Life On The Cusp

Thoughts Going Into The Spring Spree 10k and 20 Miler #1

2012-03-26T13:03:00.000-05:00

After a distance-covered PR of 45 miles last weekend, and a few easy'ish days to recover, I should be more than ready to race hard at the 10k Saturday then turn around and have a great 20 miler on Sunday. My recovery is noticeably better than ever.

The 10k will definitely take more out of me than the 20 miler, since I'll be going for a PR. The course is easy and flat along the Platte River, so my "A goal" is to run a low 35 minute 10k -about 5:40 per mile. It should be possible if I can fully recover in time. Still, as long as I feel strong and run some 6:00, or better, miles I'll be content.
I've been having tons of fun at shorter races since I've moved my focus to ultras, so I'm really excited for this one.

From now until May 12th (50's For Yo Momma) I'm going to run three to four more 20 milers to prep for summer. On Sunday, I'm running the first 20 miler around Lakewood with some good, long climbs. If I manage to recover for Saturday's race, I'll be dead again Sunday for the 20, so the goal is just to finish strong.

Thoughts Going Into The Highline Canal Fatass

2012-03-14T20:33:00.001-05:00

Two days and four and a half hours left until I start running. Once I start I won't stop for at least 10 hours.

Just had to put that in writing for myself.

Since December 2010 I've been focusing on trail marathons and 50k's, as well as some shorter trail races now that I've been in Colorado. I didn't think I was going to do anything this long until I was thoroughly ready to race the entire time, but I think this will be a great way to cap off my winter training.

Goals for this one (in order of importance):
1) Finish the entire 100k
2) Run the first 50k in less than 4:50
3) See Sabrina through her first ultra (the second 50k of my race) and witness the birth of a new ultra runner. This one could be hard since she's gona have to run her own race, and I'm not sure how her pace is gona feel after running a 50k beforehand.
4) Perfect my nutrition/hydration game for 50k, and mess around with real, solid food in the second half
5) Have an obscene amount of fun. Always a huge priority, it's last on the list only because if I do pretty much any of the above goals it'll happen.

Gota love living in Denver! Picture stolen from denvermetrotrails.com.

Check out the complete course map here.

Last week was training as usual, completing my 15th week in a row at 80 miles and doing a few core/hip sessions. This week I cut back:
Mon: biked about 10 miles easy -just to get around, and some core/hip work
Tues: 13 miles, over to Green Mountain, up it, then back home
Wed: 6 miles on trails with water crossings at Bear Creek, soaked in Bear Creek afterward
Thur: Belmar Run Club, about 7 miles easy
Fri: off
Sat: 100K
Sun: whatever I feel like, but definitely something

I'm as ready for this as I ever have been, and I'm getting more excited by the day.

Camp Tahosa #2

2012-03-07T18:45:00.004-06:00

I have good news, then bad news, then good news.

First, my interview for Camp Tahosa went fine. It felt great to get back in the scouting environment and be able to wear my uniform again. This year's camp director at Tahosa is Collin and he is the guy who interviewed me. He wasn't much older than me, and, while he has loads more experience than I do in Denver council, I'm confident that I could take his job in the next few years. I'm not saying he isn't good for the job -I'm saying I'm encouraged by how young he was. If anyone my near my age is qualified to run a camp, I am. And after my life-changing experience running Thunderbird NYLT (a leadership camp for scouts in Illinois), I'd love to get to the top of another totem pole and be able to run another camp.

When I'm in front of a large group people, and I can inspire and energize them with what I say, I get one of the best highs I've ever had. The only other time that I get that feeling is when I run: the moment you take over a race and move from second to first place, or realize that you're going to finish a new ultra distance, for example. There isn't much else in my life has come close to the feelings running and scouting have both given me. And nothing else could compare to what the two things have done for my developement as a person.

Second is the bad news. A counselor job (the job I expected to work) at Tahosa only pays $75 per week, although they do house and feed you. Thats only $600 saved after working all day, six days a week, all summer -and that's assuming I could save it all. I guess that's the price you pay for working at a primier scout camp -probly second only to Philmont Scout Ranch. As I sat on the numbers for a few days I realized that it wouldn't work. It's just not responsable for me to only bring in $300 a month. If I send my earnings to my girlfriend to pay half rent then I won't save anything all summer long. That's not something I can do right now with an 800+ dollar insurance bill coming at the end of the summer and a car that's gona need a new engine soon.

Thankfully, a bit of good news came a few days ago. I got a call from Collin asking if I'd like to be the Archery Director -a job that would pay at least double the original $75 per week. Suddenly, Tahosa is a option again.

God, watching this video makes me realize how ready I am for the simplicity of summer running. There's something magical about throwing on shorts and leaving, without the need to suite up.

thank you topozone.com for the map

Real mountains are back on my summer menu.
More to come as it unfolds

A New Race Planned

2012-03-05T13:09:00.000-06:00

The Salida Run Through Time Trail Marathon filled up.

That's what happens when you're so poor that signing up for a race means not getting to eat that week. Right when I thought I had enough pennies scrapped together sign up, I found out the race had filled. But there's a huge upside to this: I found Sherpa John's Winter Fatass series.

