the country but if you are considering it then I would say
you should make sure and check the coaches background through the USA
Weightlifting website and really make sure they know what they are doing and
are experienced because, while the lifts can be great for developing explosive
power and even stamina, they can also be great at developing injury.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My lifting coach likes to joke about wanting to ruin my
running career in favor of me becoming a dedicated Olympic weightlifter he is
sensitive to my goals and has the depth of experience as a long-time strength and
conditioning coach to design an appropriate training regimen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without getting into it too much one alteration
he has made in my lifting is that he has me doing a lot of split squats and
when I am doing the snatch he has me use a split squat as opposed to the
standard squat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The split squat in
particular is good for runners as it is essentially like doing lunges but it
offers more benefit because since you are working with a barbell and weight you
are building more strength in the legs and core.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibMAKNy71Wj7Sww0GmzTCwiTuXwuWEDCUlyK7whG63FG2EfdaeEGDilJfSrlbFYhSxmGRYt4FH-j9-TFQD0hBazoJc9MXjQd1POwU8bOZLOzXUyq_ZRTz7o5AsJG9cGwMxc0Q7ag/s1600/Split+Squats.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibMAKNy71Wj7Sww0GmzTCwiTuXwuWEDCUlyK7whG63FG2EfdaeEGDilJfSrlbFYhSxmGRYt4FH-j9-TFQD0hBazoJc9MXjQd1POwU8bOZLOzXUyq_ZRTz7o5AsJG9cGwMxc0Q7ag/s1600/Split+Squats.png" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because he has worked
with athletes of all kinds he is also sensitive to the fact that a runner needs
to develop strength evenly so he always has me double up on my sets whenever I
am doing split squats and has me doing them leading with both legs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This makes for a long workout day when I am
doing snatches because I usually end up doing split squats both sides then
overhead split squats both sides then snatches from the knee and then snatches
from the ground, also both splitting on both sides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The typical Oly lifter would only train from
one side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, the typical Oly
lifter would be doing a split snatch or split squats at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently this is an old school way of doing
things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back in the early 70’s it was
noticed that all the best lifters in the world were using what today is
considered the standard squat, feet parallel and about shoulder width apart,
and so all the coaches started to switch to that style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before then people used either style and even
earlier most people used the split, another advantage of having a really
experienced coach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ9TQMhPA-BmCv4-Kqp2zvNVCKRJTZPjUKgtqUQENuT2QVzXKqBDZvwtEUy5jmlFi-bqbXjzU2HJxCCltlpLijedPY5OKcTzUXTK9Lh91QziutfnPWDQC_aaiNF34RIH_6UxvIYw/s1600/Overhead+Split+Squat.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ9TQMhPA-BmCv4-Kqp2zvNVCKRJTZPjUKgtqUQENuT2QVzXKqBDZvwtEUy5jmlFi-bqbXjzU2HJxCCltlpLijedPY5OKcTzUXTK9Lh91QziutfnPWDQC_aaiNF34RIH_6UxvIYw/s320/Overhead+Split+Squat.png" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, that’s what my training consisted of in preparation for
this marathon, running six days a week with relatively low miles and Olympic
lifting three to four days per week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Throughout the summer I still never really lost any weight, maybe a
pound or two, and I also never really ran fast because the squats really kept
my legs fatigued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My hope was that the
added strength would make up for the lost mileage and that the principle of
cumulative fatigue would work just as well when that fatigue was developed by
combining some running with some weightlifting as opposed to all being
generated though running.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was not very confident coming into the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My training, at least in my own experience,
was theoretical and the only real experiences I had was a disastrous half-marathon
the weekend before the Air Force Marathon where I actually ended up struggling
to the finish line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, despite my
lack of confidence I didn’t want to completely throw in the towel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw this as an experiment and so I wanted
to see it through by trying to run the marathon well, not PR pace but well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On race morning I still wasn’t sure what I would do but
maybe 20 minutes before the start I decided to line up with the 3:45 pace group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I strongly felt that anything in the 3:20’s
was out of reach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My marathon PR is a
3:28 and change and I ran that in peak condition on a largely downhill
course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also thought that anything in
the low 2:30s was out of reach because my second best of 3:32:02 was run on a
flat course also while I was in great running condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went with the 3:45 because I thought that would
be a good strong time for me considering my current weight and training.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The starting gun went off and I eased into the run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the beginning of the race I actually
started to fade back from the 3:45 pace group but I knew I was just warming up
and when we hit the first big climb a little past mile one I started to gain
ground and had caught the 3:45 pacer by the top of the climb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My goal was not to actually run a 3:45 but to
run as well as I could, 3:45 was just my best estimate of what I thought I might
be able to pull off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That being the
case, as we started downhill I didn’t make any attempt to stick with the pace
group I just focused on running comfortable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My biggest concern was going out too fast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnmk6vD20S0uj7MJRIG3oJpyt1a-wmogRNNb5KYZBHcFHWNSrFyeb9g4RgcD2jnwb5ErQf-0lzZmBn_d9QPLt8ihXEvPI4JJkNg6mxe_YvlhWfVwk0dH_khrdNVFAAsgDD6vflMg/s1600/Fairborn+Fly+Zone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnmk6vD20S0uj7MJRIG3oJpyt1a-wmogRNNb5KYZBHcFHWNSrFyeb9g4RgcD2jnwb5ErQf-0lzZmBn_d9QPLt8ihXEvPI4JJkNg6mxe_YvlhWfVwk0dH_khrdNVFAAsgDD6vflMg/s320/Fairborn+Fly+Zone.jpg" width="188" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The course itself was mostly unremarkable, not bad just a
kind of standard but very runnable course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The majority of the race takes place on Wright Patterson Air Force Base
with a couple ventures off base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
such venture is into the town of Fairborn where they had the “Fairborn Fly Zone.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really enjoyed the effort they made in
creating the Fairborn Fly Zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an
out and back section that is maybe two miles in total length and it’s an area
where there are lots of enthusiastic spectators, music and motivational signs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not the girls of Wellesley from the
Boston marathon but then again, what is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, it was still energizing and a lot of fun to run.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As the miles clicked by I began to leave the 3:45 pace group
farther behind and soon caught sight of the 3:40 pace group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I saw them I still felt really good and
started to get excited thinking that maybe I could overtake them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of picking up my pace though I
started telling myself “just engage the cruise control and run easy” because I
knew that if I was already moving forward in the pack then with as much
distance as was left I would most likely catch them before the end if I didn’t
blow it by trying to overtake them too soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, cruise control became my mantra and I had to repeat it to myself
often because I continued to feel good and I continued to see other runners
ahead of me as rabbits to be caught on my way to the 3:40 pace leader.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I can’t say for sure what mile it was but I finally caught
the 3:40 pace leader and then passed him still at my nice, steady pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By now it was getting later into the race and
I was flagging a bit but no more than normal, I was still feeling good and still
repeating my mantra, cruise control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Somewhere around mile 18 or 19 on an out and back section I finally caught
sight of the 3:35 pace group and began to wonder if I could catch them but as
before, I didn’t make any attempt to pick up my pace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had been very happy with my progress up to now and there’s
no way I was going to blow it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have
been at mile 20 in many marathons and know what it feels like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew for a fact that the way I felt meant
that I would finish ahead of the 3:40 group as long as I didn’t do anything
stupid and from the perspective of “completing the experiment” trying to run
faster would have been stupid because it would have messed up my data with an
unwise move that even under the best circumstances would not have resulted in a
PR much less a BQ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I continued to plug along, continued to gain ground and
continued to repeat to myself, “cruise control, nice and easy.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I finally hit mile 23 it was apparent
that I wouldn’t catch the 3:35 group but I felt like I could pick up the pace a
bit and still hang on to a sub 3:40.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
gave it as much extra gas as I could spare and allowed the discomfort of the
last couple miles of a well-run marathon sweep over me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew that despite my doubts my experiment
had been a success. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ended up running a
3:37:43, my fourth fastest marathon time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My final thoughts and observations; I also ran my third
fastest marathon time this year before I started the Olympic Weightlifting, a
3:37:26 at the Lincoln marathon, only 17 seconds faster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, that was an easier course and I was
wrecked afterwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking back at my
training plan for the year I can see that in the three weeks following the
Lincoln marathon I ran 12 miles the first week, 28 miles the second week and 38
miles the third week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also made the
notation “Something has to change; I need to re-boot my training program.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the Air Force Marathon, however, I was
able to jump right back into training and the first week after I ran 62 miles,
the second week out I ran 65 miles and the third week out I ran 61 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those miles also included a 12 mile race at
the end of week two on Tesuque Peak in Santa Fe and a 34 mile ultra in Canyon
De Chelly at the end of week three.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The combination of the running and Olympic weightlifting has
made a huge difference for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to
stress that I am not lifting heavy by any means, I am still too new to Olympic
lifting to be able to push much weight while using good form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am probably maxing out my Snatches and
Cleans at 45 kilograms, My Squats at 60 kilograms and my Romanian Deadlifts at
maybe 70 kilograms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, even though
I am using light weights my muscle strength and stamina is markedly improved in
just three and a half months of lifting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While I still don’t have the evidence, I do think that I am faster than
my third fastest marathon time, which was also run with me weighing in at 210
pounds as opposed to the 195 pounds I ran my marathon PR and second fastest
times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that if I were back down
to 195, despite the fact that I’m three years older, I could beat my marathon
PR with my current combination of running and lifting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Unfortunately, I’m not sure I’ll ever get that light again,
at least not the way things are going now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was very hard to hit that low a weight and required a strict diet and
running an average of about 250 miles per month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that if I am going to get much faster,
if I am going to hit another BQ time, in combination with the weightlifting I
will need to lose a little weight, maybe get down to 205, run more and run
faster more often than I do now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until
then I don’t think I’ll run under 3:30 again but I feel certain that without
the weightlifting my chances would pretty much be zero.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And so the experiment continues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I continue to lift three to four times a
week, usually four, and my mileage is up to averaging 60 plus miles per
week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The GeekGrl and I have the Marine
Corps Marathon in just a couple weeks and that will be the next test in my new
approach to training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My plan is to line
up with the 3:35 group and see what I can do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hopefully all turns out well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-7431522381235775352013-09-23T20:38:00.000-07:002013-09-23T20:38:29.756-07:00Down the Toilet: A Chips and Salsa Half-Marathon Race Report
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The only reason I ran the Chips and Salsa half-marathon at
all is because I got a free entry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
online doing something one night and I received an e-mail from active.com that
they were giving away five entries to the Chips and Salsa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought, “What the hell” and clicked the
link to see what the catch was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
was no catch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just submitted my name
and got an e-mail saying “Congratulations, the entry is yours!” and that
message came with a code to enter when I went to Active to register.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I entered the race, used my free entry
code, and registered the GeekGrl as well.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s not that I wouldn’t run the Chips and Salsa unless it
were free it’s just that it was scheduled the weekend before one of this year’s
A races, the Air Force Marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, given how my season has been going so far I didn’t really think
it mattered because there’s no way I’m going to BQ in the next couple
months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chips and Salsa is actually a
pretty good local race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think this
made the third time I’ve run it though each time it has been on a different
course.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My plan for this race was to simply take it easy and cruise
along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t want to waste anything
before the Air Force Marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The day
before the race I went for an easy run and then spent the rest of the afternoon
changing out the toilet in our master bathroom for a low-flow, push button toilet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is something I’ve wanted to do for quite
a while but have been hesitant because though I’m good at landscaping I really
don’t consider myself handy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It ended up
being really easy but holy crap toilets are heavy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I went to pull the old toilet off the
floor I discovered it was grouted to the floor so it took some extra work and
some extra lifting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, I got it
done and didn’t feel like I was any worse for wear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOChCbSm4odKZxmGKzV_dbslanilFuB-rb4GIctYaqbrFHfl9KvM_3kOBG4CHQAlz8OAPzOAQnzRsKqk4XZkX73-Uw5Sh885bxTpEQfmLRGsYEfK8Cn8oyRAsBu0VMa5li_zRPEg/s1600/Toilet.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOChCbSm4odKZxmGKzV_dbslanilFuB-rb4GIctYaqbrFHfl9KvM_3kOBG4CHQAlz8OAPzOAQnzRsKqk4XZkX73-Uw5Sh885bxTpEQfmLRGsYEfK8Cn8oyRAsBu0VMa5li_zRPEg/s1600/Toilet.png" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When race morning came I felt pretty good and just like I
planned I took off easy and after I warmed up a bit I picked up the pace and
just kept rolling along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a
perfect morning for a race and I felt good jogging along at my easy pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was making pretty good progress until about
mile seven and then I started to get an ache in my shoulders, chest and biceps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t figure it out at first but as I
ran the ache turned to a throbbing pain and then I realized it was from
carrying those toilets the day before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
I carried them I had to grip them using a bear hug and of course I lifted with
my legs and it must have taken a lot more strength than I thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I kept running along but the pain was just getting worse and
