Running 'round Reno

Whole School Foods Running... Wait.

2012-01-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

Wow, I've been a bad blogger. Three whole weeks without a post. Well, if there's anything to get me to post again, it would be a Team Library Dork trip to NorCal for a race.

Last year Chris, Dave and I headed over to Roseville for the Whole Foods Running School Half Marathon. (Need to tighten the name up a little, guys, it's a mouthful.) This year we talked Amber into coming along as well, so it was a full TLD roster. Chris, Amber and I did the 10K, and Dave attacked the 5K as part of his master plan.

It was a snowy drive over the pass, but not too bad. The Hyatt Regency just down the street from the race hosted us, and half of the group hit the hot tub the night before the race. Unfortunately, Chris's race shorts didn't dry completely overnight, and he was reduced to this race morning:

I think he got that worked out eventually.

We drove to the race, picked our packets up, got instruction from the over-helpful volunteers on how to apply the timing chips to our shoes, and then just tried to stay warm. Well, Amber tried to stay warm. We got to watch the 5K start:

Time to line up for the 10K. Amber was cold, but still smiling -

So, we took off. Chris was long gone in front of us, and Amber and I just took our own time. First mile was in the 8:20 range, then we slowed down for a couple miles to 8:40 ish. Saw Chris coming back toward us somewhere in there, leading by a good margin:

After the third mile marker (which was off by a bit, causing Chris some concern) Amber picked up the pace and I had to hustle to stay with her. Fortunately, the course had changed a bit from last year and the last couple miles included some hills - where I was able to stay with her. Despite the hills, we negative splitted the last three miles.

Chris and Dave met us on their cool down and ran us the last quarter mile back to the finish. Chris had won the 10K, and the unexpected hills foiled Dave's fast 5K bid. Amber and I finished the 10K in 50: 40 sominthings.

After some loitering at the finish area, and Whole Foods breakfast burritos, we adjourned to the hotel and a beer tasting with a couple local runners, Mark and Andy. This was our contribution, about half of the total:

After the mandatory trip to Total Wine, some calories from Chipotle, and a refill of coffee, we headed back over an (again) snowy pass to Reno. Another successful TLD venture - thanks guys. Had a great time.

2011 Wrap-up

2011-12-31T10:32:00.000-08:00

End of the year - I guess it's time for a wrap-up post. Weirdly, just like last year, I'm nursing a holiday cold for it.

There was good and bad this year. The good mostly came in the spring and summer, and things fell off in the fall. I'll let a chart of my monthly mileage tell the story:

That's a total of 1377 miles, and 189 hours (7 days, 21 hours) of running.

29 races:
Nine 5Ks, six 10Ks, seven half marathons, one marathon, and a few races of different distance.
Twelve trail runs, fifteen road runs, a relay and a snowshoe race.
Only bib number I had twice was #13, at the You've Gotta Be Crazy Run and the Anything is Possible 5K.

The spring and summer held a bunch of PRs for me. In the half marathon. I notched down my PR times at the Roseville Whole Foods Running School, the Davis Stampede, the Reno Rock 'n River, and finally the Avenue of the Vines for a 1:27:17. There were also a few 5K PRs thrown in - a 20:03 at the Spring into Action 5K and a 19:29 at the Scheels Fanatic 5K. (There was an 18:50 in Carson at the Safe & Sober 5K, but it was a short course.) While building miles over the summer for a fall marathon, I inadvertently set a 10K PR at one of the Reno 5000 races - after an easy 8 miles, I ran the 10K in 42:59. And finally, my fall goal race was the Lake Tahoe Marathon - where, despite an injury I still managed a 3:41:12.

So that would count as a pretty good year - except for the way I ended it. After the Lake Tahoe Marathon, and despite going to physical therapy, my left ankle kept complaining more and more. The only time I felt like I was making progress with it, I fell and hurt my shoulder, which still hasn't healed. And still, every time I go out to run, the ankle flares up within half a mile. And currently, with a chest cold, I can't even try that.

On fronts other than running, thinks have been pretty good. Passed my goal of reading more than 100 books again, clocking 119 this year - about 70% non-fiction.

And have still been baking - managed to master cupcakes this year, which have strangely always been a challenge for me. And doing the fancy stuff, like this Bûche de Noël -

I'm not one for setting specific goals, but letting them evolve over the season. With the way I'm feeling about running right now, though, I'm hesitant to even think about it. If anything, my main goals for 2012 will be to get my head and body back into the game, and run a few of my "legacy" races - the ones that I've been doing consecutively for years. I hope my body cooperates.

Relay Peak (Almost)

2011-12-18T16:56:00.000-08:00

Despite my lack of recent training, an invite from Chris and Dave to head up towards Mt. Rose for some late-season trail running was more than I could resist today.

Unfortunately, in was all of 19 degrees when I left my house. Two minutes away, where we met, Chris's car thermometer read 16 degrees. We were all wondering if we'd brought enough clothes, thinking it would be in the low teens or single digits by the time we started.

Hello, temperature inversion. At the trailhead it was 30+ and sunny. This made for some interesting clothing decisions while we met up with Wendy and her dog Bobby (Bobbi?) for the run. I ended up only slightly overdressed with a long sleeve shirt, windbreaker, tights and a knit cap.

We headed off up the trail -

And were soon rewarded by some awesome views:

(And I'm not talking about Chris's butt.)