I'll probly be back for a couple of them next year

The last run of the series is a 100k here near Denver, covering virtually all of the Highline Canal Trail. Since it's a Fatass event there will be no aid on course -Sherpa's recommendation is to carry a debit card and stop at gas stations to refuel and refill water bottles.
I HATE stopping during runs, even training runs. Ultra running is a very simple sport, you just have to stay moving until you cross the finish line. So stopping isn't something I wana have to do. And I'm too much of a road runner to run a course with no aid, so I'm in the process of getting a crew together to meet me along the course and refuel me.
I wasn't planning to go this long for a while. My first 50 miler is planned for the end of this coming summer, and that's as soon as I'll be ready to truly race for the entire distance. However, I'm not treating this like a real race so I'm allowing myself the opportunity to go for 100k if I feel good.
The plan is to run a 4:30-4:45 first 50k, running just under 9:00 a mile, then take some real calories down as Sabrina joins me to run the second half. After the 50k mark the only goal is to stay moving and be done before it gets dark. Any time less than 12 hours would be acceptable.

I'm extremely excited just to be running for longer than six hours, and it will most likely longer than 10.

I'll have another post soon as the immensity of the task settles in.

Camp Tahosa #1

2012-02-12T16:20:00.001-06:00

I've applied to be a camp counselor at the Camp Tahosa High Adventure Base near Ward, Colorado.
When I was 17, I achieved the rank of Eagle Scout (Boy Scouting's highest honor), something that 3% (or less) of scouts ever do. I've had the honor of leading a National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) course. And I was sent out to Philmont Scout Ranch by my home council to go through the National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience (NAYLE), which is essentially scouting's ceiling as far as youth leadership training. So, by applying for the position, I can plan on being at Camp Tahosa all summer.

I have an interview on February 18th with the new director of the camp and should be leaving with the formal offer for the job.

My blog is about running though, not scouting, so I'll get to the point. Camp Tahosa is at about 9,000 feet elevation and sits next to the Indian Peaks Wilderness south of Rocky Mountain National Park. The location has miles upon miles of trail and 12,000 foot peaks are as convenient and plentiful as you could ask for. Other just a great opportunity to develop myself as a runner and a human being, it will be a great chance for me to refill my savings account which has dwindled to nothing over the past months. I don't ever plan to be rich, but when my finances are stopping me from racing I know I'm too poor.

http://anodynerunning.blogspot.com/2010/08/pawnee-buchanan-pass-loop-27-miles.html -there's a ton of pictures of the trails I'll be calling home on Jim's page here, thanks for carrying a camera man!

Part two to come after my interview on the 18th

Moving Closer to the Mountians

2012-01-17T18:37:00.000-06:00

Thankfully, February marks the end of my lease at The Golden Nugget Apartments. When we (my girlfriend Sabrina and I) moved from Illinois to Colorado six months ago, the only two solid requirements for our place to live were a cheap price and an immediate opening. So Golden Nugget, at Broadway and Belleview Avenue in Englewood, it was. At $555/month and less than two miles from Arapahoe Community College (ACC), it seemed close to perfect.

In May, two months before I eventually moved out to Colorado, I had visited the property and meet the manager. She offered to waive my application fee since I was going to be a student at ACC, which seemed nice but also gave me a pretty sales'y vibe. When I came back in July, she told me that they "can't do that anymore." Ah, sharky sales at its finest.
But I had the money so I payed it. Sleeping in my backpacking tent was getting old for Sabrina. And a place other than the car to keep food was necessary so we could stop eating all of our meals out.
We moved in on July 20th.
By August 20th, we had seen just about every person in our building intoxicated -including our landlady Suzanne. By September 20th, I had seen two people get arrested on our complex.
None of that bothered me in the slightest, but getting bit every night by mystery bugs got a little annoying -they turned out to be bed bugs in case you haven't read my other post about my living conditions. Other than those funny, living-with-the-under-class events, there were dozens of random events that happened almost too quickly to notice how strange they were.
One night a hideous, leather skinned, 40'ish year old woman that we were somewhat familiar with (we'd seen her most nights drinking and smoking in the courtyard) knocked on our door at around 7:00 pm. She stared at me for about five seconds before telling me that she must be at the wrong apartment. Yeah. Sorry. no drugs here.
One of the most quintessential fixtures of the Golden Nugget is the people who sit on the steps all day and night (smoking) and try to make you feel bad for asking for a way past them. There's the woman that came to our door, but also another woman who wears exclusively black pajama pants and a hoodie and sits on the staircase we use most often. Worse even than the smoke, is her backside. Presented to every person bold enough to walk down the stairs past her is her dark, dirty, cellulite clinging, ass crack.
Unfortunately, not all the people are totally benign. Take a minute to read this article, as sad as it is: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19073450 -Deer Creek, where the body was found, is my favorite place to run. And I've been living here for six months without knowing any of this. I suppose the area turned around a bit after the Englewood Police "established a presence" at the Golden Nugget. -Score one for the good guys.
The worst thing I've had to put up with since moving here has been Suzanne's (my landlady's) male "friends." Just this morning I had a 30-some year old intoxicated man, he said his name was Bull, wanting to come into my apartment to show me where I must be leaking water into the room below me. As it turns out, it wasn't even his room, and he doesn't even live here. He was just there visiting a friend while Suzanne got some work done, and in his drunken mind he felt the need to show me the water dripping into the room below me instead of talking to maintenence about it.
The water was coming from a busted pipe -not my place. And, in my assumtion, the reason his friend, the one who was living in the drippy room, hadn't complained about it earlier is because he couldn't speak english. ...

Anyway, despite all the antics the reason where moving is mostly to get a better location. We're too far from the mountains, too far from work, and too far from our grocery store, and they're all in the same direction. So we're moving to Lakewood, Colorado in a month and I couldn't be more excited.

