Tales of Endurance

Wasatch Backcountry Photos January - February 2013

2013-03-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

January & February in the Wasatch Backcountry... on skis, and foot.

I spent the day with the Director of the Utah Avalanche Center for a piece I wrote for Mountain Magazine called "Never Go First".

The Crowbar SkiMo Race Women's Podium: Emily Sullivan 3rd, Emily Brackelsberg 2nd, Gemma Arro Ribot 1st

Diggin Pits

Reynolds Peak with a bunch of top cyclists.

Coming off Grandeur Peak after a fresh foot of new.

Love this ridge.

Dedicated to this bike commuting thing.

This is good summary of my January and February. I must apologize, I think I took more photos of the smog in these two months than than anything else.

Annual Coaching Endurance UltraRunning Video 2012

2013-03-12T00:48:00.003-07:00

In order of appearance: Ellen Parker, Justin Angle, Karl Meltzer, Ben Lewis, Christian Johnson, Greg Norrander, Dave Hayes, Roch Horton, Matt Hart, Jared Campbell, Chad Brackelsberg, Emily Brackelsberg, Catherine Mataisz, 2012 Barkley Marathons Start, Sarah Dyer, Walter Edwards, Evan Honeyfield, 2012 start of the Speedgoat 50km, Max King, Bethany Lewis, Sean Meissner, Anna Frost, Brett Maune, Finish-line of the Barkley Marathon.

A Life's List by Hitch

2013-02-17T17:58:00.000-08:00

Slim Is Simple.org - Non-Profit Nutrition Educational Effort

2013-02-10T10:47:00.002-08:00

This is good...

Wasatch PowderKeg 2013

2013-02-02T07:04:00.000-08:00

The 11th annual Wasatch Powder Keg backcountry race will be held on March 8, 9, and 10 at Brighton Ski Resort. The Powder Keg is a test of speed, strength, and endurance for any backcountry skier. This year will feature 3 races and racers have the option of doing any individual race or all 3 races.

Friday will be a Sprint race followed by the mandatory pre-race meeting for the Saturday and Sunday races. Saturday will be the traditional Powder Keg race. As always, the race will have captivating views of Heber Valley, Mt Nebo, Mt Timpanogos, and the Cottonwood Canyons. The race and heavy metal divisions will cover 11 miles and have 6 climbs for a little over 6,000’ of climbing. Any racer with a ski/binding weight of 1,450g (51oz) or less, must race the Race division. The Recreational division will cover 6.5 miles and have 4 climbs for 3,500’ of climbing. All divisions will have categories for male/female.

Sunday will be a technical teams race (teams of 2). The course will be similar to the Powder Keg course with additional climbs and 1 or 2 technical roped sections requiring racers to user some combination of harness, crampons, ascenders, and via ferrata kit. The technical teams race will have 1 division with categories for male/female.

There will be a BBQ, awards ceremony, and raffle following the Saturday and Sunday races at the Milly Chalet. For registration or more details see www.wasatchpowderkeg.com.

What I Read: Gordo Byrn

2013-01-23T06:48:00.000-08:00

Someone who doesn't read gets about the same education as someone who can't. Where you get your information seems of vital importance to how you see the world. We are bombarded with information, and misinformation all day long. I'm fascinated by how people wade through the deluge, when and where they consume, and how they structure their work-life around it. TheAtlanticWire has this wonderful series called Media Diet that I read religiously. They focus on the reading habits of "prominent figures in media, entertainment, politics, the arts, and the literary world". I'm going to steal this idea from them, however my focus will be on prominent figures in athletics, nutrition, and health.

This essay is from Gordo Byrn. Gordo is the author of "Going Long" and the founder of Endurance Corner LLC. He lives in Boulder, CO with his family and three kids. In addition to his athletic writing, he publishes a personal blog that covers his interests outside of triathlon. ~ Matt Hart

The toughest part of improving my information flow has been breaking my habit of reading low value sources. It’s been a five-year journey and I’ll start by sharing how that process went.

The first source of information that I cut out was web forums that allow anonymous posting. First, and foremost, anonymous sites promote hate and ignorance. Second, “experts” in these environments are noted for their frequency of posting, negativity and strength of message. Because of the negativity associated with most forums, this was an easy adjustment. I’ve been off these sites for more than five years.

Last January, I experimented with dropping Facebook. Initially for a month, and then permanently. Facebook makes me think that I’m more important than reality and the constant look-at-me postings clutter my thinking.

Most recently, I dropped all web media - sites like the NY Times, Google News, Wall Street Journal and The Economist. This was far tougher because I tell myself that I need to be informed to make good decisions. I looked deeply into that assumption and discovered that there are only a couple of decisions (per year) that matter. The big stories, and trends, that will impact these decisions get through my media filter. As well, most current media targets fear or appeal to sexual desire. I don’t need to enhance those traits.

So what do I read?