After a mile or so, we could see the goal, Relay Peak:

Up until that point, the trail had been pretty good. Some sections of ice and snow, but pretty manageable. I was taking it easy, a little scared of taking a fall on my shoulder. Pretty soon, though, the trail turned into this:

I elected not to run any of the snowy parts - wisdom before valor, or something. Or maybe I'm just seriously out of shape. At any rate, Chris had been pulling away from me pretty hard, and eventually I was able to spot him - um, up ahead a ways:

My plan was to run until I hit the 45 minute mark, then turn around and head back. I took this picture at about the 42 minute mark, though, and it looked like there was going to be a good view just up the next rise. There wasn't, but I did get to see Wendy and Bobbi catching up:

Wendy and I decided it was time to head back down, and before long, Chris caught us up and passed us:

Yeah, he even looks fast injured, doesn't he?

Wendy quickly outpaced me on the downhill (I was, um, taking it easy on my ankle, yeah, that's right...)

As yo an see, a mix of trail surfaces on the way down as well.

One more pic before Wendy got too far ahead of me:

Finally finished - a total of 6.61 miles for me. Thought about stretching it to 6.66 and calling it the "Run From Hell", but it wasn't actually that bad.

Afterwards, Chris and Dave and I hit up Peg's for some post-run nutrition. I'm sure my breakfast quesadilla had at least twice the calories I burned on the fun, but it sure tasted good...

Western States Lottery

2011-12-12T16:02:00.000-08:00

I'm a couple of days behind on this - the lottery for entry into the Western States 100 was held last Saturday - but just wanted to send out congrats to all the northern Nevada locals whose names were called:

Dave Briggs of Reno
Jennifer Dicus of Sparks
Amber Monforte of Reno
Grae Ven Hooser of Reno
Leslie Wunder of Carson City

Congratulations, happy training, and have a great time out there!

Red-Nosed Run

2011-12-04T12:44:00.001-08:00

Team Library ~~Dork~~ Gimp all managed to get together for a race this morning - First time since Burton Creek at the beginning of the summer, I think. We've all been battling our own injuries and general lameness. This morning, though, everything fell into place, and we met at Reno Running Company to tough out a three miler.

I say tough it out sarcastically, but it actually wasn't easy - the temperature was in the high teens at the start, which made it tough to get going. Dave and Chris went out for a warmup lap, but Amber and I wimped out and sat in the warm-ish car until a few minutes before race start. Personally, I wasn't sure if I was going to make three miles anyway - my last run was a week before, and I had cut it short to 2 1/2 miles anyway. Counting on race adrenaline to get me through this morning.

I couldn't talk Dave and Amber into creeping farther forward in the start gates, so the first bit took some fancy footwork to run around people. Soon settled into a good pace, though - in fact, I'm kind of astonished at the consistency of my splits. 7:45, 7:33 and 7:34 pace for each lap - and the first one had a slow start, as I mentioned.

The course was actually kind of fun, looping through the southeast section of the Summit Sierra parking lot. Uphill out to Mt. Rose Highway, downhill back into the parking lot, and a little uphill at the end and on through to the next lap. If anything, the course was a bit twisty - all those 90 degree turns made running the tangents pretty important. One little kid that I was running near was ignoring the cones and running his own tangents across grass and gravel landscaping. Had to pass him just on principle.

There was a guy dressed as a Santa that I was following for most of the race - through the first and second laps, he was about the same distance in front of me. I started reeling him in at the start of the third lap, and was right behind him with about a third of a mile left - at which point he put on a burst of speed and took off. Didn't realize Santa was sandbagging...

As far as an injury report: my shoulder felt pretty OK with the running - I certainly wasn't pumping my arms hard or anything, but the jostling didn't bother it too much. My left ankle, though - the one that's been the problem - started hurting at about the half mile mark. By the last lap I was able to tune it out, but it hurt the whole time. And now that I'm home, it's getting worse - there's some serious hobbling going on right now. (Well, not RIGHT now - I'm currently set up on the couch with two ice packs, a laptop and some beer).

I slid though the chute and circled around for some finish pics - had to snap a pic of another Santa, and then Amber came through - not sure why she's sticking her tongue out. :) Dave finished in a mess of people, and I couldn't get a shot of him.

TLD reconvened for a group picture:

And then hit the nearby Starbucks for some post-race caffeine and nutrition:

Back to the race start area, and hanging around waiting for the raffle. We thought it was wasted time, but on the LAST number called, Amber won a pair of shoes. She was, um, kind of happy:

Dave and Chris took off, and I went back to RRC to help her pick out a pair of shoes. With the help of store manager Ryan Evans, she ended up with some great Pearl Izumi triathlon shoes. Hopefully she can improve her T2 times next year with these... ;)

Despite my painful run, it was a pretty good morning. Great to see all of TLD together, and hopefully all healing up. Despite the cold temps, had a nice warm feeling this morning.

Results have been posted...

Races this weekend - 12/3-4/11

2011-12-01T08:54:00.001-08:00

I'm sure a lot of people in this area are going to be heading over the hill this weekend, to the California International Marathon in Sacramento. I've been registered for it for months, but won't be going due to injury. Good luck to everyone headed that way, though -

In fact, I'm not even sure if I'm going to be able to make the other race happening in the area - Reno Running Company's Red-Nosed Run. Sounds like it'll be fun, though - three one-mile laps around the Summit Sierra parking lot. I may head down to spectate, even if I don't end up running.

2011 Scheels Turkey Trot

2011-11-25T14:06:00.001-08:00

As one of my "legacy" races - runs that I've done every year since I started running - I couldn't miss the Turkey Trot this year. And since my parents would be in town and wanted to do the walk with the kids, I found myself gingerly lacing up my shoes and strapping myself into my shoulder immobilizer for the first run since my fall a week and a half before.