The Lake Arbor 5k, a brief race report

2012-01-07T14:12:00.000-06:00

Breakfast:
>half a BumbleBar w/peanut butter and virgin coconut oil
>Tazo Awake Tea with 5 drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract and a piece of ginger

The race started with me remembering what it felt like to go fast. We came through the first mile in 5:45. -I never race with a watch but the guy next to me told me. That seemed perfect for me, not as fast as I'm used to, but about where the pace should be considering my training for the last few weeks.
I passed around four people in the second mile but none in the third and got passed by no one after the first mile. So it was a pretty uneventful race. Apparently there was a course map at the sign-up table which would have helped some since I wasn't real sure where we'd be running and, more importantly, where the finish line was. That made for a long last mile.
18:29 and 8th place is a bit embarrassing, but I finished ahead of the people I knew I should have and right behind a guy I figured I'd finish right behind, so I'm not sure to make of it. And being sick this week left me a little less confident than I'm used to, so who knows how much faster I could have run. On top that, I've been overreaching with my training for sure (six weeks straight at 80) so anything sub-6:00 is good enough for now. Next month's five miler should be at almost the same pace with decent conditions.
For now, back to training. I'm going to inject 10-15 miles at sub-6:00 into random runs over the next month which should help me get my heart used to the harder effort and put me around 32:XX for the five miler.

Pictures if I find some

Stapleton XC CMRA Colorado State Championship

2012-01-06T17:51:00.000-06:00

As usual the CMRA put on another great race.
I've been excited for this one. Everything I found and everyone I talked to said it would have a 'true cross country' feel. So I've been anxiously waiting to be able to wear spikes and get dirty.

-Breakfast
>BumbleBar with peanut butter and coconut oil
>a small chunk of a caffeine pill (~25 mg)

I got to Stapleton Central Park at around 9:15. The sun was shining by then but it was still below 40 so I kept all my layers on for my warmup. Before heading out of the car, I drank my last mouthful of water and took about 100 mg of caffeine (half of a pill).
The race started in an open field, which backed up their 'true cross country' claim. As everyone jostled for positions I stayed relaxed and focused on keeping my form perfect and not stumbling or wasting energy in the 5" of snow that covered this stretch. -That move paid off more than anything else during this race. At the half mile mark I was in about tenth place.
Once we got to the first hill the snow thinned out and I started my race. After a few more small, rolling hills we hit the mile mark and I had moved up to 8th place. Miles two through three were on packed snow over single track trail which made passing much harder, and after almost getting hip-checked off a boulder during the back stretch while trying to pass someone I decided to wait it out again. Once we hit the end of the first loop (6k; half way done), we headed back into the powder and I passed another three people in the next half mile and started feeling like a real competitor. Over the rolling hills of the next mile I caught the guy in fifth and passed him on a turn, then the guys in third and forth shortly after in the powdery back-stretch.
As I came around the final turn I saw the second place guy ahead of me but it was way too late to catch him. Still, I kicked as hard as I could thinking maybe he'd trip or run off the course alowing me to make up the ground. Obviously that didn't happen.
But a 3rd place finish is good enough for now, and I was only 50 seconds behind the guy in first -a guy who's 5k PR is probly more than a minute faster than mine.
Can't wait to hit the training for a few weeks before the (road) 5k on January 7th.

Thoughts Going Into The Lake Arbor 5k

2012-01-06T17:36:00.004-06:00

Well, I'm not exactly fast right now -after not taking a single fast stride in over a month. And to add to it I've been sick for a few days now and today has been the worst so far. Thinking about running hard when standing up makes me dizzy is rough. I rarely get sick: running generally helps the immune system, but 27 miles in a day will turn the tables a bit.
Despite all that, I'm really excited for this one. I've run 80 miles a week for six weeks in a row now and I'm starting to get hungry for a race. Also, recently my running dreams have been reaching further than ever. I'm feeling the need get out a see how I do against runners that I've idolized. I'm slowly getting ready to take my heroes off their pedestals and put them in my dust (at least at the 50k distance). Also 2012 is gona see a new 5k PR for me.
Since junior year of high school I've been running almost the same pace at every 5k I've run and I'm sick of it. Since chasing the 50k more seriously, my mental game has gotten exponentially stronger. When I race my self-talk is always positive: in my mind every difficulty the course throws at me hurts everyone else more. When I'm hurting, the guy next to me must be ready to quit. So this year it's about time to see myself running sub-16:10 for the 5k... even if I never do short speedwork again.
As far as this race however, I'm just looking to place well (there're going to be plenty of people faster than me here) and have fun.

The Next Few Months of Training

2011-12-06T19:39:00.000-06:00

Last week was my first week at 80 miles. I plan to hit 80 miles 12-15 times between now and the beginning of April. I've done 60 for extended periods before, but dispite the diminishing returns of running more and more miles, I strongly believe the extra 20 miles a week will help me run MUCH faster than currently. -Others have seen it when moving from 60 to 80 miles per week and so will I.

-my average week should look something like this:
Monday: run to/from work (15 miles for the day/15 miles total)
Tuesday: run to/from work, maybe some more with Sabrina (18 for the day/33 total)
Wednesday: decent warm up, 400-800 meter repeats, decent cool down (10+/43)
Thursday: 20 minutes running in the sauna before going out for a few miles (8/51)
Friday: off*
Saturday: 15, once a month some of these miles with come from a trail race -from 5k to 12k (15/66)
Sunday: whatever I need to run to close the week out at 80, hopefully not much to allow myself to recover from races when I do them (14/80)

*Most "serious" runners don't take too many days off, but I take one each week. It helps me stay hungry -nothing makes me wana run more than knowing that I can't. Also, taking one day off means I have only six days to run as much as most people spread over seven days, which makes my days bigger. So taking a day off means better training days AND better physical and mental recovery.