worse and I was really starting to freak out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If I tried to run any faster than about a 9:30 pace the throbbing pain
intensified and I had to slow down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
the miles ticked by I really started to struggle and then of course I started
having all kinds of negative thoughts because it was hard for me to believe
that changing out a toilet could take such a toll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started thinking that the training plan I
had used over the summer had failed me and that I was no longer capable of even
running a measly half-marathon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By the time I reached mile 10 I felt like I was done for and
I had to start taking walk breaks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
could not believe how badly I was falling apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I shuffle jogged mixed with walk breaks the
rest of the way to the finish line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
ended up running a 2:06:10, my slowest half-marathon ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never would have guessed that anything
could have taken such a toll on my ability to run but lifting toilets sure
did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Never again.</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-88878909370827776082013-09-06T11:57:00.001-07:002013-09-06T11:57:27.752-07:00The Grand Drama of the Grand Slam of UltrarunningThere has been a recent brew-ha-ha in the ultrarunning community surrounding The Grand Slam of Ultrarunning that began with the fact that Nick Clark and Ian Sharman are both running the races that make up the Slam, are possibly competing for the fastest cumulative time running those races and that Nick decided not to pay the Slam entry fee because he thought up some better ways to spend $80 and didn't feel the need for any additional hardware.<br />
<br />
Honestly, I seriously doubt that Ian feels the need for any more hardware or validation either. The man can run...like the wind. Maybe was just sitting around and simply could not figure out what to do with the $80 that was buring a hole in his pocket and simply said, "I think I'll just mail it off to Stan Jensen and the Slam."<br />
<br />
In fact, now that I'm at it I have a little bone to pick with Ian. It just so happens that when I had my amazing sub-24 hour run at Rocky Raccoon Ian was busy smoking the old course record that had stood forever and thus I ended up with a crappy percentage rating on Ultrasignup for one of my best races ever. Thanks for that Ian.<br />
<br />
Anyway, the actual furor was kicked off by the little notice below:<br />
<br />
<strong>MESSAGE FROM THE GRAND SLAM OF ULTRARUNNING™ COMMITTEE AND THE WASATCH 100
RACE COMMITTEE</strong> <br /><br /><i>The Grand Slam of Ultrarunning™ Committee and the
Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Run Committee do not endorse, recognize, or
ratify anyone or their times involved in the so-called “unofficial” grand slam
of ultrarunning. Likewise we do not support, encourage, or sustain anyone
involved in this pursuit. <br /><br />We continue to recognize, applaud, and award
the runners who are legitimately registered in and officially complete The Grand
Slam of Ultrarunning™. <br /><br />We also remind all who are observing or otherwise
involved that the term “Grand Slam of Ultrarunning™” is a trademark of The Grand
Slam of Ultrarunning™ entity, and only those who are official entrants and
finishers of The Grand Slam of Ultrarunning™ are entitled to use the term “Grand
Slam of Ultrarunning™” in whatever form (including in any form that might cause
trademark confusion) in connection with their running endeavors.</i><br />
<br />
I haven't the foggiest notion why this message was felt necessary and I don't remember the little "TM" next to The Grand Slam of Ultrarunning last year when I did it but whatever, that was the match that lit the powderkeg. (actually it's likely that most people could give a crap its just a vocal minority on the ultralist that are going banannas about it.)<br />
<br />
As the debate, actually I should say diatribe, raged on I felt increasingly complelled to jump in because it seemed to be turning more towards a "What a rip-off" type deal along with the usual "They are ruining/co-opting/profiting from our sport" types of arguemnts. I saw the "what a rip-off as an oppertunity to state some facts about what I personally recieved for my $80 and here it is.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As someone who completed the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning in 2012 I can
tell you what I got for my $80 in 2012, I have no idea if this changes from
year to year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’d have to ask Dan Brenden
who has completed the Slam more than any other person.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To begin with, I expected nothing but “an award” and I had no idea what
that was and I really didn’t care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
figured it would be something that would commemorate the occasion of finishing
and that seemed fine to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Stan put together an e-mail group for all the slammers that year and
sent out an introductory e-mail as well as a group e-mail with our WS pictures
so we could have some chance at recognizing our fellow Slammers on the course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also sent out various other alerts and
well wishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The intent of the list was
to try and build a sense of community amongst the Slammers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My recollection is that few people
participated in the e-mailing but there was sporadic traffic among the group. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guys (we started with one female and she
DNFd at WS so I never got to connect with her) I connected with most were the
ones who I ended up running relatively close times to and it seemed like the
top three runners in our cohort would hang with each other as well so the
community part was probably more based on running ability and who you ended up
bumping into on the courses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, I
liked that part and the email group helped make that connection. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Stan also made the attempt to hook up with us at the finish line of WS
and Wasatch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He happened to be able to
check in with me on both occasions, asked how I was doing, gave me a “congratulations
and job well done”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was nice
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have no idea if he met up with
everyone, or anyone, else so experiences may vary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a surprise at WS because I wasn’t
expecting anything really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was kind
of like getting a birthday card from your insurance agent; a sort of “huh, that’s
nice, I guess I wouldn’t have expected that” type of feeling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you completed the Slam you received.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A trophy (the award).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a kind of stylized Eagle head on a square
base that has a little placard on it with your name and Grand Slam of
Ultrarunning, maybe something else I don’t remember right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s maybe six inches tall and the base is
maybe 3.5 inches per side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember
getting it and immediately thinking “there’s no way in hell that the TSA will
let me on the airplane with this thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s heavy and has a couple serious points on it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TSA did let me on the plane with the trophy
despite the fact that it’s one of the most dangerous looking things I’ve ever
laid eyes on and could seriously do some damage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A polo shirt with “Grand Slam of Ultrarunning
Finisher” embroidered on the left breast.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A matching visor also with “Grand Slam of
Ultrarunning Finisher” embroidered on it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A lapel pin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For some reason though I think the pin was a Wasatch pin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I haven’t looked at it since I received it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I don’t think any other Wasatch
finishers got one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know I didn’t get
one when I did Wasatch the year before and was not in the Slam.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were greeted and congratulated by Tom Green,
the original Slammer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And yes, you even get your name posted on “the list” along with others
who paid their fee such as:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">2006 Darcy Africa <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">2004 Scott Jurek<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">2003 Lisa Smith-Batchen <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1998 Pam Reed <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1998 Ann Trason <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1995 Gordy Ainsleigh <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1990 Dick Collins <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1989 Helen Klein<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1989 Marshall Ulrich</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">(Ok, I really don’t know when the fee was instituted so maybe some of
these folks got in free.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Is this an $80 value? Sure, why not, who knows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But more to the point, it was an $80 value
for me even if all the crap listed above was free and Stan and the Wasatch
committee sat around laughing their asses off and smoked my money like a big
fat cigar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like my little awards and
recognition, it’s kinda’ cool and this is something I wanted to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does anyone but me give a crap, I hope not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People should be looking to their own lives
trying to figure out what would be kinda’ cool for them and then they should go
do that thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As far as I’m concerned the year 2012 was own secret running Nirvana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran Boston for the first time ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran Western States, Vermont, Leadville and
Wasatch and nobody, no circumstance, no change can ever take that from me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not terrorists, not corporations, not race
committees and when I am dead and gone I still will have done these things and in
this moment, I think that’s kinda’ cool.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Oh, I almost forgot, I have also apparently recently received the legal
right to use the term “Grand Slam of Ultrarunning” for my $80 so you see, it’s
the gift that just keeps giving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Namaste</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-15141588444903462622013-08-27T15:03:00.001-07:002013-08-27T15:04:37.411-07:00Am I Back Baby? A Run Elevated Race Report<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This past weekend the GeekGrl and I had a family function to
attend near Salt Lake City and so of course we looked for a race to enter since
we would need to get a run in anyway and it’s always fun to check out local
events from locales other than where you live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The only thing I was able to find that fit our schedule was a
half-marathon in its inaugural year called the Run Elevated Half Marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The race begins near a ski lodge in Alta, UT
at an elevation of close to 9000 feet and it descends through the canyon and
ends at the base of the mountains in Sandy, UT.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to my Garmin there was almost 400 feet of elevation loss on
the course and the majority of it takes place in the first 9 miles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The race starts at 6:30 in the morning but you have to
arrive at the finish line by about 5:00 a.m. in order to park and catch buses
to the start line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was cold and dark
when they dropped us at the start line and we ended up waiting form maybe 45
minutes though it seemed longer because the GeekGrl and I hadn’t brought any
warm clothes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Runners were allowed to
bring a drop bag for warm clothes that would be transported back down to the
finish line but for some reason the information that it would be about 50
degrees at the start line didn’t register with me as being particularly cold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For some reason I’ve been having difficulty with the concept
of relative experiences lately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mind
has been defaulting to extreme cases so when I saw the 50 degrees warning I
immediately thought about how 50 degrees felt relatively warm compared to
winter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can recall several winter runs
when I was blessed with a “warm” day of 50 and ran comfortably in shorts and a
singlet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did not think about all the
other runs I’ve done in the summer when 50 degrees feels pretty cold compared
to the average 90 degree temps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a
similar vein, when we ran the Squak Mountain marathon earlier this year and I
read that there would be 7,000 feet of climbing it didn’t seem all that bad in
comparison to the 27,000 feet of climbing at Wasatch but again, I didn’t
consider the relative distances, 100 miles versus a marathon, and then
appreciate that Squak Mountain was mile-for-mile every bit as hard as Wasatch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In any case, there we stood huddled out of the wind holding
each other behind the port-o-potties waiting for the start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The race began exactly on time and predictably
people tore out at the starting gun like they were on fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve done this enough times to appreciate
that you really have to be conservative at least for the first mile just to see
how your body feels so that’s what I did as all kinds of people surged past me.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Almost as soon as the race started we
were hit with a light sprinkle that turned into a cold rain and I was thankful
at least that it had held off until after the start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rain, however, didn’t last long and I was
feeling increasingly good so I picked up the pace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Running downhill used to be something I really excelled at;
even my fastest friends had to run hard when it came to going downhill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However a couple nasty spills and a fractured
hip changed that dramatically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would
say that during the 2011 and 2012 running season I was not myself as a downhill
runner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I became slow and cautious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the longest time I couldn’t really put my
finger on what it was that slowed me down so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, sure, I had lost confidence but it
wasn’t the loss of confidence per-se that caused me to slow, there was something
behind it and lead to less confidence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A few months back the GeekGrl and I took up Olympic
Weightlifting and this has resulted in doing a lot of squats of every
description.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don’t just do the
half-squat that you often see people at the local gym doing, we do the deep
full squats of an Olympic weightlifter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We do front squats, back squats and overhead squats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also do a lot of split squats, which is akin
to a weighted lunge, and a lot of dumbbell jumps, which is really doing what
box jumps are intended to do except instead of jumping up onto some platform
you are simply doing your vertical jump while holding dumbbells.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After about a month of the Olympic weightlifting I noticed
my legs started to feel solid when they hit the ground as I ran the foothills
behind my house and that is when it clicked and I finally realized what had
been going on and what had caused my lack of confidence in my downhill
running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During my various injuries I
had lost a lot of leg strength and that resulted in a slightly spongy, unstable
feeling when my feet hit the ground as I ran downhill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s nothing that I ever noticed except in
contrast to how I feel now but somewhere in the recesses of my mind I did sense
this slight instability and so I slowed and became more cautions, lost
confidence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Regaining that solid feeling was pretty amazing because when
I first noticed it returning it was like seeing someone you think you recognize
but aren’t quite sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was tentative
at first but the longer I paid attention to the feeling the more recognition
set in, “Yes, this is how my legs used to feel when I hammered the downhills,
like steel springs not like worn out shocks.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This race put my newfound leg strength to the test but what
was great is that my confidence was back and I knew in my heart that it would
be a very rare person who could beat me on the downhills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After about a mile and a half I just decided
to attack the hill and let fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
quickly started passing people one, two, three at a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then started catching entire groups of