It was quite a bit warmer that it was for last year's Turkey Trot, when temps were in the teens at the start line. My shorts and a windbreaker turned out to be a little warm during the run, but the walkers were fine in their new red sweatshirts. We milled around for awhile , and the kids were excited to meet the giant turkey.

Some confusion with the start time - it had been scheduled for 8:30, but the announcer kept telling us that they were going to stop taking registrations at 8:30, then start the race at 8:45. Hardly anyone could hear him, though, and the 2 mile walkers (who had their own start line) got antsy and took off at about 8:35. The starter for the runners even got us off a little bit before 8:45, too - 8:37 according to my watch. I know this isn't a completely serious race, but it seems like a race should pick a start time and stick with it...

Since I hadn't run at all wearing my shoulder sling, I was curious to see how it would go. Turned out just fine - a little awkward in the crowds at the start, where I was worried about tripping over someone's feet, but perfectly manageable once things thinned out. My first mile was slow, then I picked it up for a couple miles, and slowed a little for the last two.

And the course was perfect this year! After the 5.8 mile "10K" last year that yielded so many PRs, they figured it out this time. My watch measured exactly 6.2 miles - I usually don't get GPS data that perfect. Good job there, guys.

Saw a few people out on the course - Ryan Evans from ActiveReno, Eric Lerude of the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey, and Page from Twenty-Six And Then Some, in town for the holiday. Didn't get to say hi after the race, unfortunately - I was too slow this time to catch any of you fast people after the race. :)

I did get a good comment from the finish line announcer - said I was hardcore to run in an arm sling - he had almost not showed up that morning because he was having a bad hair day!

Result are posted at ActiveReno - my 52:00 got me 238th place, 45th in my age group. Yikes, last year I was a whole 10 minutes faster. Guess that's what I should expect from it, though.

Ultrarunner manicure kit

2011-11-18T19:24:00.001-08:00

Just had to share this, from the Fail blog:

In fact, I pulled off a toenail with a pair of needlenose pliers just this morning. My kids were fascinated.

Bruise

2011-11-18T13:33:00.001-08:00

Since I didn't include any pictures with the description of my fall on Tuesday, here are a couple of the bruise that's developing on my left arm.

Still can't figure out how that part of my arm managed to impact the sidewalk so hard. Must have been a pretty violent fall; wish I could remember it better -

Another injury update

2011-11-17T07:06:00.001-08:00

Wow, so it's been awhile since I talked about what was going on with my ankle. Short story is: at my most recent physical therapy session, they found a really painful knot of scar tissue deep in my ankle and worked it out. After that, I was able to run a pretty pain-free 4 miler. I followed that up with the "unofficial" Donner Lake Turkey Trot - Since it was cancelled, Gretchen and I did the 7 mile loop around the lake anyway. Ankle was OK there - hurt a little, but never got past a certain point. I was getting kind of excited about running again, and was starting to get a little training plan in my head to get back on track.

So - Tuesday I didn't need to be in to work until 11:15, and figured I'd get a morning run in after dropping off the kids - when it had warmed up a bit and was actually light out. My 5 mile loop backwards sounded like the perfect run - up Keystone, over the top of McCarran, and down 7th St. Everything was going fine; ankle was feeling about like it did up at Donner, and i was just over halfway through the run, going downhill on the inside of McCarran heading towards 7th. There was a crack and raised area of the sidewalk that I didn't see at all, and I apparently caught my right toe on it and went down hard. Honestly, it happened so fast I'm not quite sure which way I fell - just felt a crack that I think was my neck. I canted a bit to the left and ended up rolling about 15 feet down the embankment, coming to rest in some fluffy bushes. And no, none of the cars driving by stopped to see if I was OK.

Trying to pick myself up, I immediately knew something was wrong with my left shoulder. Managed to drag myself back up to the sidewalk, where my water bottle and glasses landed. (Good thing my glasses stayed up there, I wouldn't have been able to find them in the dirt.) I started walking home - about a mile and a half down King's Row - and took stock as I went. Couldn't really move or hold anything with my left arm. Hmm. Fortunately, I had my cell phone with me - I don't usually carry it, but I was testing out a GPS app - so I called my wife, my work to let them know I wouldn't be in, and my doctors office for an appointment.

After a painful change of clothes and awkward shower, I waited around at the doctor's office, then got x-rays. Filled prescriptions for pain meds and picked up a "shoulder immobilizer." Spent the rest of the day loopy on the couch, tweeting on a laptop and watching old episodes of Top Gear. Heard back from the doctor the next day - no break visible on the x-rays. I'll let it rest this weekend and go back in Monday to talk about whether I should see an orthopedist, get an MRI or CT scan, or what. Meanwhile, I have a nasty bruise forming right on the meaty part of my left bicep - weird place to get a bruise from the sidewalk. And I'm back at work - only at about 60% efficiency with my left arm immobilized, but getting stuff done.

So, yeah - be careful out there, people. And if you see a runner take a digger by the side of the road, stop and ask if they're OK, huh?

Donner Turkey Trot cancelled

2011-11-10T18:17:00.001-08:00

Well, that's 7 miles I'm not gonna get in this weekend...