Stone House Triple Cross (8.6 miler)

2011-11-29T16:50:00.001-06:00

I did the Triple cross on a whim the weekend after The Moab Trail Marathon. I needed something fast and an 8.6 miler on trail with six water crossings and a small mountain would be perfect coming off such a technical race. And since the course was at Bear Creek Lake Park, I knew exactly what to expect after racing there for the
With no time goal, the only plan I had was to take it easy on Mt. Carbon and to gain a little ground at each water crossing. I figured anyone faster than me at a 8.6 miler would be young, fast, road runners so the technical parts should help me some.

-breakfast
>half a sesame BumbleBar with peanut butter and virgin coconut oil, and some Tazo Awake tea with ginger
-pre-race
>a small mouthful of Blueberry Pomegranate Roctane (~20 calories)

Before the race I did about a mile build up before heading over to the one porta potty to wait my turn. After a few minutes I realized it wasn't gona happen, so I did the ultra runner thing to do and dipped into the woods to take care of my business.
I changed into my old, trashed pair of Nike Mayfly's and took a deep breath. -I hadn't done any fast training in more than a month and wasn't sure how recovered I would be from Moab the weekend before. Then the race started.
In the first half mile I realized that I was pretty overdressed in my Under Armour ColdGear and ditched it on the side of the trail. At about the one mile mark there was a tree fallen over the trail which made for a little added fun to that stretch: some people hurdled it, some ran around, and on the way back the guy in front of me walked over it causing me to run square into him. The water crossings were brisk to say the least. I knew they weren't gona be warm or anything but it's still crazy to me to feel just how cold these Colorado streams get. It's like running through ice water. By mile three the top twelve or so (myself included) had spread out and by mile four, after heading up Mt. Carbon, I could neither hear anyone behind me or see anyone in front of me. I hate being in this spot: No Man's Land, where you don't feel like you chasing or being chased by anyone. My legs were on fire, but I tried to hold pace and kept telling myself "-at least one or two of the guys up there are road runners -and the longest race they run is a 10k -just hold on until the last two miles and you'll pass a few." And I did.
As I came down Mt. Carbon I saw a duo that didn't look nearly as intimidating as they had three miles ago and I tried to pick up the pace a little. After bursting through the first water crossing I came right up behind one of them. Once he noticed me there his pace dropped about 30 seconds a mile, and I couldn't have been more grateful for it -I did not wana end up in No-Man's Land again if I could help it. I pushed this guy right up to the second water crossing where I passed him and put a few meters on him. He must have be demoralized by that a bit because he dropped off quick after that. But the second guy was only about 150 meters ahead at that point, so I still had chasing to do. And my legs started feeling really good. Again, the water crossing put me right on the guys shoulder and he picked up a bit when I got there. We threw it down a bit for a few hundred meters before we got to the tree fallen over the trail where I just about took him down when he stopped to walk over it. -I guess he was just spent..?

this was taken during the Bear Chase Trail Race 50k (hence the walkers) but its the same creek crossings for both races

Either way, I passed one more guy just before the last half mile and finished in 8th place overall.
Normally, I'd like to think I'd place better at a race this short, but I felt like it went better than I could have hoped for having come off such a big race the weekend before.
It was a blast.

more pictures from The Moab Trail Marathon

2011-11-23T18:45:00.000-06:00

I knew I'd find more...

the amount of rain made for some solid flooding and unplanned water crossings, near the first aid station

you can barely make out the trail there but that was about half the climb from the canyon floor to the top of the mesa

some canyonlands, the sections of sand on the trail gave me chance to catch a few great views -but only for a moment

more canyonlands

I can't stop wondering how it would have looked without all the rain and flodding

an example of some of the 'exposure' on the course, you can see why the race had a nice long waiver to sign at registration

wide open views are defnetly the best part about all the climbing before the half way mark

one of the unique formations of the area: a "tower" of rock jutting straight up

nice gentle trail.. with a steep drop just to the side of it

I think the middle must have had too many water crossings for anyone to keep their cameras out.

even though I was barely jogging by this point, i thought about how fun it would be to try to run/climb up up one of those

some parts of the course weren't even on trail, just 'follow the orange ribbon road'

the open field that lead to the finish

-and the official results are up at: http://www.moabtrailmarathon.com/Results%20Moab%20Trail%20Marathon%2011-5-2011.pdf

Fumbling Towards Endurance: A Different Kind Of Tempo Run

2011-11-17T14:57:00.000-06:00

Fumbling Towards Endurance: A Different Kind Of Tempo Run
man... i got a long way to go...

The Moab Trail Marathon

2011-11-16T19:29:00.008-06:00

This was the most technical/dangerous race I've ever done by a long shot. And the fact that it rained for the 12 hours leading up to the start didn't help. A few sections of the course had more than a little 'exposure,' and one section went down about 700 feet in less than half a mile which meant dozens of 3-4 foot drops from slickrock onto slickrock and shuffling over soaking wet switchbacks. The few parts of the course that weren't rock or sand were so muddy that they might as well have been ice.