I like Twitter, but not so I can see what my friends ate for breakfast. Rather, I use my feed as a media filter. Worldwide trends let me know if any big stories break and I follow Alan Couzens as he retweets anything that’s noteworthy in sports performance. I’ve been experimenting with my number of follows (0-100 in the last year). Right now I’m at ten follows and that seems about right.

The purpose of “not-reading” and limiting flow is to create space for what I want to read. In the fall and winter, I read good books, nearly always non-fiction. Most my reading falls into these themes:

History (Running with the Legends)
Behavioral Psychology (Influence by Cialdini)
Classic Reference Material (Lore of Running, Running the Lydiard Way, Daniels Running Method)

To have the time to read, then consider, important titles means that I have to say “no” to many sources of noise. Writing daily and reading a dozen good books per annum requires constantly pruning the flow. A good example being email. My default action is delete/unsubscribe and I try to reply as if I’ve received a text message.

As a coach, my most valuable information comes directly from the athletes on our team. There is the objective feedback of workout data (I use Training Peaks to track) as well as the subjective feedback of how they are feeling and coping.

I’m at the stage now where I’ve worked with hundreds of different athletes and those case studies form a rich background of experience. For new coaches, I recommend that you improve yourself, then help others that are similar to you, then branch out to athletes that are different from you. You’ll learn far more from the practical application of coaching than reading theory or debating with ill-informed strangers.

In seeking good information remember that the best practitioners, in every area, are working in the field, rather than publishing. You can get around this by asking coaches that you respect for their best books on a subject of interest. As a novice coach, Scott Molina recommended many great books for me. Get the top titles from people you respect and make time to study.

Place the greatest emphasis on “old” sources of information. Advice that remains true after more than 25 years is most likely to be useful. With a young sport, like triathlon, almost everything “new” will fall away over the next three seasons.

Finally, if you are feeling overwhelmed then making time to sit still for 10-15 minutes per day goes a long way towards clearing mental clutter.

When more ceases to work, start to focus on less.

Endurance Corner's founder, Author, & Coach Gordo Byrn: "What I Read" essay @EnduranceCorner

Others from the Media Diet: What I Read Series

Alex Hutchinson
Runner's World Sweat Science, National Magazine Award recipient for Science Journalism

Matt Hart
Endurance Coach, Athlete and Writer

Dr. Ben Lewis
UltraRunner, Doctor and Banjo Player

The Problem with Wheat

2013-01-17T16:29:00.003-08:00

In my job as the "coach" in Trail Runner Magazine I have the great pleasure to communicate with top scientists, sports royalty, and the authors of the books I read. Some very famous and more importantly smart people actually talk to me, mostly because I write for a national magazine.

Cardiologist, and New York Times best selling author of "Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health", Dr William Davis was an expert for a question in my column about wheat. His full response was worth sharing here... so here it is.
"It's not just every runner who has a problem with wheat, but every human has problems. And it is not just about gluten. Let me explain.

In the 1960s and 1970s, efforts to increase the yield of wheat via a variety of genetic techniques resulted in the creation of an 18-inch tall high-yield, "semi-dwarf" strain that boosted yields by up to 10-fold. But the changes introduced for increased yield resulted in changes in many other genetic and biochemical characteristics of the plant.

One protein that has undergone extensive change is gliadin. In addition to causing mind "fog," addictive relationships with food, and appetite-stimulation, it is a highly inflammatory protein. Research at the University of Maryland, for instance, demonstrates that gliadin opens the normal intestinal barriers to foreign substances in the intestinal tract and thereby leads to inflammation of many organs, including joints. This is at least part of the explanation for why wheat consumption is associated with autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Hashimoto's thyroiditism.

There's also wheat germ agglutinin. In addition to causing direct bowel toxicity that can be experienced as acid reflux or bowel urgency, it also gains access to the bloodstream and inflames joints, causing joint stiffness and pain.

Then there's amylopectin A, the "complex" carbohydrate unique to wheat that acts more like a simple sugar like sucrose, sending blood sugar sky-high after just 2 slices of whole wheat bread. High blood sugars cause an irreversible change to the proteins of the body called "glycation." The proteins of the cartilage of your joints, such as knees, hips, and back, undergo glycation, making cartilage stiff and brittle, leading to cartilage erosion and, eventually, arthritis.

That's just a sample of what modern semi-dwarf wheat, the creation of genetics research, can do to humans, runners included. So it is no surprise that, by eliminating wheat, you felt better in a number of ways. The key: No human should be consuming this product of genetics research, else you pay a substantial health price. Because runners are among the healthiest of people, given their devotion to exercise and health, elimination of wheat is among the most powerful strategies to adopt for overall health and performance.

Bill"

An interview on CBS with Dr. Davis.

Wasatch Backcountry Photos - December 2012

2012-12-30T20:21:00.000-08:00

December, in the Wasatch Backcountry... on skis.

Can I ski more than a three year old? I hope so, but the running joke has been that I am being handily beaten by Ann and Andy's three year old daughter for days on skis. I may have gotten a late start, but I'm making up for it (plus, I've learned how to trash talk a lil' kid). I just can't let these photos wither on harddrives, to be forgotten — so each month, I'll share the best shots we get.