people, the cluster at the front of the back of the pack, the cluster at the
back of the middle of the pack, the cluster at the middle of the middle of the
pack and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time I left the
canyon at mile nine I could tell from the dispersion of people that I was in
that more thinly populated training edge of the front of the front of the pack.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, by this time I had developed a pretty large blister
on the heel of each foot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could feel
them there and they hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite having
my leg strength back my feet weren’t used to that kind of pounding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may have been wiser to have backed off but
the way I saw it the blisters were there already so there’s no point in backing
off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The worst that could happen is
what, they could get slightly larger?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They could tear and be a little more painful?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The point is I really didn’t care because I
had two other tests I wanted to run on myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first thing I was curious about was an article that I
had read in Scientific American Mind called “No Brain – No Pain.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically the article lays out the research that
points to the current consensus that pain is really more of an emotion than it
is a physical state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In lay terms this
is the whole “mind-over matter; if you don’t mind it don’t matter” idea but in
far less macho terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously it’s not
actually the case that pain is only an emotion and that you could basically get
stabbed in the face and not care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
more like the severity of our pain is a function of our emotional relationship
to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The degree of actual tissue
damage plays a role but out “pain emotion” really cranks up the suffering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I wanted to do is kind of play with this
idea as it was happening, observe my sensations and see if I could turn the
pain up or down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not recommend turning
it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It works and is, duh, painful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What I found interesting is that any mental reference to the
idea of pain, struggle or doubt made it hurt worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, for example, if I told myself “I just
need to suck it up and run through the pain” it hurt worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact bringing the word pain or suffering
to mind is what made it hurt worst of all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was also the case that I felt more pain if I had any thoughts of
doubt or struggle so the thoughts “I doubt I can catch that guy” or “I need to
dig deep and push so I don’t get passed by the guy I just passed” brought about
more pain but not as much as if I was actually thinking about pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What diminished the pain the most was when I
was just thinking “let’s see if I can catch that guy” or “I bet I can catch
that guy” or at times when I was thinking strategically like “I’m going to back
off a little on this uphill so I can conserve some energy.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">These thinking strategies worked well for me until maybe the
last mile when I was physically spent and quite realistically, there was nobody
left to pass unless they blew up before I did and everyone was turning on their
kick and trying not to blow up before the finish line so getting passed back
was a very real possibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last
mile, I’m not ashamed to admit, was pretty brutal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a struggle, I had several doubts and
man was it painful but this brings me to my second self-test.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to see how fast I might be relative
to other runners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last year as the Slam wore on I lost more and more speed and
gained more and more weight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I entered last
season at about 197 and hit a low of 187.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This season I started at 208 and despite what I felt were good efforts I
have been unable to lose anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did
drop to 207 for one day but I’ve mostly been hanging out at between 208 and 210.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My attempts at losing weight and
regaining speed involved starting the Hanson’s Marathon method, which includes
a lot of speed work and running at faster paces, and trying everything I could
with respect to dieting including a couple of “fad diets.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fad diets resulted in immediate weight
gain and my regular just eat right and watch your portions resulted in no
weight loss at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To top it off, the paces I was trying to run using the
Hanson’s method were just killing me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
think I made it two weeks into the plan and I was so smoked that I was falling
farther and farther off my paces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course my paces were based on times that I was able to run when I was 10 to 15
pounds lighter but that didn’t really matter much to me because those were the
paces I wanted to run, the paces that would get me to another Boston.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I began to feel increasingly desperate and despondent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I could think about was that my time as a
fast runner was over and I just had to accept that one simple fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Desperation and despondency is a really bad
place for me to be because that is when I eat the most and eat the worst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was heading for a serious downward spiral
and I knew it but then I thought of a quote I had heard somewhere, a quote
about the F-4 Phantom fighter jet that is attributed to a Vietnam fighter pilot
named Clarence “Dick” Anderegg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said,
that the F-4 was “proof positive that if you put enough thrust behind a brick
you can make it fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a brute but
the power and magnificence of this machine were a joy, always.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you put enough thrust behind a brick you can make it fly…that
thought really resonated with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
not the biggest guy around but let’s face it, as fast runners go, front of the
pack runners, I am pretty much a brute and I’ve always known that I do not run
off my talent as a runner, I run off my power, my leg strength.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I actually spoke to Luke Humphrey once, the guy who wrote
the Hanson’s Method book, and told him about how when I ran my Boston
qualifying time it was the weekend after I had run back-to-back marathons, both
sub-4 and one was my previous marathon PR.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I told him, “That was the year I had trained for my first Leadville.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His response, “You must have just been so
strong that you were able to pull it off.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All these thoughts started rolling around in my head and that is what
actually lead me to Olympic weightlifting in the first place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As far as lifting goes, it is simply the best
kind of lifting to do for runners, period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the absence of being able to lose weight I was hoping to generate
enough power to propel my brick of a body fast, or at least faster than I have
been able to pull off so far this year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, with the second test in play, the test of “did the
Olympic Lifting make me faster” I gutted out the final mile and finished the
race in 1:31:54.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is a pretty fast
half-marathon for anyone and yes, I understand that were it not for the
downhill I probably could not run a half that fast but here’s the deal, I
finished 27<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> out of 408 runners putting me in the top 7
percent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I ran my BQ time at Tucson
I was number 113 out of 1079 placing me in the top 10 percent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tucson is also a downhill race.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m not yet prepared to say I’m back to my BQ form given
that I’m still 10 pounds heavier and this was only a half-marathon but I am
saying that things look promising and as far as the lifting goes, relative to
the experienced lifters, I am still a total whimp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My coach has me focusing on form, not
strength but the strength is coming bit my bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My first real test will be the Air Force Marathon coming up here in just
a few weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My original intention was
to attempt a BQ there but I’m really on the fence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the one hand I do want to make a BQ
attempt but on the other hand I want to make it a serious attempt and I’m not
quite sure I’m ready. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Because of the 5 minute drops in BQ times I would have to
break my old marathon PR, which has stood for two years and nine months now, by
at least 3 minutes and 14 seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
I may do instead is just run Air Force hard enough to get a sense of where I’m
at and then save a serious attempt for later in the year either at Marine Corps
of Honolulu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who knows, I probably won’t
make that decision until race day when I’m picking which pace group to line up
with.</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-74405787144588565592013-07-30T18:24:00.001-07:002013-07-31T07:26:58.405-07:00My Grand Slam of Ultrarunning interview by Ask Men<a href="http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding/ultra-marathons.html">http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding/ultra-marathons.html</a><br />
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-45186070616689556472013-07-26T20:07:00.000-07:002013-07-26T20:07:31.553-07:00A New Day Dawning: Still Going Long but also Trying to Get Strong<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last year I completed the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning and
while it is not the ultimate test of an endurance runner it is an accomplishment
that most ultrarunners see as anything from respectable to awe inspiring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People who don’t run ultras see it as
downright incomprehensible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not
here trying to toot my own horn…well, ok, maybe that’s a lie, there’s at least
a little tooting going on, but for the most part it’s an accomplishment that I
hold for myself and reflect on. It makes me smile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the Slam is part of my history and I
don’t foresee it ever being a part of my future.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last year I ran the Boston marathon as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I qualified for the first time ever in December
of 2011 at the Tucson Marathon the weekend after having run two marathons in
one weekend while holding nothing back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I had brought my marathon time down by an hour and twenty five minutes
from my first marathon in December 2005, also the Tucson marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Boston has cut its qualifying time
by five minutes and I’m not sure that Boston will be a part of my future again
either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In my years of blogging one thing I haven’t really talked
much about is just how hard the whole triathlon and ultrarunning thing has been
for me, how much sacrifice it has entailed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sure, I haven’t held back in revealing how hard various races were for
me or my experiences of low points during races but one thing I haven’t written
about is the almost constant frustration with my size and my never ending
attempt to not only control it but to shrink it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am not an endurance guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, I can do endurance sports and have done pretty well but I have
always been bigger than 95 percent of my peers, I have always been overweight
and my sports growing up were mostly football, rugby and the throwing sports in
track and field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How on earth I fell in
love with extreme endurance sports I’ll never know but I really do love them
and I’ve done my best to be competitive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think those days are over. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, I want them to be over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m tired of spending hours upon hours
training mostly alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m tired of
tracking my calories constantly year after year in the hopes that I can shave
three pounds off my 200 pound frame when my competition weighs in at a typical
weight of between 135 and 150.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m tired
of fighting against my own biology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
burning me out and I need a balance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here is what I do want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I do want to keep running marathons and ultras though when it comes to
ultras I don’t yet know what distances are still in my future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to be able to eat healthy and smart
without counting every calorie taken in and expended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to allow my body to find a good weight
and I want to stop agonizing over whether I weigh 203 or 197.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to get the mantra out of my head “two
seconds per mile slower for every pound gained, two seconds per mile faster for
every pound lost.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Enough is enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just
want to do my thing with my friends and have a good time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realize it’s my own fault for pushing
myself as I did but I’m a master at imagining external pressures where there
really are none.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began this season at
208 and immediately freaked out and started hammering my body with exercise and
trying any crazy ass diet I could think of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I also pretty much immediately discovered that my body was still cooked
from having run the Slam last year and within a month I became sick for a month
and bounced up to 212.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In desperation I
tried to hammer myself back into shape before the National Guard marathon
trials at Lincoln in May.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not that
I expected to make the All Guard team or anything I just didn’t want to embarrass
myself or my team. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, despite all attempts my body just wouldn’t respond and
I became increasingly discouraged about my ability to keep up the low weight I
had achieved or to regain any of the speed I had lost over last year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the marathon trials the other three
members of my team all placed in their age group and made the All Guard
Team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran about 8 minutes slower than
the previous year when it had been about 10 degrees hotter and landed somewhere
in the middle of the pack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I was
happy for my teammates I just felt like the out of place fat kid back on the elementary
school playground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t need that in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love to run and I want to keep loving to
run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have 24 more marathons I want to
do in order to collect the 50 states and I’d still kind of like to run Hardrock
though I honestly think there’s little chance of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The luster of the Hardrock dream has faded
considerably because of the virtual impossibility of getting in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is far more to life than a slavish
devotion to one race.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, what’s next?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, Olympic weightlifting, that’s what.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a dream of mine as a very young kid, I
mean like second grade young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember
seeing it in the Olympics and then going out to the garage where, for whatever
reason, we had one of those plastic coated concrete weight sets and I started
doing the lifts as best I could.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like
many things in life at that age Olympic weightlifting quickly fell by the
wayside and was soon forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean,
it’s not like it’s a popular or well publicized sport.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I was researching alternative ways of regaining my speed
having given up on the notion that I could regain and maintain a low enough
weight, I came across Olympic weightlifting for sprinters and the old flame was
rekindled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I said, I’m still going to do endurance sports but I’m
not going to push hard to be fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll
run at whatever speed I can muster on 40 to 50 miles a week and my
weightlifting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe more importantly, I
don’t plan to slack off on my weightlifting for the benefit of my races.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d like to see what I can do at a
weightlifting meet and that is going to mean consistent lifting, which I have
already discovered keeps my legs pretty fatigued what with all the squats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the same token though I’m not going to sacrifice
my running for my lifting because in all honesty I think the running is my
long-term ticket to health and fitness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, here I go, heading off into two directions and looking
to get the best out of both.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, it’s a
lot of working out but it’s what I call a balance and I’m really looking
forward to how things unfold.</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-80684732094794923102013-07-26T14:43:00.000-07:002013-07-26T14:43:10.719-07:00No longer a Clydesdale: Rule Change not Weight Loss
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A lot of people who race in the Clydesdale division
celebrate when they no longer qualify as a Clydesdale because they have lost
their excess weight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This happened to me
though it wasn’t something I crowed about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was certainly happy to lose the weight but my heart is with the
Clydesdales and I figured that, in time, my body would once again be there as
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got down to 187 but it was
murder to get there and it lasted for maybe a day or two of severe
dehydration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even sticking at 195 took
monumental effort and I figured it wasn’t something that was sustainable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I entered this season at 208, became sick almost as soon as
I started my spring weight loss and bounced up to 212.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have not dipped below 207 all year but I’m also
a year older and I recognize that while I could probably peel off another pound
or two, I’m probably not likely to head south of 200 again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My new approach to a more sustainable lifestyle will involve
a combination of running and strength training, specifically, Olympic lifting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m a big guy, I should do some big guy
things and the Olympic lifting is something that was an early dream of mine,
possibly my first dream with respect to sports.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In any case, I also thought that maybe I’d pick back up
racing in the Clydesdale division but I soon discovered that I was no longer a
Clydesdale, at least not in the eyes of USAT.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On January first of this year a new USAT rule came into effect
that places a Clydesdale at 220 pounds, not the former 200 pounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not expect to weigh that much again and
of course I’m not going to gain weight to race as a Clydesdale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The reasoning behind USAT’s ruling is that all athletes have
gotten larger by about 10 percent since the Clydesdale and Athena divisions
were created in 1997, yes, the Athena division is now at 165 instead of the old
150.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>USAT assured athletes that the
weight divisions weren’t just fat people divisions developed so non-competitive
people could get awards too but given everything I’ve seen that argument is
pretty unconvincing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In honesty, I have
no idea what legitimate reason USAT has for having the weight divisions other
than as feel good awards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have
never treated the division with respect, there are no rankings, everyone is dumped
into age groups, and there are no legitimate Clydesdale and Athena national competitions,
the divisions have no age groups other than the 39 and under – 40 + split and
nine times out of ten when the awards are given the Clydesdale and Athena
awards are not just last but often forgotten until an athlete reminds the race
director.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This happened far more with Athena’s
than Clydesdales though.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, I’m no longer a Clydesdale in the eyes of USAT but I
will always be one at heart, regardless of the rules, regardless of my weight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am a big guy racing in a small guy’s game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-24341032921346527202013-07-26T13:52:00.000-07:002013-07-26T13:52:03.748-07:00Storrie Lake Triathlon – err – Duathlon: A Race Report<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s been a while since I’ve done a triathlon and it looks
like it will be a while longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
past three years or so I’ve really been focused on running but I try and get in
a triathlon or two because I feel an affinity for the sport I’m just not so
wild about training for them. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In order to get out triathlon fix for the year the GeekGrl
and I registered for the Storrie Lake triathlon in Las Vegas New Mexico.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last time we had done this race was the
last time it was held under the old race management. The race was shut down but
then resurrected a few years later by different race management. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Storrie Lake used to be one of the more popular triathlons
in New Mexico, hitting entrant numbers above 200, which is not the biggest race
in New Mexico but in the top three.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, drought hit the state and lake levels plummeted so the
triathlon became a duathlon at the last minute and that pissed a lot of people
off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many didn’t show but the race took
place anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next year there were
few entrants and though recent rain storms put the lake back up to swimmable
levels it also washed a lot of crap out onto the roads, which lead to many of
the racers having flat tires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This again
turned many of the local triathletes off and so the final year it ran under the
old management, the year the GeekGrl and I first ran it, the number of
participants was abysmal and so the race shuttered its doors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last year new race management breathed life back into the
race and apparently had descent numbers and so the GeekGrl and I decided to
give it a try and figured we’d meet up with many of our old multisport
friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it was not to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The drought in New Mexico persists and the
lake levels continued to fall all summer and once again the Storrie Lake Triathlon
was changed to the Storrie Lake Duathlon and participation was minuscule.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The whole experience was pretty surreal and somewhat
depressing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The triathlon scene has
undergone a serious change in the few years that the GeekGrl and I have been
absent from it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First of all it was just
odd being around multisport people again after spending so much time among
marathoners and ultrarunners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The triathlon culture is shockingly, I would
say desperately, a culture of gear, gear that is intended to shave milliseconds
off your race time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the really bizarre
thing is that most of the people using said gear could shave minutes or even
hours off their times depending on the length of the race and still be solidly
mid-pack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not intended to be a
slam against those people in particular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The GeekGrl and I fall into that category when it comes to our
multisport predilections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We both have expensive race bikes and wheel
sets, skin suits and speed laces, we even have aero helmets (though I was too embarrassed
to wear mine and I don’t know why the GeekGrl didn’t wear hers). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thing that was jarring was, in a sense,
seeing it from an outsiders perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We “grew up” in the sport of triathlon as adult athletes and
so we were eased into the gear culture and it just seemed normal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I first started running marathons it was
different but there is less gear needed anyway and there are a lot of triathletes
who run marathons so the triathlete vibe is still well represented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, when I first started ultrarunning I remember
describing it like showing up at a homeless encampment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If anything it was the anti-gear culture,
ultrarunners are antitriathletes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
became funny to me when a triathlete would come to an ultra because invariably
they would be decked out in arm sleeves, leg sleeves, compression shorts and it
always seemed like every bit of gear, no matter how small, had the Ironman name
and logo plastered all over it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I used
to look at them and say to myself, “all that Ironman gear won’t protect you
from this.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, big culture shock in many ways but once the race
began it did end up feeling pretty familiar and pretty comfortable…in a manner
of speaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As far as the racing went
that was anything but comfortable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
doing the sprint distance and holly crap, I had forgotten what it means to
actually sprint for over an hour, sprinting on a run, sprinting on a bike and
then once again sprinting on a longer run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In all honesty I would say I was pretty much done in the first mile or
less and the rest of the race was me drawing ragged breath just trying to hang
on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I did hang on for a second place Clydesdale finish, that was
later revoked because the USAT rules for Clydesdale weight had changed earlier
in the year and neither of us were Clydesdales any longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, this change of fortune landed me in
first place in my age group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I
should remind you that there were maybe 30 people, men and women, in the race
so there may have been maybe two or three guys in my age group…maybe none, I
haven’t bothered to look at the results.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In any case, the experience was kind of depressing because
first of all the entirety of Northern New Mexico is just dry as a bleached bone
and in places where there used to be a thick undergrowth of native grasses
there is just burnt up weeds and red dirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It has probably been four years since the GeekGrl and I have actually
driven north of Santa Fe on I-25 and it has changed dramatically for the
worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other thing that was
depressing is the race announcer basically spent the entire time talking about
how triathlon in New Mexico was dying and local athletes weren’t supporting the
sport and we should stop supporting ironman races and save the hard working
local races.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I can’t say that I disagree with him but just looking around
at this one race it seemed like trying to breathe life back into a corpse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initially I felt responsible for the apparent
death of amateur multisport in New Mexico but then I had to remind myself that
me and the GeekGrl are just two people and what I was seeing appeared to have
been a mass exodus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it was just
one race that had been chopped from a triathlon to a duathlon, hardly a
representative measure of the health of multisport in New Mexico but truth be
told, I’m kind of afraid to travel the old roads again and see where things
actually do stand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I fear it may not be good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-36448329592729721912013-07-26T13:04:00.000-07:002013-07-26T13:04:11.738-07:00Blow the Man Down: A Swan Lake Marathon Race Report
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Swan Lake marathon was day tow of our Upper Midwest
marathon double weekend and we were running it mostly because the GeekGrl still
needed South Dakota in her 50-state quest and because it takes place the day
after the Marathon to Marathon in Iowa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
marathon begins and ends at a Christian camp that sits on the banks of Swan
Lake just outside Viborg South Dakota.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is a stunningly small part of the country and it is pockmarked with
small farming villages that nobody except the immediate residents have ever
heard of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, there are several
small towns that even locals have never heard of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the GeekGrl and I were familiar with
the pace because 1) it is very near my birth place of Vermillion, SD, 2) it is
very near the places I visited my relatives as a kid and 3) it is the same part
of the country where, quite miraculously, the GeekGrl and I met.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have no connection with Swan Lake but the GeekGrl actually
spent a summer there escaping the world after a particularly difficult divorce
so for her it was not just about picking up South Dakota, it was also a
redemption run.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I suppose like any good story of redemption, the GeekGrl, in
quite an improbable way, returned to an awful place in her history to face it
down and triumph over the badness it held in her life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Swan Lake fought back but in the end she
overcame and I was glad to be a part of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her return was improbable because the last time she was there she had
been a life-long non-athlete who prided herself on sloth and now she was
returning as a runner with a combination of over 40 marathons, ultramarathons and
ironman triathlons under her belt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
suppose there are some things in life that require that much training to overcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other reason it was an improbable return
is the fact that it’s Viborg South Dakota.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I mean, really, what are the chances any non-native will end up in
Viborg South Dakota once in a lifetime much less twice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In any case, the marathon starts and ends at the Christian
Camp and makes a full lap around Swan Lake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The rest of the distance, the majority of the distance, is made of two
huge rectangles that are comprised of a mix of dirt farm roads and paced rural
routes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One rectangle heads south of the
lake and the other north. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I say that Swan Lake fought back because when race morning
dawned there was, and had been, a soaking rain that turned off and on
throughout the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That rain was also
accompanied by high winds and lots and lots of mud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The GeekGrl decided to take the early start
along with maybe six other runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
headed off into the dark and driving rain without fanfare an hour before the
rest of the runners took the course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
remained behind in the muddy field waiting for my own race to start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By the time the official starting time rolled around there
was a brief reprieve from the rain and the sun was just beginning to make its
presence known in a gunmetal grey sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As with the Marathon to Marathon, this little race saw an
over-representation of Marathon Maniacs looking to pick up another state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a modicum more fanfare the official race
began as we all lurched forward onto the muddy road.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My legs felt pretty beat up from the day before and while I
was running slowly I felt like I was running well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The course was flat and muddy until we hit
the pavement for the first time then it was just flat and wet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rain started back up and I began
wondering how the GeekGrl was faring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe 8 miles into the race I saw a couple of
the early starters but neither of them looked like the GeekGrl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The course ran through the small town of
Viborg but still no sign of the GeekGrl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We turned back onto a mud road and began heading north toward the place
where the half-marathoners split off and finish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I found the GeekGrl standing at the intersection of the full
and half marathon looking wet, muddy and discouraged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I jogged up to her and she said she had had
enough of this shit and just wanted to be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was her battle so I didn’t want to resist but in all honest I was
pretty ready to be done myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We began
to head off in the direction of the half marathon finish and told a race volunteer