This post has taken me a while to get up because I didn't bring a camera during the race and I ended up with only a few mediocre pictures of my own. -all the pictures in this post were taken from other runners off facebook. I just might be posting more pictures as i find them.
The night before the race was spent in the back of my car listening to the rain. It started raining around 10pm and didn't let up until the race started.

My pre-race dinner was the usual bacon cheeseburger and a salad.
Breakfast was half a piece of Ezekiel sesame (sprouted grain) bread with peanut butter and virgin coconut oil, along with some Awake tea with Grapefruit Seed Extract and a piece of ginger.

The start of the race took us into Pritchett Canyon and through some beautiful, rolling, canyonlands

I had a little nauseousness during the first five miles or so, but Vespa does that to me a bit so I wasn't
concerned and it passed quickly. After mile eight or nine, the course opened up to follow a wide, sandy track and lost some altitude giving me a chance to settle into a more controlled effort. I drank my first 10 ounces of water over the next few miles and enjoyed the view before the trail got technical again.

open, soft, beautiful

to the side of the trail I saw my first waterfall of the day

the last part of soft trail for the rest of the day, excluding the slick muddy sections

At roughly the two hour mark I took an S!Cap. From just before the three hour mark until just before the four hour mark I took a Strawberry Stinger gel, with another 10 ounces of water. Right after finishing most of it, I took another S!Cap and tried to keep drinking. During the last few miles (I had only a vague idea of how much was left) I took a mouthful of Blueberry Pomegranate Roctane for the amino acids, just to try to boost recovery, but it sat like a rock in my stomach so I left it at that and stuck to water until the end.
Other than the nauseousness during the first few miles, I had no major GI problems. But taking in a meager 120-130 calories and about 30 ounces of water is hardly a lot by almost anyone's standards but my own.

I finished 13th overall in 4:21. Nowhere near where I need to be. But for now, for this race, it'll do.
The course lead through tight squeezes and open rock ledges. There was a huge climb right in the middle that had virtually everyone walking. Parts of it had rappel lines that took you up and down sheer rock formations. The course seemed to drastically change every half hour...
It's hard to describe exactly what was so special about this race. It was the most hardcore trail running I've ever done.

gently heading back onto the course, down the hill by the finish line to get the last few miles

I'm excited to go back next year for sure.

a few pictures from The Xterra Marathon of Trail Races

2011-11-03T19:33:00.000-05:00

some pictures from Xterra

coming down from a snowy Cheyenne Mountain, with about 200 meters left in the race

feelin dead after the race, running soaking wet in 32-35 degree weather is not a good way to conserve energy

The day after I went to Deer Creek Canyon Park for some great barefoot hiking in the warmer weather. The sandy, cool, uneven trail felt amazing.

getting some Colorado-cross-training (bouldering) the day after. I'm sure it helped file down some of the calluses on my bare feet

Thoughts going into The Moab Trail Marathon and beyond

2011-11-01T19:40:00.000-05:00

This is going to be my last major race until until after the winter. I need a few months to focus solely on training.
For this race, I'm going to get my nutrition perfect. everything else is just icing on the cake. Over the 26.2 miles I'm going to take in 2-3 gels and atleast one electrolyte pill along with atleast 20 ounces of water. If i take all that in and don't have any stomach issues then the race was a success. Also, breaking four hours should be doable on this hard course if my nutrition is dialed in. We'll see what happens but it's gona be a blast.

I'm pleasantly surprised that my recent racing hasn't seemed to drain me at all. -I'm loving my running more than ever, and as the weather gets colder i can feel myself wanting to speed up, which is exactly the plan.
I'm going to run 80 miles during the last week of November and go up from there. By the end of March I should be close to 100 miles a week for a few weeks, and might end my winter training with 2 or three weeks at 100 depending on how i feel. At this point in my ultra career I have done a few good training weeks but I have yet to put in the months and months of consistent high mileage that it'll take to get me to the next level.
I'm going to run more than 80 miles a week (each week) for all of December, January, February, March, and April. 80-100 is hardly high mileage by ultra standards, but the consistency should make the difference and the plan isn't to do junk miles. Each week should have: a speedwork session with intervals of 400-800 meters, 20 miles at 5:50-6:30 pace (half marathon-marathon race pace) spread throughout my easy runs, and a 20 miler without any water or food.
By the time that May rolls around I'm gona be 1600+ miles faster and ready for a great summer racing season.

National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Certification

2011-10-18T15:40:00.002-05:00

A short while back I decided to study and test for another certification to help both my career and my clients.
While I would strongly recommend NPTI (National Personal Training Institute) to anyone who can make it work, and I do believe it to be the best certification program for personal trainers, most people with jobs don't have four days per week to commit to education. Also, the $6000 price tag scares some people off. So for the average person looking to become a personal trainer, or just wanting to learn more about applied exercise science, I recommend NASM.
the online study program is second to none. after reading a chapter in the book, going online to watch the video clips about the material, then taking mini quizzes about what you learned, anyone can learn the information fully and in a short amount of time, no matter what kind of learner you are.

you can follow the new link on the side of my page to see the full details on how you can become a personal trainer (or a better one if you already are one).

-and if you've decided to get certified, do so through the link on the right side of my page to let NASM know that i sent you and to make sure you get the best deal.