Sorry to announce that

The 2011 Donner Lake Turkey Trot Event has been

CANCELLED

Due to safety concerns of slippery roads
We hope to run it gain in 2012

Turkey Trot season

2011-11-10T15:47:00.001-08:00

Well, it appears it's about that time of the year again - early November, time to break out the gloves, hats and tights and start thinking about Turkey Trots. As far as I can see, there are ~~four~~ five of them going on in the Reno/Tahoe/Carson area in the next few weeks:

Sunday, November 13

Donner Lake Turkey Trot
35th annual this year, a fun and funky family friendly run that includes a "Mashed Potato Mile" for the kids in addition to the 7 mile loop around Donner Lake.

HAS BEEN CANCELLED! Please see following post.

Saturday, November 19

Cold Turkey Run
The first event in the Winter Trail Series, put on by Ascent Physical Therapy down in Carson City. If the course is the same as last year, it's a great trail run on the side of Prison Hill, using some of the trails from the Escape from Prison Hill. Fun group and a great area to run.

Families First of the Sierra Turkey Trail Trot 5K/10K
The first year of this event, up in Cold Springs. The description says "Both the 5K and 10K are out and back courses. Trails consist of sand, rocks, hills and possibly mud and snow. Race will take place in rain, snow or shine!" Sounds like a blast!

Thursday, November 24

Scheels/City of Sparks Turkey Trot
Always popular event, now run out of the Scheels parking lot instead of starting at the Sparks Marina. "Throw your turkey in the oven and head out to Legends to participate in a 2–mile walk or run (non–timed) or a 10K run (timed). The registration fee includes a sweatshirt, fruit and refreshments."

Kaia F.I.T. Gratitude Gallop
"Minden/Carson Kaia F.I.T. are hosting their 2nd Annual Gratitude Gallop on 11/24/11! There will be a 5k and a 10k, and ALL proceeds will benefit the organization Food For Thought, which discreetly provides food to hungry and malnourished children in our community so they can have meals over the weekend when school meals aren't available. Please bring any child-friendly items to donate! Get the turkey & fixings going early, than come out & get your early morning workout done!"

Anything is Possible 5K

2011-11-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

So last night was the Anything is Possible 5K up at UNR. I blogged about this one coming up a couple weeks ago; it's the one that takes place during the Daylight Saving Time switch over (the "fall back") - so that every time should be a negative time. For example, if you started at 1:50 AM, the clocks lose an hour at 2:00 AM, and you run a 30 minute 5K, you'll finish at 1:20 - half an hour before you started! Or something like that...

At any rate, I picked up my bib and t-shirt at the Little Waldorf around 9:30, then went home and set the alarm on my phone for 1:00 AM. At some point during the night, I rolled over and picked it up to take a look, and it said 12:59 - wow, perfect timing! I got up, figuring I had plenty of time to get over to the university, when I saw that our wall clock said 1:35! Somehow my phone froze at 12:59 - good thing I woke up. Threw my gear on, got out to the car (forgetting my camera, so no pictures) and over to UNR to park and get to the start line with about 3 minutes to spare. Didn't even have a chance to get cold before we started running.

And it WAS cold - mid 30s and snowing a bit at the start. But we all warmed up with a quick jaunt uphill before turning and bombing downhill toward the quad. We saw the leaders heading back up the hill before we split off to do a lap around the quad - they were blazing fast! Then we made the turn and crawled up a few sets of hills before passing the stadium and turning into the finish.

I managed to not embarrass myself despite my lack of training, finishing with about 22:20. It looked like that was about 23rd overall, and a 4th place age group. The new insoles I'm trying out, with some posting on the left foot to try to help my ankle, didn't really help - and gave me a decent blister as well. Gonna have to do a little work on those.

Post-race, most of the runners moved over to the Little Wal for complimentary breakfast burritos and cocoa. Hit the spot pretty well at that point. I can't speak for the rest of the crowd, but I took myself home pretty quick and tried to get back to sleep. Another really fun run in the bag.

I hope they do this race again next year - what a great way to mark the changing of the clocks.

Results have been posted. Looks like thanks to 25-39 age groups, I got 11th instead of 4th. Ouch! But, wow - with the walk and the run together, there were more than 200 people out there. Impressive showing!

Reno 5000 Trick or Treat 5K

2011-10-31T06:56:00.000-07:00

Somehow, I managed to get the whole family out for this one - my kids seemed pretty excited by the whole thing. They ran their first "kids run", a half mile out-and-back course, and then trick-or treated the booths with my wife while I did the 5K, a couple laps around the GSR.

Here we are beforehand - Spider-girl and Lt. Commander Data (hence the expressionless face.) I recycled my Magnum P.I. costume from Tough Mudder a couple years ago.

The kids race went off first, and it was hard to pick them out in the pack of colorful costumes. Barely got a shot of them over someone's shoulder.

Around the four minute mark, the kid's winners came blazing back down the chute:

And another minute or so and my two came through. Data there had to put on a burst of speed to stay in front of his sister.

After the finish, though, he laid right down on the ground. Had to get him back up and keep walking around. He apparently wasn't tired enough to break character for a photo, though...

It was finally getting dark by the time the 5K headed out, and we followed a line of plastic pumpkins and volunteers dressed as zombies for a couple laps around the Grand Sierra Resort. Got some funny looks from people at the driving range the first time by, but the were used to us on the second lap. I started back in the pack at the start, so got to pass a bunch of people on the first lap, then settled in for the second one.

It probably wasn't a great idea to push it as hard as I did, on the little running I've been doing - definitely felt a little headachey and off afterwards. But my ankle seemed to hold up - although that may have just been the adrenaline of being in a race environment. I'll test it out further later this week. Finished around 22:15 - I didn't wear my watch, and it was chip timed, so still awaiting results.