we were calling it a day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The GeekGrl
told me how she didn’t really want to have to come back to South Dakota to do
another marathon and started telling me about her race so far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told her that I thought she was doing ok
overall and that I had seen a few of her fellow early starters miles back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This caught her attention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the dark and rain and mud the GeekGrl had been struggling
to keep up with her fellow early starters but it was so dark and there were so
few that she hadn’t realized that she had actually gone head of several of them
while trying to chase after the couple that was in front of her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the sun finally began to rise she was
basically alone on the course and it never occurred to her that maybe there
were people behind her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I informed
her that she was not in dead last place her attitude changed from resignation
to determination and we decided to turn around and get back on course with the
rest of the marathoners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our decision to continue on was heartening at first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ran together and chatted, talked about the
early days of our relationship when we had first met and about how far we have
come together but that reminiscence was ended in pretty short order by an
increasingly fierce wind and yet more miles of muddy road.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The remainder of the race was pretty grim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed like the majority of it was
directly into a screaming headwind and I did my best to shelter the Geekrl from
the brunt of its force but it’s pretty much impossible to escape the wind out
on the open plains of South Dakota.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Towards the end of the race we even saw one woman cut the course by
maybe a mile and a half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a
little out and back section in a residential area on the north side of the lake
and there is an aid station and a row of port-o-potties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the race there are two occasions when
you run that out and back and the final few miles is one of those times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This woman headed away from the out and back
and straight for the port-o-potties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
race volunteers stationed there told her she was going the wrong way but she
assured them that she knew and was just going to use the restroom so they left
her alone and the GeekGrl and I proceeded on to the out and back section.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We kept expecting to see her on the out and back but never
did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We began to think that maybe she
was really ill and had spent a long time in the can but when we got there she
was still nowhere in sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed unbelievable
that someone would spend the money, make the travel and then slog through 23
miles only to then skip what was at most a mile and a half of a full marathon
but that’s exactly what she did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the GeekGrl
and I ran the final half-mile of dirt road to the finish line the port-o-potty
woman was driving up the road toward us and off to who knows where.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, I can also empathize with what it’s like to just be desperate
to have some misery over with so I can’t completely say I blame her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I once read an account of a guy who attempted
to run a 100 mile race that took place in a residential neighborhood around a
single block.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said he made it 97
miles and then could not bear the thought of even one more lap and so he quit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, the GeekGrl and I, though we came close, did not
quit and we spent the final mile or so taking about her victory, her redemption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It felt good; it felt like victory, it felt
like we now fully owned our memories of South Dakota and any of the nasty
intruders had once and for all been put to rest.</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-8570567166565893042013-07-26T11:52:00.001-07:002013-07-26T14:15:10.571-07:00The Ugly, the Bad and the Good: A Marathon to Marathon Race Report<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m aware that the famous Clint Eastwood film is called The
Good, The Bad and The Ugly but that’s not the way I encountered things when the
GeekGrl and I flew off to the Midwest to run the Marathon to Marathon – Swan Lake
Marathon weekend double.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve wanted to
run the Marathon to Marathon in Iowa ever since I came across it maybe five
years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just thought it was a cool
name, something with a little added interest because let’s face it, there isn’t
a lot that Iowa has to offer in terms of marathon experiences beyond its
ability to put on small, rural marathons run by subdued but friendly people who
remind me of my long lost relatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, I am born of the upper Midwest and have loads of relatives there
but our family moved away long ago causing an insurmountable cultural gulf between
me and them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The GeekGrl and I flew into Omaha, Nebraska and got a rental
car and headed for Storm Lake Iowa, home of the Marathon to Marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we arrived we went to packet pickup at
the local high school and discovered it wasn’t open yet so we went to check
into our hotel room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since we were only
staying one night, checking out before the start of the marathon and then
leaving town immediately after the race, I went for a less expensive room
option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never do this in a city or in
any part of the country where I suspect the town is essentially dying or trying
not to die because the cheap motels in those areas are always bad news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, in some small, rural towns I have
gotten into something that may not have all the modern luxuries but is clean
and kitschy and locally owned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those
kinds of places are pretty cool but you still have to be careful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, thinking I had a better handle on the upper Midwest
than I actually do I felt pretty sure that I was booking us into a quaint motel
run by a retired farming couple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe
each room would have some kind of farm theme like the corn room and the hay
barn room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t laugh, the GeekGrl and I
once stayed in a really kitschy motel in rural Colorado and each of the rooms
had an animal theme of the animals that were hunted in the area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I remember we either stayed in the Elk
room or the White Tail Deer room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In Storm Lake we had rooms at the Budget…I’ll not name the
actual hotel but suffice it to say that there are two budget something hotels
in Storm Lake with slightly different names and they are about a block from
each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One appears worse than the
other but both look pretty bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I
saw the first Budget hotel my stomach turned but then I almost immediately saw
the other one and in a fit of hope I drove past the first to arrive at the
second. Like I said, it wasn’t a lot better but the outward appearance at least
suggested that it wasn’t about to collapse on top of all the $5 prostitutes,
crack heads and cockroaches dwelling inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When I attempted to check into Budget the latter I was informed that I
had no reservations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I begged them to
double and triple check, check different phone numbers, email accounts even
different names hoping beyond hope that for some bizarre reason long forgotten
I reserved a room under a pseudonym.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
luck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With my heart in my shoes I shuffled back to the car with
the powerless gait of a man being lead to the death chamber to tell the GeekGrl
that the hotel I had so recently enthusiastically thanked the gods was not
ours, was, in fact, ours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She cheerfully
chirped “maybe it’s not as bad as it looks” and I gave her the stink eye as my
stomach began to boil and a clammy heat spread over my face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I drove over to our Budget the former and
entered the office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was immediately
worse than I had imagined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was small
and dingy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The walls were covered with a
riot of free paper calendars and advertisements from local, low end businesses,
and given their random placement I suspect their primary purpose was to cover
holes and pealing wallpaper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The space was heated to a stiflingly humid 98 degrees and
there was a large portrait of a red robed Guru staring indifferently back at
me from behind the counter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nobody was
present and my first thought was “Thank god, nobody’s here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can run back to the car and tell the
GeekGrl ‘It was the weirdest thing, the place is abandoned.’” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my plan was wreaked by the appearance of a
plump but haggard looking East Indian man wearing rumpled pants and a grubby
undershirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only thing more powerful
that the shabby appearance he conveyed was the smell of sweat and curry
draining from the room he had so recently inhabited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the strong suspicion that this entire
scenario would only be found in the ghettos of Mumbai India and, quite
surprisingly, Storm Lake Iowa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Much to my dismay I did indeed have reservations here under
my name, using my phone number and my e-mail address.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite my almost uncontrollable urge to flee
I signed in, got my room key and went to see what fresh hell awaited me in room
number 8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went back to the car and
told the GeekGrl, “I don’t think I can do this, I really don’t think I can do
this” and she tried her best to sooth me but I just told her “You don’t understand,
you haven’t seen the things I’ve seen.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I drove around the side and parked outside room number 8 and
stared hard at the door willing the room inside to be far better than I
expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finally mustered the courage
to go investigate and as I opened the door to room number 8 an iron fist of
stink slammed into my face knocking me back into the parking lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reflexively I looked at my hands and arms and
clothes to see if I was coated in some foul substance but as far as I could
tell I was unsullied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stood in the
parking lot now glowering my defiance at the open door to room number 8 as it
hung mockingly on its corroded hinges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
screwed up my courage and thought to myself “I’m going in.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I breached the portal and entered a dizzying wonderland of vile
smelling mystery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because so much stink had
drained from the room upon the initial unsealing of the cavity the smell was
faint at first but as I stood in the middle of the room it gathered strength
like a coming storm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I initially detected
the smell of mold and mildew infused with that of stale cigarettes, perfume,
and beer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was horrible but it was not
over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I explored a bit further and the
stink continued toward a crescendo, now came the overtones of impersonal sex, followed
by the sweat and feces of a hard day’s work on a pig farm, lightly dabbed with urine
and suicide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Completing the horror of
the experience was the unmistakable antiseptic smell of a Lysol cover-up, the
smell of a denial so deep that there is no possibility of a return to civilized
lands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I threw the key on the bed and bolted from the room like a
terrified rabbit seeking the sunlight as its warren collapses under the weight
of an oncoming bulldozer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now in the
parking lot next to the car I pulled out my iPad and Googled “Storm Lake Hotels.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One room was available at a local resort hotel
and it was going for a stunning $500 per night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I seriously considered paying the price but then thought, “Maybe the
room wasn’t as bad as it seemed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I
was just exaggerating because I had gotten myself all wound up about the place’s
appearance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went back in for another
look and was immediately repelled by the forces within.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I went back to the car and once again pulled out my iPad and
Googled “Storm Lake Hotels” and got the same result so started looking farther
afield.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found rooms available at a
Best Western in Cherokee Iowa, which is about 20 minutes from Storm Lake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went ahead and made reservations and the
GeekGrl and I departed the Budget hotel of misery without another word, without
any attempt to get our money, without looking back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our next stop was packet pickup back at the local high
school and from there it was on to get our pre-race dinner. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Marathon to Marathon has its own pre-race
dinner that can be purchased and when we got there it looked like a pretty
standard pre-race pasta feed with sheet cake for dessert all prepared by the
local high school cafeteria lady. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
GeekGrl and I usually opt out of such things in favor of some local flavor and
that’s what we did this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had
settled on a place called Honey Kissed Pizza, which boasts being “Storm Lake’s
#2 tourist attraction.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We drove to the
establishment and discovered that it didn’t open until 6:00 or 6:30 in the evening,
which was still about an hour away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
were tired and hungry and had two marathons to run this weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We just wanted to eat and get to our hotel
and sleep so we found something else that seemed local.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What we found was a local “Chinese” restaurant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may think Chinese is a bad choice the
night before a marathon but we’ve done it before and just like anything else
you just don’t stuff yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The place
was in a circa 1972 Pizza Hut building that had not seen any upgrade in its
interior decorating since, well, probably since 1972. Our impulse was to bolt
from the place but we were immediately greeted by a friendly waitress and it
just seemed rude to turn around and walk out on her so we stayed and ate their
buffet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The options at the buffet were
limited and the only thing that was remarkable about it was that every sauce,
no matter what it was called, looked exactly the same and tasted precisely line
Aunt Jemima pancake syrup.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lord, I had forgotten just how uninspired the food of the upper
Midwest could be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not to say that
tasty things can’t be found there but for the most part it just seems like most
things are on a continuum from low-quality bland to slightly less low-quality
bland and it isn’t at all unusual to find foods like the Aunt Jemima sauce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I once ate at a “Mexican” restaurant in South
Dakota that used those creepy , cardboard box blocks of Velveeta cheese like
substance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the Chinese restaurant I probably ate too much but I got
hung up on trying to find one dish that wasn’t slathered in Aunt Jemima pancake
syrup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could not find a single dish
and neither could the GeekGrl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we
left the restaurant for our hotel I couldn’t help but fell a certain amount of
trepidation given our inauspicious introduction to Storm Lake Iowa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fortunately the gods smiled upon us for keeping our good
humor in the face of such tragedy and when we arrived at the Best Western in
Cherokee it was neat and clean and smelled of flowers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The proprietor of this establishment was also
East Indian but he was wearing a neatly pressed suit and was sporting a cleanly
shaved face and carefully coiffed hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We got our key, went to our room and immediately hit the sack.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Race morning came early and the GeekGrl and I rolled out of
bed, had our race morning breakfast and drove the 20 minutes back to Storm Lake