400 meter repeats

2011-10-15T18:00:00.002-05:00

i chose, on an impulse, to do something fast thursday night. after having such a great trail run the night before, i wanted a good, fast road run, and 400s are my favorite -i love um!
i don't feel that ultra- or trail marathon- runners have any reason to do conventional, track-style intervals (with a set period of non-active rest between them). since the ultra running motto is 'relentless forward movement,' why would you ever stop moving in a workout? -repeats for any runner who's event lasts longer than four hours should never stop or walk during workouts, period.

so the workout went down like this:
>800 meter WU(warm up)
>12X 400 meters slow: 400 meters at sub-5:20 pace
>2 mile CD (cool down)
-since I'm going to race a 1.4 mile halloween run at Clement Park Lake on the 28th, i did the workout entirely on the 1.4 mile loop that the race is going to be run on. breaking 8 minutes would be great in a costume...
-my Garmin 405 made this workout possible for me: its relentless beaps told me when to sprint and when to jog. i feel way better knowing that there isn't any human error in my workout.

i felt great with the effort and remembered fully why i love the short-lived pain that comes with fast running. looking forward to Moab, i should have the aerobic capacity to do very well, but that still seems far off

Purposefully Unprepared

2011-10-14T15:26:00.001-05:00

this past wednesday i went out to Deer Creek Canyon Park with the almost-sub-conscious yearning to be on the trails at night without gear (headlamp, flashlight, etc).
since my junior year of high school, I've loved to nothingness that comes with runs on country roads at night. the endless roads, the cool and humid air, and the solitude. and also the occasional feelings of being watched/followed.

i set out just before 6:00 in the evening and headed toward the first peak. in the first 1.5 miles the trail goes more than 800 feet up before leveling off a bit for the next two miles, only gaining 400. that two mile section of the trail runs along the west side of the mountain and offers the best view of the Denver area that i know of. i watched as, building by building, Denver was covered by the shadow of the mountains.

this one wasn't taken by me, but its right next to where i was as the sun was setting on Denver.

the sun had set by the time i got the the top, but by making it over the peak i bought myself another 10'ish minutes of sunlight. i followed the Homesteader trail to the most remote part of the park: the Red Mesa Loop and the Golden Eagle Trail.

again, not taken by me, but in the right spot: the Homesteader Trail

i could feel where the sun had been last as i ran through the western part of Red Mesa: the slight breeze was warm even after the sun had gone. after the finishing the 2.5 mile loop on Red Mesa (and more than 7 miles into the run), it was getting hard to see the trail in front of me, and the moon wasn't high enough to provide any significant light yet.
looking down at the Denver-metro area felt like i was in a plane over the city at night. if you've ever flown at night you know that its probly the most beautiful a city can ever look. -the lights defining each street and each neighborhood all glistening and displaying human kinds vast development/domestication of the land we live on. it was a strange feeling to realize that the lights and buildings i saw were providing a safety and security that i didn't have where i was. all those people were in their homes and surrounded by people while i was alone with the trail and nature. i felt like a deer looking out of the forest at a Super Target...

after a quick out-and-back up a small foothill(on Golden Eagle Trail), i started the journey back. by this point i couldn't see the trail right below me which made the trip back very unique to me. as i ran down the rocky hills my feet followed suit with my senses and seemed almost super-human as the adapted to the rugged, uneven rocks below them. i had reached a point where i was actually looking around more than i do during the day because trying to see the trail wasn't helping in the slightest anyway.
it was the most intimate moment I've ever had with a running surface. the trail seemed to reach up to me just as i reached down to it with each stride. despite how jagged the surface may be, my feet adapted to each step and took it like they've taken millions smooth, stable steps on the roads. the rest of the run back was spent entirely in my own head, enjoying every individual second of it for all that it's worth, knowing that runs like this are rare for me and non-existent for most...

i would put up with months of bad runs to get one run like this...

Xterra Marathon of Trail Races

2011-10-13T19:12:00.000-05:00

its hard to accurately determine how i did at this one since i was one of a small group that actually finished the full marathon...
i woke up (in Littleton) to rain, lots of it. on the drive to Colorado Springs it turned to freezing rain and then to snow. by the time i was 20 miles from home i was driving in 6+ inches of snow and could barely see the highway under me. thankfully there were almost no cars out because i was swerving from one side of the road to the other and the only thing keeping me from going straight off was the rumble strips... the one hour trip took almost two hours.
the sun was out enough to see by the time i got to Cheyenne Mountain State Park, but it was raining pretty hard, 34 degrees (according to my car), and windy.
i have yet to bash any race too bad, but the organization at this one was mediocre to say the least. no one seemed to know where they were supposed to go, or even when exactly the race was going to start, and seriously: what kind of race director forgets pins... that's all I'm gona say because in the end of the day i enjoyed the race and would do it again.

the race itself went pretty horribly. i started with some fast people who were running the half marathon and felt comfortable enough until about the half-way point. the cold stopped me from drinking, which stopped me from takin in anything for most of the race.
the course lived up to the Xterra name for sure. plenty of rocky parts, some slick muddy parts, and solid climbing throughout. there were a few times where falling seemed certain and a couple of downhills where i almost ran right off the side of the trail. i felt mildly nostalgic about the fact that i had been dreaming about running on trails like this for my entire running life. the snow was coming down in big flakes and the trail was steep, slick, and rugged, and by the 15 mile mark snow had settled onto about every leaf in the park creating a perfect winter-in-the-mountains look. i was beginning to really feel it, but the realization that i had made it (and i was doing what I've been dreaming about for so long) kept me moving forward as my energy completely crashed.
being soaked and cold must have taken a lot out of me. even if the course was 28 miles like a few people have said, i still shouldn't have crashed like i did in the last quarter of the race.
i got chick'ed right at the end of the race, but she was nice enough to give me a gel and a stinger waffle which instantly gave me my legs back. i finished in 10th place overall... and looking at the results, they put me in the wrong age group: I'm not 20-24 yet... pictures if i ever get them...