Fun race all-around, though - Reno 5000 puts on a good show. I think the turnout was around 800 people, and easily more than half of those were in costume. The kids loved their first half miler, and enjoyed the trick-or-treating at the sponsor booths afterwards. Great job everyone!

Results have been posted. Looks like they clocked me at 22:09, which put me in 25th place and an age group 3rd. Too bad we didn't stick around for awards. I hope they post the kids race times, I'd love to show them their names. Again, congrats to all -

Winter Trail Series back for 2011-12

2011-10-27T17:17:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone - remember the Winter Trail Series down in Carson City that kept me blogging through last winter? It looks like they're doing it again - same five races, and looks like a similar format all around. Fun group, great trails, and an excuse to keep in shape over the winter - what more could you ask for? More info is available at Ascent Physical Therapy's website, and I've got all the races on my calendar, but just for the record, they are:

Nov. 19, 2011 - Cold Turkey Run
Dec. 10, 2011 - Running With Rudolph
Jan. 14, 2012 - Centennial Slug It Out
Feb. 11, 2012 - Love Can Be Cold
Mar. 10, 2012 - Wa-shoe(s) After Run

Those are all on Saturdays, and all those links go to my race reports from last year - so you can get an idea of the courses. So get some of these on your calendar, and we'll see you out there!

Nevada Day/Halloween weekend events - Oct. 29-31, 2011

2011-10-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

Some fun stuff going on over the long weekend here, starting with:

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Nevada Day Classic Run/Walk
Carson City, NV
"The event will feature 8-kilometer and 2-mile runs and 2-mile walk through the city's historical district, all starting from the corner of Telegraph and Curry streets, across the street from the Carson Nugget."

8K starts at 8:15, the 2 milers at 8:25.

Sponsored by the Carson Nugget, Ascent Physical Therapy, CV Sports, Dutch Brothers and Round Runners Club of America, and benefitting the Special Olympics.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Reno 5000 Trick-or-Treat 5K run & Jr. 1/2 mile

Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, NV

"Dress in costume for the 2nd Annual RENO 5000 "Trick-or-Treat" 5K Run/Walk and Haunted 1/2 Mile Dash! Run/Walk and Haunted 1/2 Mile Dash!
Run the haunted RENO 5000 5K course completely on the GSR property (safe for families with children). There will be an expo and FREE post-race food for all participants from PF Chang's, U-Swirl, Nothing Bundt Cakes and free beer & wine from L'uva Bella Wine Gallery! Exciting post-race fun including "Trick-or-Treating" at the Sponsor Booths and a Costume Contest for all Participants with lots of Raffle Prizes! All ½ Mile Dash participants will receive a finisher award. The top 3 in each age category in the 5K will be awarded with special light-up trophies! (From the event e-mail.)

New Balance Girls on the Run 5K and 10K
Truckee, CA
Show your support for the Sierra chapter of Girls on the Run by participating in a fun 5K/10K up in Truckee. 10K starts at 9:30, 5K at 10:00.

Weekend events, Oct 22-23 2011

2011-10-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

Just one race going on in the area, that I can find this weekend - the Series Championship of the Reno 5000 5K series. Now, you can't just go run in it - you would have had to qualify for it - but they've also got another option. They're running a 15K "Oktoberfest" race at the same time. There's also a 2 mile "fun walk" as well. And, it looks like, beer and brats afterward. So whether you want to watch the fast guys take on the 5K or get a longer run in yourself, you've got no excuses now...

Reno Running Company

2011-10-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to drop in on the newest running store in town - Reno Running Company, located in the Summit Sierra Mall at the south end of town. The new store was opened by local triathlete Matt Balzer, and is patterned on the popular and successful Boulder Running Company stores in Colorado.

The store is set in the middle of the Summit complex, kind of in between the main strip mall and the movie theater area. It's easily identifiable, and there's a small parking lot out front as well as a larger one in back.

They're still building up their stock, but already have a nice selection of mens and womens clothing, triathlon gear, hydration packs and bottles, and all the other running accessories. Oh, and of course shoes -

They've also got a nice selection of minimalist shoes; in their own section -

A great feature of the store which I didn't have the opportunity to test out is the two treadmills they have for testing out shoes. These are both fitted with some video capabilities (the screens behind them) to assess peoples strides and foot strikes. Pretty cool, and I can't wait to take advantage of that technology at some point.

So, definitely worth a visit. The store's website isn't quite up and running, but they are pretty active on their Facebook page, so check them out there.

Upcoming Race - Anything is Possible 5K

2011-10-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

Last year around this time, I suggested that people use their "fall back" hour from the Daylight Saving switch to do something healthy, like go run. This year, there's an even better option - do a race!

The Anytime Fitness Anything is Possible 5K is going to be put on Sunday, Novermber 6, 2011 - at 1:50 AM. That's just before the time that the clock switch is supposed to happen - so really, the whole race will happen during that extra hour that doesn't really exist. This will allow everyone to run a negative time - if you run your 5K in 25 minutes, say, you'll start at 1:50 and finish at 1:15!

The UNR campus will be the setting of the race, with the start and finish near Mackay Stadium. The course heads up to the north side of campus before heading south, looping around the quad, then back north to the stadium. Across the street, the Little Waldorf Saloon will host both the packet pickup and breakfast after the race.

There are also Anything is Possible races going on in Seattle, Denver, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Virginia Beach, Nashville, Austin, and Viera, Florida, at the same time. The director of the local race is Eric Lerude (who puts on the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey) so you know it's going to be a quality event. The race series has two national charities and a local one that it benefits. Nationally, it benefits Team Red White and Blue and Hope For The Warriors. The local charity for the Reno event is the Nevada Military Support Alliance.