to start the Marathon to Marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we
had figured the starting line was packed with Marathon Maniacs looking to knock
Iowa off their 50-state quest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a
small starting line in front of the high school and there was a local talent
there to sing the Star Spangled Banner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She began to sing and everyone took off their hats and placed hand on
heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, one woman in the crowd, who
was also running in the race, refused to be outdone and sang along loudly from
the beginning of the song to the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was a stunning scene to watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone in the cowed was staring at this
woman, all the runners were staring at her, even the woman whose role it was to
actually be singing was staring at her but the rebellious anonymous singer stared
fixedly ahead and continued to sing loudly easily matching in volume the
amplified voice of the intended singer of songs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When the race finally got underway I headed out slow and
easy knowing I had a second marathon to run the next day and not having any
particular time goal in mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My legs
gradually warmed up and my pace increased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Somewhere around a very conservative 9:30 minute mile my intestines
began to strangle my stomach and I knew there was about a half-gallon of Aunt
Jemima pancake syrup in my gut fighting to get out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I slowed the pace just a hair hoping that in
time things would settle and I could pick it back up but every time I thought
that time had come and I tried to pick it up it felt like a badger was desperately
trying to escape from inside me using any orifice it could find as a means of
egress.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This particular hell lasted until about mile 9.5 when badger
finally found his opening and went for broke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was still about a half mile from a port-o-potty and clenched so hard
that a second and more intense non-running sweat broke out on top of my
standard “I’m running a marathon” sweat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When I spied the port-o-potty in the distance I could see there was
another runner hopping up and down in front of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were also about 20 other runners on the
course between me and the port-o-potty so I began to pray.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thankfully it turns out that God does indeed reside in the
corn fields of Iowa and by the time I reached the destination the formerly
leaping waiter was exiting the port-o-potty and I was able to make an immediate
entrance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About five minutes later I was
back on the road and feeling fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I
re-entered the race I found I could run at whatever speed I chose, at least any
speed that was in my rage of possibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I soon fell in with a young woman who turned out to be a female Army
Drill Sergeant and ran with her for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We had a nice chat up to about mile 13 when she advised that I go on
ahead because she was going to back off the pace a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took note of my condition and decided that thanks
to the slow start I had plenty left in the tank to pick up the pace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I ran about 20 seconds per mile faster and started passing
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time I hit mile 20 I
decided I had more so I dropped the pace another 20 seconds per mile faster and
started to real in people who had been much farther ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It felt good to be able to accelerate that
much towards the end of a marathon because nobody else around me could do the
same so when I passed someone it was at a strong pace and they stayed
passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With about two miles left to go
I spied some guys ahead of me that I decided I wanted to beat so I stepped on
the accelerator as hard as I thought I could without completely imploding
before the end of the race and was able to bring my pace down to just below an
8 minute mile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Marathon Iowa is a tiny little farming village tucked away
in the midst of a sea of corn and sorghum fields with little to offer but the
finishing line of the Marathon to Marathon and a nice little community center
ready to serve up a hot breakfast (or lunch) to the runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finished in just under four hours, not fast
but I was happy considering the way things had been going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went and grabbed a shower and some
breakfast in the community center as I waited for the GeekGrl to finish her
race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once she had finished, showered
and ate we hopped on the bus back to Storm Lake and took off for Viborg, South
Dakota to run the Swan Lake Marathon in the morning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">All in all we had a good experience at the Marathon to
Marathon, it’s a low key, small town race with good support and friendly
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While there’s nothing about it
to make me want to come run it again, were I to still need Iowa to complete my
50 states and knowing what I know now I would most definitely choose the
Marathon to Marathon again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a small
town American classic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-51274080659189619072013-05-31T15:06:00.000-07:002013-05-31T15:06:18.543-07:00Lincoln National Guard Race Report<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">I</span> have little to say about the Lincoln National Guard Marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the marathon time trials for the
National Guard marathon team and while I am able to make it onto the New Mexico
team, because nobody else is submitting times, there is virtually no possibility
that I could actually make the All Guard team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t mean that to sound as negative as it does, I’m actually
enthusiastic about being able to get onto the New Mexico team as long as I’m
able and I like to get paid to go do a marathon and, as marathons go, the Lincoln
marathon is a good one.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What I mean by my apparent negativity is that I am a realist when it
comes to my marathoning abilities relative to those who are actually built for
marathon racing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Believe me, as far as I’m
concerned for a 200 pound guy, give or take 10 pounds, to be running marathons
and consistently finishing in the top 7 to 20%, depending on the size of the
marathon, is plenty satisfying for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
frequently get a kick out of thundering up behind someone at mile 22 that I outweigh
by 60 pounds and seeing the puzzled look on their face as I roll on by but the
fact of the matter is that moving my bulk at those speeds takes an incredible amount
of power and stamina and I’m just not quite there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In any case, this was my second Lincoln marathon and one really cool
thing about this one is that not only did the GeekGrl come along to run but so
did our friends Mark and Miki.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miki was
on the New Mexico team with me and Mark was running to make his third attempt
at qualifying for Boston.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like a
couple’s weekend out and we all had a good time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weather was also a lot better this year,
cooler and overcast so everyone had a good run.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I ended up running a 3:37, which was a fully six minutes slower than I
ran last year but I’m also like 15 pounds heavier and was not as well
trained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have seriously struggled with
getting back on track after running the Slam last year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>said in an earlier post I think I tapped some reserves that normally don’t
get tapped except in life threatening emergencies and so I’ve been flat all
year despite my trying to both diet and train.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, the GeekGrl also ran her second fastest marathon of the season,
missing her Army marathon time by only 31 seconds, Mark finally ran his BQ and
still had fuel in the tank and Miki placed third in her age group and made the
All Guard team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other two New Mexico
runners also made the All Guard team, one placing third in his age group and
one wining his age group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both of then
ran sub-3 hour marathons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m not sure if I’ll be back in Lincoln next year or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It depends on the New Mexico Guard’s budget
and on who submits times but I can tell you this, I have to do something to
shake up my training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no way
that I should have to stay at my current weight and I still don’t think that I’ve
run my fastest marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I qualified for
Boston with a 3:28 and change a couple years ago and that was the weekend after
I had run back to back marathons in Death Valley and Las Vegas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next year Boston dropped all its
qualifying times by five minutes and I now have to run under a 3:25 and I
sincerely believe I can do it on fresher legs but somehow I need to find a way
to come back from the beating I gave myself last year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, here’s what the plan is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
going to give the Hanson’s marathon method a try to build speed and I’m going
to take up Olympic Weightlifting to build power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the lifting results in more mass but a
lower percentage body fat and on the whole I don’t get much faster then I guess
I’m fine with that too, After all, my good friend John Vigil does call me Big
B, I may as well live up to something.</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-34671170111631633362013-05-31T14:25:00.000-07:002013-05-31T14:25:29.281-07:00Army Marathon Race Report<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This was the inaugural year for the Army Marathon and to be honest I
didn’t have very high expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
not that I didn’t think that and inaugural marathon could be good, I’ve run a
few, or that a marathon representing the Army could be good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It really had more to do with the location of
the marathon itself, Central Texas, specifically from Killeen to Temple.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3INcGKjTQasLu-jfpwGwtSfsHeGU5EPodETKewkK5Blgt9Iljg66zQ0RhwlhE2R5xCbPiKW5tVcqUhzDm5NOF_833yI69CS8Ymyz6zTtYcBO3GS6V6vBKBQ_lGP6_jbPW8ElVDw/s1600/Army+Strong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3INcGKjTQasLu-jfpwGwtSfsHeGU5EPodETKewkK5Blgt9Iljg66zQ0RhwlhE2R5xCbPiKW5tVcqUhzDm5NOF_833yI69CS8Ymyz6zTtYcBO3GS6V6vBKBQ_lGP6_jbPW8ElVDw/s1600/Army+Strong.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you have read, for reasons beyond my understanding, several of my race
reports you know that I love Texas, or more specifically, I love going there to
visit and race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not crazy about the
heat and humidity and therefore I don’t live in Texas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In any case, I didn’t have high expectations
not because I have a low opinion of Texas I just have a fairly low opinion of
that part of Central Texas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before any Central Texans break out the pitchforks let me explain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my experience that part of Texas is simply
not very scenic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not ugly, sorry El
Paso, but it is really just kind of green and brown rolling hills covered in
grass and various scrubby trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
also isn’t much to do there other than just be there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I was pleasantly surprised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both the towns of Killeen and Temple were a
bit nicer than I had remembered, there was a huge variety of a potential places
to eat and our hotel, which was the host hotel, was very nice and very accommodating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, we requested a late checkout, I don’t
remember if it was for 12:00 or 1:00 but it was an hour after normal checkout
and we ended up getting to stay until about 2:15 so the GeekGrl could shower
before our drive back to Dallas and our flight back to Albuquerque.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Unlike the inaugural Navy marathon that we did earlier this year, the inaugural
Army marathon had many more participants and no blasting winds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also immediately apparent that the
people from the Army were actually involved in the Army marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guy who won the Navy marathon was in the
Navy and on a small section of out-and-back that ran alongside and up to the
back gate of a Naval Air Station there were some Navy guards posted but that
was the extent of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Army marathon
was loaded with runners who were stationed at nearby Ft. Hood, there were many
Army personnel in uniform at the start, along the course and at the finish line
and it appeared that Army personnel may have been in charge of logistics for
the whole thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could very well be
wrong about that last part but it was certainly an efficiently run and well
organized race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In all fairness though,
I am aware that neither the Department of the Navy nor the Department of the Army
actually took responsibility for or put on either of these races, rather, it
was civilian race organizers so there is no credit given or taken to or from
either branch of service. (Disclosure – in my late teens and early 20s I was in
the Department of the Navy in the Marine Corps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am now in the Department of the Army as a National Guardsman.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, the expo was small but had everything you might need for last
minute race purchases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The GeekGrl and I
decided for some reason that the best idea would be to buy new shoes and run
the marathon in them the next day so that’s exactly what we did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The town of Killeen had plenty of places to
eat but we chose a Chinese buffet because it was immediately next to our hotel
and we mostly wanted to just eat and chill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The food was pretty good overall and of course there was a lot to choose
from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We both overate but it didn’t come
back to haunt us the next day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Race morning came and it was very pleasant weather wise and remained
that way all day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It started heating up
a little at the end but for the most part it remained overcast and mild.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The energy at the start line was really high
and there were a lot of really young folks who looked lean and fit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was undoubtedly the Ft. Hood
contingent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crowd was actually noticeably
younger than your average marathon but there were also the usual suspects, the
old guys with hideous knees covered in ace bandages, the various women dressed
in tutus and springy head ornaments and then of course there was the large
group of middle-aged runners like myself who still haven’t given up on the idea
of a new PR but who are not burning up the course by any stretch of the
imagination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There was one particularly weird thing about this marathon though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the starting line I placed myself at what
I estimated to be about 15% back in the pack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s generally where I expect to finish up and I wanted to minimize
the weaving around that is often required to pass towards the beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As soon as the starting gun went off there
was a huge surge like I was in a local 5K and runners where just streaming past
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stayed focused on warming up and
then settling into a good pace but after a mile rolled by and runners were
still pouring past me I really started to wonder what the hell was going
on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt solid and on a good starting
pace so I began trying to remember if there was also a half-marathon and a
relay going on at the same time but as far as I could remember there was only
the full marathon and then a 5K that took place at a completely different time
and place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mile two clicked by and people were still passing so I asked a guy near
me who looked to be at least close to my age if there was either a half or a
relay going on and I just couldn’t remember it and he said, “No, just the full.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever, I then thought that maybe this race
was just unusually full of young studs and studetts because of the proximity of
Ft. Hood and so I was going to finish up a lot farther back in the pack than I
expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I continued chugging along
trying to pay attention first to my pace and second to other runners who looked