this was a great race to go into Moab with. other than getting one hell of a training run in, this race made me realize that if I'm going to run as fast as I'd like to I'm going to have to take in way more calories. -it made me realize how little I've learned.

thoughts going into the Xterra Marathon of Trail Races

2011-10-05T18:38:00.000-05:00

I'm extremely excited about the trail marathon this weekend! and with another rugged, trail marathon coming up on November 5th, this weekend will be a great chance to master my game-plan and develop myself as a trail runner.
as far as pre-race food goes, the plan is almost identical to my last few races, but during the race I'm trying something new to attempt to avoid gastric problems, and the crash i had at Bear Creek.

dinner: bacon cheese burger and a late salad, along with a lot of water
breakfast plan: strong awake tea with hemp milk and ginger, and one piece of Life Bread with organic, creamy peanut butter and virgin coconut oil

during the race:
-S!Caps (electrolyte pills) at around miles 5, 14, and 21
-half a caffeine pill at miles 10 and 20 (100 mg each)
-plain water or very diluted gatorade throughout*

I'll probly end up with well under 100 calories taken in during the race, for better or worse. my high-fat diet along with Vespa will stop me from burning through my glycogen too quickly, so energy shouldn't be a problem for marathon distance, even if it has more than 3000 feet of gain.. hopefully.
*I've never had a hydration goal, but I've also never taken in enough fluids, so this time the goal is to take in at least 60 ounces of water during the race. so i need to fill my bottle at three aid stations per lap and down it in between.

I'm not planning to go out too hard, but I'm also not going to leave anything left in the tank. I'd rather crash than feel like i wasted a race. plus, this one is 5 miles shorter than a 50k... my number one goal for this race is to get my hydration/electrolytes dialed in. if that happens, i should have a great day... i have no time goal, but a top-5 finish at a race like this would be a good step forward...

I'm planning on trying the pills and the pre-race meal during my run tomorrow. if that goes well, I'll be confident about race day.

The Bear Chase Trail Race 50k

2011-10-04T18:50:00.004-05:00

breakfast: 1 hemp waffle with butter (didn't eat all of it due to nerves), a half cup of strong Awake Tea with half cup hemp milk (forgot to add the ginger.)
pre race: sipped water, took Vespa Junior just under 30 mins before the start
the plan: go out hard and see what happens
the course: three loops one small (10k loop), and two big (12.5 mile loops) at Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood, Colorado

the start of the race was fast with three of us pushing for first, and we came through the first 10k in sub-40 minutes. i knew the pace was fast, but sub-20 minute pace for ten 5k's in a row without stopping (and on trails!) is not something I'm ready to do. so i let the duo go and slowed the pace to something that felt more reasonable. just past the 10k mark i made my first attempt to hydrate and was hit with cramps. i only in about two ounces of fluid in the first 8 miles. i knew i should take in more but my stomach wasn't gona have it after the fast start, so i kept on going and hoped for the best.

i have nothing but respect for that guy: he lead it from the start and set a great new course record

i ran 100% of the first 20 miles, including an accent of Mt. Carbon and three water crossings, and didn't feel too bad, although the distance started to stretch out in front of me. after the second accent of Mt. Carbon(around mile 23 i think), i started to realize that walking was inevitable. there was a short, steep hill within a mile of the peak of Carbon and i planned to walk it, hoping that a few moments of walking would help me get my legs back. by that point i was starting to feel achy and just making it to the hill was a challenge. my race was starting to fall apart. after walking the small hill, i walked through each of the three final water crossings. by this point, my stomach felt like it could hold fluid, but i was miles from the next aid station and my ten-ounce water bottle had been empty for atleast a mile. after scooping some water from Bear Creek and bumming some off a nice 50-miler, i could feel how dehydrated i was.

at the top of Mt. Carbon, great spot to drink in the view -since i couldn't drink anything else

the final six miles of the race had more walking than I'd care to talk discuss. i was in death march mode where even the downhills were miserable to run. my pace for mile 25-29 had to be slower than 18 minutes a mile, but i was atleast able to run it in during the last 2 miles or so and was still able to break five hours.

#1 for pictures of me in pain

during the race i drank very diluted Ironman Perform (the sports drink offered at the aid stations) and slowly took a strawberry stinger gel from mile 19 until about mile 22, along with plain water. that's it.

finishing in 17th place would discourage me, but a time of 4:50 with a crash like i had is great. i should be able to do a four hour 50k on a similar course in the next 6 months-1 year. this race also let me know that as long as recovery goes well between now and October 8th (Xterra), I'm ready for a really good trail marathon. had i not crashed like i did, i would have run a sub-4:15 50k, so once i dial in my hydration I'm certain that i can break four hours for a moderately difficult 50k.

not as fast as I'd like to be yet, but it's a work in progress

looking forward, I'm excited to hopefully (depending on finances) be racing a few more trail marathons before winter comes. -hopefully i can master my race hydration over the course of the next 2 months.

going into the Bear Chase Trail Race

2011-09-27T13:57:00.000-05:00

two weeks before race day i did my second "low*" 20 miler in the morning and another 11miles later in the day. the next morning i did 11 on some trails that should be much more rugged than what i hit on race-day.

a week before race day, i ran a 16:44 barefoot 5k, so my aerobic capacity is pretty solid.

ive been sauna training consistanly 2+ times per week for the last month, so im hoping for some higher temps in the last hour or so to help me hold whatever place i end up with.