Events for this weekend, 10/8-9/11

2011-10-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

A few things going on in the area on what looks to be a nice fall weekend:

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Bizz Johnson Express Half Marathon
Susanville, CA
Follows the second half of the Bizz Johnson Marathon, run on Sunday. After being bused to a remote start, you'll run all downhill back towards Susanville on the converted railway grade.

Cancer Firkin Sucks 5K
Carson City, NV
A flat course around old Carson City, this 5K starts and finishes at the Firkin & Fox. Benefiting the Pink Totties, "Saving lives one tottie at a time." Um, whatever that means. Read about it on their page...

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Bizz Johnson Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K
Susanville, CA
The main race day, featuring an overall downhill marathon, and an out-and back half marathon and 10K. On the gentle packed dirt trail of the Bizz Johnson trail system.

Run Ed Run 5K
Minden, NV
Sounds like a fun 5K out in Minden also this weekend, a fundraiser for the Douglas County Education Foundation. Take a look, smaller 5K are a fun time and a great place for a PR or an age group win...

Oktoberfest Trail Run

2011-10-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday was the Oktoberfest Trail Run - the final event in Big Blue Adventure's series of runs this summer, and a return to the same course that the Run to Squaw was held on in June. For that race, I had the company of Team Library Dork members Chris and Dave, but they are both pretty severely gimped out at this point, so I was running solo. My mom happened to be in town, though, and she brought my kids along and took most of the pictures here. Thanks, Grandma Gail!

We got the kids up early enough to make it up to Squaw, pick up the race packet, and get down to the start line at Commons Beach in Tahoe City. (The same place that the Tahoe Marathon had started just 6 days before - kind of weird being back there so soon.) There si a nice little playground there, so the kids were happy playing while I did a couple short warm-ups. Felt pretty good, ankle and cal not bothering me too much.

Race briefings, etc. and we were off:

Almost immediately out of the gate, my ankle started hurting. It had behaved pretty well through the Tahoe Marathon, although I think I was favoring it, which in turn make my calf do some pretty awful cramping. Similarly today, once I felt the ankle starting in, I adjusted somehow, and started feeling my calf as well. Nice.

But within half a mile, I had fallen into fourth place, with third way ahead of me. I could hear a couple people behind me for awhile, but they eventually dropped back. On one short little switchback section that got us up onto Hwy. 89, I could see how far back they were - close enough that I was worried about it for the rest of the race. That one switchback, by the way, was the only change in the course from the Run to Squaw, and it was a good one - it eliminated a dangerous crossing of the busy road.

(Race photos available from Lefrak Photography)

Making the turn into Squaw, my mom and the kids were waiting to cheer me on. I was glad to toss them my gloves, as it had warmed up more than I had anticipated. I then watched my mile splits climb as the elevation also climbed slightly. Again; worried about the people creeping up behind me.

As I made the turn into the Squaw parking lot, maybe 600M from the finish, I finally risked a look behind me - and didn't see anyone. That was a relief - I didn't have to push too hard up the final hill into the little mountain village and the finish line.

Stopped my watch at 55:38. Official race time was 55:46 - close enough. Funny, there was about a minute separating each person, first through fifth. Congratulated the race winner, Chris Barber, and then threw some sweatpants on and hung out for awhile.

Apparently my daughter likes taking pictures of dogs.

At the low-key awards ceremony, I picked up a 2nd place pint glass to go with the clutch of 3rd place ones I've collected this year (I had a 2nd Age Group at the Run to the Beach, but had to hurry out of there before the awards.) Then the did the series awards, and I was surprised to hear them call my name. I had figured that Chris Barber had overtaken me on this race with his win. In fact, he had, but since the series prize (a pair of Salomons) was the same as the prize for winning today's race, apparently he was OK with letting the series prize go my way. Thanks, Chris - owe you a beer sometime.

All in all, a fun end to a good series of races. Thanks to the Big Blue crew for all the work they put into the series. You guys earned a few months off. Although I hear you're planning some snowshoe races this winter...

Events this weekend - 10/1-2/11

2011-09-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Only a couple of races in the area this weekend, but they're pretty good ones -

Saturday, October 1st, 2011

Oktoberfest Trail Run
Tahoe City to Squaw Valley
Following the same course as the Run To Squaw did back in June, this is the final run in the Big Blue trail series. Less of a trail run than a bike path run, but it's a beautiful location, and a fun ending in the alpine village at Squaw. Also coincides with the Oktoberfest, so enjoy a beer and brat after the finish if you're so inclined.

Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

Kokanee Trail Runs
5K, 10K and Half Marathon
This has been one of my favorite fall races over the years - I've done the half marathon a couple times and the 10K twice as well. A great course starting on road and then transitioning onto some great trails around Fallen Leaf Lake, and for some reason always interesting weather. I've run this in both rain and snow, and this year looks like it might be a bit dicey as well. There's also an Oktoberfest event at nearby Camp Richardson after this race, as well as the whole associated Kokanee festival.

Lake Tahoe Marathon - 2011

2011-09-26T08:11:00.001-07:00

This was my fifth straight year of running the Lake Tahoe Marathon. 2007-2011.

This year, I finally beat the time I put down my first year at it. But it hurt.

Here's the run-down:
2007 - 3:54:14
2008 - 4:24:32
2009 - 3:56:02
2010 - 4:44:22
2011 - 3:41:16 (my watch time)

Funny. Good year, bad year, good year... Kind of reminds me of the Star Trek movies, where every other one is either great or a bomb. Ah, Wrath of Khan...