like they might be in my age group.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmtdGipg4tR10Riz2yjTIlwnY0xMti26115MQ9svDoRnkSFY2xpQe1365RbarBsaTGhlbPh7BzyTX5nJ4XPNMp-982MxOeomX18nM92akpWq6xMDFnQaJJVu5eTzBm_sM8rN5yQ/s1600/Army+Marathon+course.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmtdGipg4tR10Riz2yjTIlwnY0xMti26115MQ9svDoRnkSFY2xpQe1365RbarBsaTGhlbPh7BzyTX5nJ4XPNMp-982MxOeomX18nM92akpWq6xMDFnQaJJVu5eTzBm_sM8rN5yQ/s320/Army+Marathon+course.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The course was gently rolling for the most part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was initially thinking of it as really
hilly but the GeekGrl was so emphatic that the hills were so mild as to be
barely noticeable that I have downgraded my estimation from hilly to gently
rolling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, you go up and down and
you do it all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You actually
start by going up and the steepest and longest hills are always in the upward
direction not the downward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I
must admit, the elevation change isn’t significant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think it even breaks 800 feet for the
entire course and so put in those terms the Army marathon is actually one of
the top 5 flattest marathons I have run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ok, so there is a second really weird thing about this race, it’s
shockingly flat for such a hilly race.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So there I was chugging along, looking for competition and monitoring
my pace when at somewhere around mile 4 I started passing people, not in large
numbers but enough to notice and think that it seemed awfully early in the race
for me to be passing people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m a come
from behind guy for the most part, a closer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My expectation is that I ignore the first mile because for the most part
nobody is where they should be and then from about mile two to maybe mile 18 I
pretty much hold my position maybe passing and maybe being passed but the
numbers are low.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After mile 20 I really
don’t expect to be passed only to pass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sure, every so often someone will slip by or, as in the case of last
year’s Lincoln Marathon where I had close to a complete meltdown, an army will
pass but, like I said, mile 20 on is pretty much mine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By the time I hit mile nine I was passing a lot of people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the halfway point it was like I was on a
moving sidewalk and most everyone else was slogging along in the unaided fashion
and by mile 18 I was actually already seeing what can only be referred to as
carnage, people hobbling along the side of the road clutching at their stomachs
or hamstrings, people sitting on curbs with their heads between their knees and
people who were simply stumbling forward in a trance staring off into the great
unknown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I knew what was going
on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not so much that the race was
filled with a bunch of studs and studettes from Ft. Hood, it was filled with a bunch
of studs and studettes from Ft. Hood who were long on heart but short on
experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think my conclusion was born out by my own race results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my age group at both mile 4.5 and 13.1 I
was running in 9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> place but at the finish line I was 6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>;
steady and closing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The scenery along the course was nice enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I have been miserably spoiled not
only by the amazingly beautiful Vernonia marathon earlier this year but also by
many other ultras that I have run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, the one drawback had to do with transportation from the finish
line back to the start though part of that was caused by our own plans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The website said there would be busses taking
runners from the finish back to the start beginning at 10:30, which was
something like 15 or 20 minutes after I expected to finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of that my plan was to take a bus
back, shower up, grab our rental car and then head back to the finish line to
get the GeekGrl so I could get her back to the hotel faster so she could get
her shower. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first bus didn’t leave
the finish line until more like 11:15, which completely blew out timeline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tied to follow through with the plan but
the late bus and the fact that the nearest parking to the start line was about
3 miles away completely messed things up and left the GeekGrl sitting around at
the finish line for over an hour waiting for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would have been better off taking a bus
and walking the mile from the start to our hotel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, it all worked out and amazingly enough we both got showered,
got lunch and were able to drive back to Dallas in time to catch our flight
back to Albuquerque.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We both enjoyed
this race and despite our typical pattern of not repeating races we might go
back and run it again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s always kind of
a novelty to be one of a few people who have run a race since its inception
though I really don’t know about going back year after year after year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is, after all, during prime spring season
marathon time.</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-43070384153501581092013-05-24T15:22:00.001-07:002013-05-24T15:22:30.953-07:00Vernonia Marathon Race Report<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Coming on the heels of the Squak Mountain Marathon I knew that Vernonia
was going to be a real challenge but, at a minimum, I knew I was going to be
able to finish I just didn’t know what kind of price I would pay for that
finish.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In reality, if you are reasonably well trained for one marathon, doing
two marathons in one weekend isn’t as stupendous an achievement as you might
think but there are certain realities that you must be able to face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first reality is that the second marathon
will be uncomfortable longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It won’t necessarily
be more uncomfortable but your discomfort will most assuredly start much
earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me at Vernonia I would say
that discomfort started around mile six, maybe mile five.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the initial second-day marathon
stiffness to run through for the first couple miles but after that I found my
stride and then ran off course.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first aid station comes at a little wooden bridge that spans a
stream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just past that aid station there
is a portion of the bike path where the marathon is run that loops around a
small lake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Past that bridge there is a
juncture where you can pretty much go one of three directions left, slightly
right or slightly harder right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The race
course had an chalk arrow laid out that suggested there was a right turn ahead
and there was a listless boy standing near it who timidly gesture vaguely to
the right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I was in third place
overall at this point in the race and well behind number one and two I had no
other runners to follow and the most promising direction seemed to be the
slightly harder right because I knew that was the direction we would eventually
have to travel to get from Vernonia, OR where the race started to Banks, OR
where the race ends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within a quarter
mile or so I arrived abruptly at a dead end next to what appeared to be a pumping
station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stood there a couple seconds
looking around to make sure I wasn’t missing something then turned on my heals
and headed back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By the time I had gotten back on course as many as 20 runners had
gotten past me so now I was re-passing many people I had passed earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The run starts in two waves, the early start
and the regular start, which is an hour after the early start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took off with the early starters simply
because I had misjudged which bus to take and ended up at the start line just
in time to head out at the tail end of the early group and I didn’t feel like
standing around in the damp and cold for an hour waiting for the regular start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I ran around the lake regaining my earlier
position I eventually caught up with this one guy who seemed to be about my age,
size and seemed to know absolutely everyone present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was dressed in a cotton t-shirt,
basketball shorts and some kind of beat up looking trainers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At first I didn’t take much notice of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He looked like a lot of pretty new distance
runners I’ve come across in my travels and since I was gaining on him steadily
I assumed I would just pass him and that would be that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve gotten pretty good at pacing myself in a
marathon and probably 99 times in 100 if I pass someone they stay passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is especially true if I’m passing them
in the first three miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, as I
started to pull ahead of this guy he sped up a bit and remained in the lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a psychologist this is a response that I
expect no matter how early in the race it may be and no matter how irrelevant I
may be as a potential competitor with that person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In psychology it’s called the social
facilitation effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically what that
means, at least in this case, is that when another runner becomes aware of your
presence they unconsciously perform a little better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The idea behind the theory is that people
respond to the pressure of social evacuation even if that evaluation is only perceived
and not necessarily real.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In any case, this is something I’m really sensitive to because two
people can get caught up in responding to each other’s social pressure and this
will often lead to them both going out too fast so when I face situations like
this I usually just back off a little and then re-initiate my pass a few
seconds later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This tactic almost always
works because it gives the other runner enough time to really register that
someone faster is coming by and it doesn’t make any sense to try and start
racing against them with 23 miles to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, with that in mind I backed off a little and then reinitiated my pass
and boom, there he went again speeding up except this time he put some more
into it and opened up about a 10 yard lead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I let him go and just watched his back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I figured that he may be a stronger runner than I was giving him credit
for and the only reason I was catching him earlier is because he was waving to
all kinds of people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had now left the
populated portion of the course and were on the isolated bike path that runs in
a direct line from Vernonia to Banks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was considering that he was now ready to settle in and roll away from me,
however, as I started to accept that possibility I noticed that I was reeling
him back in and I wasn’t trying to speed up I was just trying to settle in to a
nice, sustainable pace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Once again I pulled up alongside him and once again he sped up leaving
me in his wake. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think of myself as a
nice guy and I certainly don’t hope for anyone to do poorly in a race but really,
you are going to race me in a marathon when I am already easily catching you at
mile three.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve spent a lifetime involved with various competitive
sports so unless you are ready to bring it don’t wave the red cape pal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I made the decision then and there that I was going to use his insistence
on staying ahead of me to my advantage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I decided to roll up right behind him and draft.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This guy was one of a very few distance
runners that I could actually draft off of because he was as big and broad as I.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any time I felt the pace was slowing too
much I would simply pop out from behind him, pull up next to him and boom, he
would pick it right back up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This went
on at least through mile eight but then he began to falter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His pace would slow and I would pull up next
to him, he wouldn’t respond so I’d look over at him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was looking kind of grim so then I’d begin
to get ahead of him but he found it somewhere to catch back up and pull ahead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At each of the aid stations we went through a man and a small boy met
this guy and cheered him on and at each of those aid stations I was anywhere
from a few yards to a few feet right behind him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He always sped up as we approached an aid
station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to give the guy his
due.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I flogged him like a cheap mule and
he kept it up for a good 10 miles but the course took a slightly upward slant
and he just couldn’t hang on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I left him
behind and by the time I came in to the half-marathon aid station he was
nowhere to be seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man and the boy
who had grown used to him leading me into aid stations at first looked hopeful,
presumably assuming they guy would be right behind me, but that look turned to
one of being perplexed because the only runner that was behind me was a female
that was maybe a quarter mile back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
windbreaker was nowhere to be seen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the half marathon point the bike path crosses the main road between
Banks and Vernonia and there is a sharp descent prior to that road and a steep
climb afterward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The half marathoners
all finish up just past that road and I discovered that I was the front running
marathoner from the early start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
was a weird experience because there was literally nobody around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was just me and the bike path and the aid
station workers every couple miles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fortunately, if you are going to be running alone the Vernonia marathon
is the one to do it at.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vernonia was my
68<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> marathon or longer race so actually probably something like my
35<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> straight up marathon and it was hands down the most scenic one
I have done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here it’s important to say
that my wife and I live in Albuquerque New Mexico so I suppose it’s possible
that if you actually live in the Portland area the scenery may be old hat and
not particularly great compared to other places you might know about but to us
it was pretty awesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pretty much the
entire bike path runs beneath a canopy of moss covered trees, flowering trees
and shrubs and giant wild ferns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
is also a large section towards the end of the course where you are out of the
native forest and into cultivated farmland but here the canopy turns from lush
green to white flowering trees, possibly Bradford pears or at least that’s what
they reminded me of.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In any case, it’s a beautiful run but despite its beauty the second reality
that must be faced during day two of a double marathon weekend hit me square in
the face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a lot of fun racing with
that guy for the first 11 or 12 miles but now that I was running alone I was
much more aware of the severe fatigue in my legs and it was hard to maintain a
descent pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did my best to push
through but by mile 22 I had to start taking some walk breaks in order to keep
the wheels from completely falling off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was about mile 23 when the first place marathoner, who had started an
hour after me, passed me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He chirped out
“only a 5k to go!” and zoomed by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Shortly thereafter three more marathoners passed me as I continued to
grind out the final miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had been
hoping that my one hour head start would be enough to allow me to be the first
marathoner to cross the finish line but it was not to be and so I was now
hoping that I could be the first marathoner from the early group to cross the