*Low: heavy, no-carb breakfast, no caffiene, nothing during the run (no gatorade, no water, no gu)

thats about everything for this one. im looking to be competitive at this one and im not sure what that means yet, but a top-10 finish would be great. the plan is to go out fast and see what happens...

The Merrell Naked Foot 5k

2011-09-18T17:31:00.000-05:00

I made a last minute decision to do the Merrell Naked Foot 5k this morning. The physiological benefits of running hard a week before race day(Bear Chase 50k) are limited to shocking the crap out of my nervous system, but that's all i wanted. So I even did a hard, fast, speed session two nights before race day, which was the first speedwork I've done in months and it left me a little sore this morning.
That being said, I've won quite a few 5k's, and a win would give me some great mental momentum to go into the 50k with...
After a fun course and a thorn(or somethin!) in my left arch I finished in second place by 10 seconds or less. I started behind a group of people who were running quite a bit slower than me causing me to lose about 15 meters on the guy in first, and I never made up the ground. I figured I'd catch him in the last half mile, but the race ended sooner than I expected and I barely hard time to kick.
The biggest thing that bothered me about today was that the only person that beat me needed shoes to do it. If I won money ($110 Merrill gift card)at a race where the theme was barefooting but i had to wear shoes to do it, I'd feel awful. Thats all I'm gona say about it.
And the bottom line is that i ran a 16:44 after not doing any speedwork, other than the one session that I'm still sore from two days ago. coming off of a few big, slow, trail-filled weeks (80 and 100 miles) to run a sub 17 minute 5k on tight legs is incredible for me, and to do it without shoes is even better.

Going into the Bear Chase Trail Race 50k, i should be ready for the distance(after two "low" 20 miler runs, a 100 mile week, and a 31 mile day), and after today i know I'm ready for the speed. Now its just up to the nutrition.

my roots/ the inspiration to move to colorado (pt 2)

2011-09-18T17:25:00.000-05:00

At the 2009 Gobbler Hobbler 10k in Oswego, IL, a guy came up to me and two of my friends and asked about our school's running program. He was interested in a coaching job and we had a decent amount of Oswego East gear on at the time. He didn't even give me his name, but he told me to send him some info regarding becoming our coach. i had never had a coach that i felt was passionate about the sport, but this guy seemed so full of energy and excited to be running that i was determined to get him to coach me.
long story short, it wasn't hard to figure out who he was after looking at the results and finding the only 30-something year old in the top-10, and it was even easier find basic info on who this guy was when i searched his name online. The guy was Zach Gingerich, and all i could really tell about him was that he was an ultra runner, but that was plenty to get me excited. I sent a letter to the address i found for him as fast as i could.
A few weeks later, Coach Wilson (my head track coach) told me that he had been contacted by Zach about coaching us, but that he couldn't make it to East until 4:30 because of his job... There goes another season without a real coach...
The more i searched, the more i found about Zach: this guy wasn't just running further than anyone I'd ever met -he was winning! i couldn't believe that someone like this had just dropped into my lap! -this was someone who was doing what i wanted to do! And felt i needed his advice if i wanted get where he was...
thankfully, i got a letter back from Zach a few weeks later letting me know that he wasn't gona be able to coach me officially, but that any questions i had, he would help me with(I'm not sure if he really thought that I'd take him up on that offer). After 6 months or so, i had graduated high school and was in the process of getting certified at NPTI(National Personal Training Institute) Lisle, and training for a marathon. With four runs of 20 miles or more coming up, i asked Zach if he be down to run one of them with me, and he was. Then, a few days before my 21 miler with him, i was running with another local running figure, Andy Remley(a coach at Benedictine University), when Andy told me that Zach had won Badwater. Suddenly 21 miles didn't seem like enough time to get all my questions answered!
The details of the run, along with any exact quote from Zach, cant be put online, but in summary: i learned more about real running that day than i had in the rest of my life up to that point. I had never met anyone like him. He is so nice and down to earth, and he was incredibly patient as i bombarded him with questions. I had expected him to be a student of the sport like i was, but he wasn't the slightest bit interested in the studies that i pour over day after day. i couldn't accept that someone who spent so much time running wouldn't be interested in whats going on in their body while they do it.
either way, my mind was blown.

Less than 3 months after that, Zach emailed me a list of upcoming ultras that would be worth thinking about and one of them seemed perfect. So on December 18th, 2010, i ran my first ultra: the Huff 50k (which was actually 33 miles, but still a short ultra). But using the word "ran" to describe what i did that day is almost completely a lie. The race was on trail and in 3-6 inches of snow. miles one through 11 were easy enough, but i ran every hill and didn't eat or drink anything. so by the middle 11 i had started walking all the steep hills, and by the start of the last third i was having trouble just leaving the comfort of aid stations and running seemed like a hopeless fantasy...
After getting my ass kicked and feeling hopeless for another 3 hours or so, i crossed the finish line in 6:15 -and i had already decided to do another ultra as soon as my body would let me. i had "caught the bug." -I've raced beyond marathon distance 3 times since then and recently even done a training day at 31 miles.

As i learned more about ultra running and met more people who did it, i quickly realized that Illinois wasn't the greatest place to be if i wanted to get serious about it (not like that was surprising). If i wanted a good shot at becoming the best, statistically, i should move to Colorado.
So in July, i packed my life into my Chevy Blazer and started driving west.

"All our dreams can come true…if we have the courage to pursue them." -Walt Disney