But I digress.

It was an early morning. While Tahoe seems like kind of a "local" race for Reno. it's kind of a pain to get up there. I woke up at 3:45, had a quick bowl of granola and a banana while I made some tea, did a couple of last-minute things, and was driving away by 4:15. That got me up to the Horizon Casino in Stateline in time to catch the 6:00 shuttle bus that took me around the east side of the lake to Tahoe City, where the start line is.

Despite the warning email that it would be cold at the start (near 34 degrees, it said) it was actually pleasant. That is, until the sun went behind a cloud and the wind kicked up. But that didn't happen too often. Looked like a great day to race.

Eventually we were called to the start by the bagpiper ( I liked it better when he was stationed at the top of the "Hill from Hell"), did the national anthem, and were started off by RD Les Wright and his shotgun. Always a bit of a bottleneck getting out of the Commons Beach area and up onto the road, but we all made it and were on our way. So this was our view starting out:

The early miles rolled along uneventfully. I was trying to keep my pace around 8:00 miles, but it kept creeping down - every time a second clicked off my cumulative pace readout on my watch, I cringed. I think the lowest it got was 7:48, and after a couple small hills, I hit the halfway mark with my average pace right around 7:50.

There were some characters out running this year. This guy was, apparently, " Endorphin Dude." He was either a tripler (3 marathons in 3 days) or a super tripler ( marathon, marathon, 72 mile ultra); not sure which.

And THIS guy. From what the announcer at the start line said, this patriotic ultramarathoner decided to forgo even the flag Speedo while it was still dark out, and run in the altogether. Glad he A) didn't get arrested and B) put something on before I saw him. Booty shorts indeed.

Not too long after the halfway point is when the hills start. There are a a few little rollers before you get to the Hill from Hell, which climbs from near lake level (6200 feet) to 6900. It was my goal to run all the hills this year - just put my head down, shorten my stride, and grind up them. Didn't quite happen. I made it pretty far, but there was a point at which I just had to stop running - took a 30 stride walk break, and wow did my legs feel weird. I think I took 3 of those little breaks on my way up that hill.

The course then does a few little rolls before a nice, scenic descent into Emerald Bay. Tried to hold some speed on the downhill there without trashing my quads. Then there's a short but STEEP uphill out of Emerald Bay - took the same 30 stride walk breaks on that, right from the start. But after that, you're rewarded with a scenic, winding downhill.

After you bottom out of that downhill, there are still 4-5 miles to go. This has always been the hardest part of the race for me, and this year was no different. After transitioning from the road onto a bike path, for some reason I lose motivation. I think it was with about 3 miles to go that I took my first little walk break. Didn't help that the guy in front of me was doing the same - we leapfrogged each other for a while doing that. But finally we passed Camp Richardson, made the turn into Pope Beach, and were on the home stretch.

At that point, I knew I wasn't going to break 3:30, or even 3:40, for that matter. Didn't care, I just wanted to get done, hear my name announced at the finish, and go jump in the lake. But about 200 feet before the finish I heard footsteps behind me, and someone blazed past - the half marathon winner blew by me and upstaged my finish. It was actually kind of funny - he was Japanese, came over from Tokyo, and had a name that the announcer tripped over a few times. So I didn't get announced through the line, but that was OK - after I stopped my watch, someone handed me a little blue slip that was my claim to pick up a top 25 finisher windshirt. Getting one of those had kind of been my secret goal for the race, outside of any time goal.

So I hobbled over and picked up my drop bag, then made my way back toward the finish line to try to catch Gretchen coming through. I had seen her briefly at the start, where she showed up with about 4 minutes to spare and spent that whole time dispensing hugs to everyone. Although she was introduced as a previous champion, she wasn't going after it this year. I botched the picture of her coming toward me in the finish chute, but managed to get this. Sorry, Gretchen, another picture of your butt...

I was getting weirdly emotional at this point - kept having little moments of being choked up and wanting to cry. Forestalled that by going for a soak in the lake. A guy that was coming out from having a dip told me that it was "really cold, but worth it." In fact, it wasn't all that cold (for Tahoe) and I spent about 10 minutes standing in it before I dove in to rinse off. Funny thing about doing the little standing-in-the-water dive-under thing - in order to come back up, you kind of arch your back and point your toes. Well, when I did that, both calves cramped up big-time. Spent a couple of minutes trying to get them back to the point where I could walk back up to the beach. Finally made it; got changed and grabbed some food - post-race hot dog, banana, cookies and stuff.

I kept checking back to the board where they had some results posted to see if the marathon results were up, but there was nothing. Finally, I found the awards table and asked them about it - apparently the computer had frozen and they were trying to get it fixed. Waited around for awhile to see if I had placed in my age group, but eventually gave up and wandered off to the shuttles.

Gretchen and I with our top 25 windshirts - and post-race hair.

After such an early morning, and a hard race, it was an interesting drive back to Reno. I made it thanks to a can of Starbucks Doubleshot Mocha and a CD of punk covers of 80's hits that I unearthed from somewhere in my car. Lots of singing along on the way home. I celebrated with a Full Sail bourbon barrel aged imperial stout, and a trip with the family to our local sushi spot.

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Race results showed up this morning - looks like they clocked me at 3:42:44, over a minute and a half slower than the time on my watch. That's kind of disappointing, but I guess it's now my "official" marathon PR. Just as well that I didn't wait around for awards any longer, because I ended up fifth in the male 35-39 age group. Funny, that time would've got me second in the 30-34 group, and third in the 40-44 bracket. Oh well. 14th overall, which I'm pretty ecstatic about.