finish line.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I figured I would know I had accomplished this goal because anyone who
passed me, if they were in the later start, would be passing me at a pretty
fast pace because they would be running a sub-3 hour marathon or thereabout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If someone passed me slowly then I would
figure they had started with me and were just moving a bit less slowly than I
was moving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The slow pass occurred probably
at mile 24.5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A woman pulled up
alongside me and slowly slid by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any
attempt on my part to retain the lead would have been both pointless and
futile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had nothing left with which to
fight back and even if I had been able to regain my lead it would have been
meaningless.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The end of the race was really starting to feel brutal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had given it my all and it was going to
result in about a four hour and nine minute finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I finally reached the school in Banks
where I had begun my morning with packet pickup and a bus ride I discovered
that the finish line was at the back of the school on their running track and
like Western States, the final leg of the race was one lap around the
track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Under other conditions I think
this would have been pretty cool but in my state of disrepair it was just one
final ordeal to bear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was I being paid
back for messing with that guy earlier in the race? Maybe, I tend to think not
but it’s possible that despite the way I was looking at things at the start of
the race I had actually deluded myself into going out too fast just to mess with
someone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, water under the bridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I had a fantastic time overall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was really tough as a follow-up to Squak Mountain but I think
Vernonia is a very fast course so I’m going to keep it in mind as a possible
future BQ attempt if I can’t seem to run a BQ at some race in a state that I
don’t already have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It never seems quite
right to say “If you only do one race in (insert state here) the you have to do
this one” because I have not done every marathon in any state, not even in New
Mexico and we only have six more or less depending on the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I am sure that you could do a lot
worse in Oregon than Vernonia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had my wife
and I traveled from New Mexico exclusively to run Vernonia we would have been
quite happy.</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-16937887545673187522013-05-13T14:24:00.000-07:002013-05-13T14:24:31.189-07:00Squak Mountain Marathon Race Report<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You know you’re in for quite a day when at the pre-race meeting the
race director says “This is probably the toughest race we do with the possible
exception of (insert random race name).” I registered the GeekGrl and I for
Squak Mountain as part of a Washington – Oregon double marathon weekend in the
hopes that she would catch up to me on Washington and we would both get Oregon
in our quest to get all 50 states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
previous experience running trail races in Washington comes from the Mt. Si
50K, where I set my current 50K PR of 4:18:47, and the Defiance 50K on Point
Defiance in Tacoma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both of these are
easy courses though Defiance is a lot more challenging trail wise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mt. Si is a straight-up speed race on a rails-to-trails
path.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I assumed that, at worst, Squak Mountain would be slightly harder than
Defiance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow the posted 7800 feet
of elevation gain in the marathon didn’t register as hard despite the fact that
mile for mile that represents more climbing than is found at Wasatch 100, which
is the hardest race I have done to-date.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Needless to say, it was a much longer day than I had anticipated but I
still had an awesome time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being from
the desert, running in the Seattle area is always such a treat for me with the
deep green, moss covered woods and naturally growing ferns and whatnot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Squak Mountain trail offers everything
you want out of a Pacific Northwest race but it is not really for the
uninitiated, though I did meet a guy there who did this as his first marathon
and he loved it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I honestly don’t recall a great deal about this race other than it was
both awesome and very hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
climb, climb, climb, descend, descend, descend, all day long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had fog, drizzle, rain and snow during the
course of the day and depending on whether you are near the top of the mountain
or closer to the bottom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This race also
offers a 50K but honestly, I think that is overkill because the 50K adds
nothing new to the race other than distance; you simply repeat a particularly
gnarly loop up on top of the mountain one more time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it stands the marathon consists of I think
four separate loops that you complete twice though maybe it was only three.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you run either the marathon or the
half-marathon you see everything the course has to offer, which is a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only good reason I can see to do the 50K
is that you are using it to train for something longer or harder or, of course,
if you specifically select this race as an A race for competitive reasons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the end the GeekGrl was able to complete the half-marathon but
needed to bail on the full because of time constraints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She hadn’t really been training for something
with so much climbing and descending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was able to pull off an age group victory but as I recall I was about in the
slowest age group so it’s not like I was out there crushing the course or
anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The only thing I got from the race by way of extras was a tech-shirt
that had the names of all the races this race organization does, so nothing
specific to this race and a $99 traffic ticket for not paying the $10 parking
fee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did look around for a place to
pay the parking fee, in New Mexico parks the fee areas have a prominent area
with a lock box, several pay/receipt envelopes and instructions on how to
pay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t see any such thing at
Squak Mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I could have
tried harder to figure out how to pay (like I could have asked someone) but I
didn’t do my due diligence and just went racing off into the woods so I had it coming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, the only point to that last bit is that you should come to
Squak Mountain expecting a tough course, a beautiful course, a well-organized race,
some super volunteers, some super friendly runners, some good post-race grub and
a ticket if you don’t figure out, or investigate, how to pay the parking fee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You should not expect all kinds of SWAG.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people are really sensitive about that
but I would not pass this race up even if you do love your SWAG, it’s a cool
race.</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21465133.post-79376290870215977032013-05-07T14:40:00.000-07:002013-05-07T14:40:15.394-07:00Navy Marathon Race Report<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I forget when it came to me but I had the ideal that I’d
love to do a Military Marathon Grand Slam, which would consist of doing all the
military marathons in one year kind of like the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only problem was that when I looked up
the races I’d have to do there was no such thing as either and Army Marathon or
a Navy Marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I kept the
idea on the back burner thinking that I could at least do the Soldier Marathon
in Georgia for the Army and just not worry about the Navy.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve wanted to run the Marine Corps Marathon for eight years
now and last year I had a friend run it and was reminded of just how awesome it
is so I was determined to run it this year come hell or high water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This brought back my Military Marathon Slam
idea and so I started searching for races and low and behold this year there
was an inaugural Navy marathon and an inaugural Army marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was elated but our dance card for the year
was already getting pretty full and both the Army and Navy marathons were in
Texas, which is fine, except that we are trying to collect our 50 states and we
have Texas like 15 times over and this would mean two more Texas races in
addition to the two that we have already done this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I consulted with the GeekGrl, told her about
my Military Marathon Slam idea and she said “Let’s do it!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, just a couple weeks after the mud fest in San Antonio we
found ourselves back on a plane to San Antonio to rent a car and drive down to
Corpus Christi for the Inaugural Navy marathon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When we arrived in Corpus we were both amazed at the fact
that it seemed like it was almost completely devoid of human inhabitants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently the downtown areas are basically
vacated on the weekends and most everyone is out on the peripheries of the
city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were able to come up with a
pretty decent Italian dinner and our hotel was fair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I recall from a few childhood trips to
South Padre Island it’s pretty hard to actually find nice accommodations immediately
on the beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s always going to be
a certain degree of rust and sand that makes things look slightly shabby.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We made our way to packet pickup at the convention center
and it was also a ghost town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The people
were friendly though that may have been because they were starved for
attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I doubt there was more than two
other runners present when we were there and in wasn’t the final seconds of the
expo either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately we found out
that there were fewer than 200 people running the marathon. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think a huge problem may have been because
the race took place the same weekend as Rock-n-Roll Dallas, which probably drew
a huge number of Texas runners who otherwise might have come and done this
race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have also come to understand
that it wasn’t publicized very well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Later this season at the Army marathon I spoke to a guy who was a native
of Corpus Christi who said he would have loved to run the Navy marathon but he
didn’t find out about it until the day before the race.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, on the whole I think the course is pretty
fantastic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only kind of blah part of
the course happens in the very early morning when it's still dark to dawn and
you are winding your way through a business district but this is only about 3
or four miles of the course at most.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
the sun starts to rise the nice part of the course, which is the majority of
the course, begins to unfold as you climb up and over a huge bridge that spans
a shipping channel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a suspension
type bridge and the cables that hold the deck to the super structure have
alternating colored lights, it’s pretty cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hit the peak of the bridge and
there was enough light to see well out into the Gulf, which admittedly was
mostly full of off shore oil rigs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That part
is actually a shame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the locals referred
to the views as beautiful but I have faint childhood memories of the Texas Gulf
Coast and what I saw was a dystopia version of that earlier day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was reminded of the Cyberpunk classic
Neuromancer by William Gibson who wrote of a landscape that was utterly
dominated by technology and the refuse of technology but I digress.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So after crossing the bridge you get a little more of a
brief tour through the business district and then you head for the convention
center and get on a road that hugs the Gulf Coast the rest of the race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You spend most of the rest of the race
running right alongside the coast line with a brief detour through a college
campus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though the course has a
huge out and back I still didn't get tired of running along the coast and most
of the neighborhoods you run through are really nice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, apart from the bridge the course is
flat, flat, flat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">While I loved the course I hated the wind!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, this has been the year that has been
plagued by bad weather and today was the topper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We checked the National Weather Service and
the winds at the start of the race were 43 miles per hour!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was amazing; I thought the entire starting
area was going to be blown away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During
the course of the day the winds apparently "died down" to 23 mph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately for much of the race the winds
were either at our backs or to the side, however, I learned that strong side
winds slow you down and suck your energy about as effectively as headwinds and
tail winds that strong give you a bit of a boost but not as much as you are
slowed by the side and head winds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
last eight miles of the course was directly into a headwind and so involved a
lot of jogging mixed with bursts of running mixed with bouts of walking.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the end I ran a 3:58:28, my slowest marathon since 2007 I
think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, everyone was slowed and
I ended up winning my age group so I guess I had a relatively good race.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I really liked the course and I hope this first time race
grows but there were some real organizational issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The instructions for the busses were
practically useless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Essentially you
knew there would be shuttle busses to take you from the convention center to
the start and then from the finish back to the convention center but the rest
of the information was either completely absent of useless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nobody I met really seemed to know how the
morning busses would work out so that added a huge amount of unnecessary stress
on race morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it did work
out fine so it was really the communicating and not the planning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The shuttle busses after the race were a
different story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The drivers didn’t even
know what was happening and pretty much everyone had a different idea as to
where the runners and the busses would meet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This too eventually kind of worked itself out but the whole
transportation thing needs a lot of work.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The aid stations were another area that needs
improvement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The aid stations were
woefully insufficient and I was glad I brought my own water and gel but I still
ran dry between miles 20 and 24 or so and there is no possible way I would have
had enough fuel to carry me through the run had it not been for what I
brought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe that’s why I won my age group;
everyone else was too depleted to race effectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, in the race’s defense I think that
way fewer people registered for the race than was hoped for and so the
organizer was operating at a significant loss and was struggling just to pull
it off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside from the transportation
issue my impression was that everyone who ran the race enjoyed it despite the
wind and relative lack of aid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact,
to the best of my knowledge, I’m the only one complaining about the aid but
seriously, I’ve now done 67 of these things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I know aid stations.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In any case, this race is well worth running and I believe
that it will get better if people do show in larger numbers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope to see it succeed if only so others
will have a shot at running their own Military Marathon Slams.</span></div>
S. Baboohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11975687184596635887noreply@blogger.com1