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And it looks like the results have been tweaked slightly - that or I was completely looking at something wrong yesterday. Now they've got me at 3:41:12, which is much closer to my watch time.

Weekend events 9/24-25/11

2011-09-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

LOTS of stuff going on this weekend.

First, it's Lake Tahoe Marathon week. That means all sorts of events, starting tomorrow, Thursday 9/22. Here's a basic schedule of the running events - leaving out the swimming, biking and kayaking events:

Thursday, 9/22 - 9 AM - Speed Golf at Tahoe Paradise Golf Course
Thursday, 9/22 - 10 PM - First leg of the Double Dare (two 72 mile loops of the lake)
Friday, 9/23 - 7:15 AM - Emerald Bay Marathon and Half Marathon (first leg of the Tahoe Triple)
Saturday, 9/24 - 7:45 AM - Cal-Neva Marathon and Tahoe Nevada Half Marathon (second leg of the Triple)
Saturday, 9/24 - 10 PM - Tahoe 72 and 50 milers
Sunday, 9/25 - 6:30 AM - Marathon walkers
Sunday, 9/25 - 8 AM - Marathon & 20 miler
Sunday, 9/25 - 8:30 AM - 5K
Sunday, 9/25 - 9:30 AM - 10K
Sunday, 9/25 - 10:20 AM - Half Marathon

Yeah, I don't know how they keep it all straight either. I'm lucky to make it to the start of the marathon on time.

Also this weekend -

Friday and Saturday, in Rancho San Rafael, will be the 5K Foam Fest! Wish I could do this, it looks like fun. A series of obstacles, including crawling under stuff, through foam pits, and through a squirt gun barrage.

Also on Saturday is the Battle of the Rattle - a mix of road and trail 5K running up Rattlesnake Mountain in south Reno. This one always seems to have a fast field, and looks like fun - I wonder if you have to run back down afterwards, too?

Sunday brings us the Northern Nevada American Heart Walk and run in Sparks, out in front of Scheels. There's a 5 or 10K option for the run, which goes off at 9 AM, well before the 10 AM walk.

And if you're looking for a trail run on Sunday, there's the Desert Dash 5K/10K starting out at the Golden Eagle Park area in deep Sparks. This one benefits the Susan G. Komen for the Cure charity, and looks like a good way to explore some new trails out there.

Injury update and race goals

2011-09-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks for everyone's concern about my leg/ankle issue - just wanted to give a little update here. I told most of the story a couple weeks ago, in posts here and here. The basic recap of those is that my lower left leg started hurting, I rested it for about 5 days, tried running again, and it still hurt. Saw my doctor and had an x-ray which didn't show the stress fracture that I had feared.

After that there was nothing to do but rest it more. So I did that - for two weeks, even skipping the Lake of the Sky trail marathon which I had already registered for (my first DNS!) Unfortunately, I didn't do it very smart - I should have switched to some cross-training and continued all my core workouts. What I did do was absolutely nothing - and the fact that I allowed myself the luxury of a couple beers most nights meant I put some weight back on over those two weeks.

At any rate, last week I did a couple of test runs - 3 miles Wednesday and 5 miles Friday - on which the leg felt absolutely fine. That set me up to do the Emerald Bay Trail Run on Sunday, a 7+ miler that went pretty well. I thought I felt a couple twinges from the ankle near the end, but it wasn't bad at all.

So this week is technically the taper week for the Lake Tahoe Marathon, but I'm using it as a "get back into the swing of it" week. I had some easy intervals (8 x 2:00) on Tuesday, and easy half hour this morning, another 30 minutes plus strides tomorrow, and a really easy keep-'em-loose run on Saturday. So far between yesterday and today, I've been able to feel the leg ankle pain slightly more each day. This despite the treatments I've been giving it.

I haven't been icing it - my doctor didn't think that would be helpful, but I may start up again. I've been using arnica gel on it, at the suggestion of my mother, although I don't have a lot of faith in it. Ibuprofen does help when it's feeling sore. And this morning I tried some KT Tape, in a shin splint wrap, to see if that would make any difference. Didn't seem to this morning, but I'll try the wrap again a little more aggressively tomorrow morning.

So what does that mean for the Lake Tahoe Marathon this weekend? This was really my goal race for the year, what I've been training for over the past 10 months.Before this injury, my goal for the run would have been to run under 3:30, and hopefully to finish in the men's top 25 and pick up one of those ridiculous yellow finisher windshirts. To do that, I was going to try to run the first half in under 1:40, around 7:30 pace - then slow on the hills and pick back up for the last 5 miles. I had been feeling pretty good about that plan, but don't think I'm up for it now. My adjusted plan calls for starting out in the 8:00 per mile range, doing what I can on the hills, and seeing how the last section shakes out. Hoping I don't turn this into a sufferfest, like it has been a couple of years. I have a feeling I may be suffering differently by the end of it - but we'll see.

Addendum: Thinking about this while running this morning - I'd kind of just like to PR on Sunday. As my marathon PR is on the Tahoe Marathon course, and is 3:54:14 (from all the way back in 2007), I'm pretty confident that I can do it. I mean, three weeks ago I was fairly sure I could run near 3:30 on this course. But at any rate, I may take it even easier in the early miles to make sure I don't blow up later and miss a chance for a marathon PR to add to my 5K, 10K and half marathon bests this year.