Days Fork Tree Dec 12: Photo by Andy Paradis

Evan Caplis droppin' a knee: Photo by Andy Paradis

Chad Brackelsberg setting the bookpack, he enjoys this type of thing. Photo by Matt Hart

Ann Paradis charging, she enjoys this type of thing: Photo by Andy Paradis

Chad Brackelsberg & Andy Paradis skinning up, to ski down: Photo by Matt Hart

Andy & Chad bootpacking to Lake Peak; He dislikes this type of thing: Photo by Matt Hart

Chad Brackelsberg skinning: Photo by Andy Paradis

Peter Adler West Couloir Kessler Peak: Photo by Matt Hart

Evan Caplis, buried: Photo by Andy Paradis

Andy Paradis schralping: Photo Matt Hart

Matt Hart & Andy Paradis skinning in White Pine Dec : Photo by Evan Caplis

Peter Adler & Matt Hart about to ski the Catcher's Mitt off Kessler Peak - Dec 30: Photo by Evan Caplis

What I Read: Alex Hutchinson

2012-12-23T08:20:00.000-08:00

Someone who doesn't read gets about the same education as someone who can't. Where you get your information seems of vital importance to how you see the world. We are bombarded with information, and misinformation all day long. I'm fascinated by how people wade through the deluge, when and where they consume, and how they structure their work-life around it. TheAtlanticWire has this wonderful series called Media Diet that I read religiously. They focus on the reading habits of "prominent figures in media, entertainment, politics, the arts, and the literary world". I'm going to steal this idea from them, however my focus will be on prominent figures in athletics, nutrition, and health.

This essay is from Alex Hutchinson, a former physicist and national-class runner, who writes Sweat Science for Runner's World Magazine. Alex has won a National Magazine Award for science journalism, and his latest book is called Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights? Fitness Myths, Training Truths and Other Surprising Discoveries from the Science of Exercise. ~ Matt Hart

I should start by saying that my media diet is affected by the fact that I'm currently (but temporarily) living in Australia. It's funny how that changes what I read. I've been dividing my time between Canada and Australia for four years now, while my wife completes a degree. It means that paper subscriptions to magazines are essentially an impossibility, and that means that I miss a lot of stuff that I would check regularly if I were stably based in one place. It's not that it's impossible to get those things here - it's just that a bit of minor inconvenience is enough to drop some otherwise good content off the radar.

On the flip side, it can be pretty valuable - and surprising - to learn what you can live without. Like many people, I'm sure - especially people who write for a living - I sometimes find it a struggle to get the right balance between staying informed and spending all my time reading (and envying!) other people's work.

I wake up reasonably early, around 6 or 6:30, and immediately flick on my computer to check email and respond to anything urgent before the end of North American business hours. Then I check the websites of The New YorkTimes and The Globe and Mail, both of which I pay to subscribe to online. I'll read a few articles, then head out for my run with my wife. For the rest of the day, I'll be checking those two websites very regularly, as distractions/breaks between bits or work. I tend to read most of what appears on the main page of the Times, and rely heavily on the most-emailed list, which I find is a pretty damn good filter of what's interesting. (In contrast, the Globe's most-emailed list tends to be dominated by anything remotely titillating. I haven't figured out whether that's a difference in audience or site moderation!)

Most of my work these days involves writing about scientific research related to fitness, training, and health. I try to keep up with some of the journals in the field - primarily British Journal of Sports Medicine, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, and European Journal of Applied Physiology. I'll do a round to skim their tables of contents and preprints once every week or two. I also do a round of blogs to see what people are saying - people like Amby Burfoot (whose exerscience Twitter feed is also a great resource), Yoni Freedhoff, Pete Larson, Steve Magness, the Science of Sport guys, the Obesity Panacea guys, Stephan Guyenet. I also find Twitter often sends me to interesting places, and I'll end up spending half an hour reading a blog that I don't follow regularly.

As a big running fan, I also end up checking Letsrun and the Runnersworldsite, among other places, pretty close to hourly. Say what you will about Letsrun, but they do a very good job curating good content from across the runningsphere. There are a lot of excellent running sites that I don't need to check regularly, because I'm confident that Letsrun will flag the stuff I'd be interested in.

For pleasure (I can make a case that the running stuff is "work," though it's pushing it a bit), my first go-to is The New Yorker, which I read essentially cover to cover every issue. That's what I'll read over lunch, if I need a break during the day, and in bed before sleeping. I bought a Kindle specifically so that I could get The New Yorker instantly, wherever I happen to be in the world - and carry as many issues of the inevitable backlog as I need to! These days I read less fiction than I'd like to; the last novel I read was "Cutting for Stone", by Abraham Verghese. I do find myself reading a fair amount of nonfiction that's peripherally work-related; right now I'm in the middle of Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow. (Both are great, by the way.)

I don't consume much of other forms of media. I don't like video on the web, at least for information that could be conveyed just as well with text, like interviews. It's just way too slow and inefficient. My wife and I will typically watch a half-hour of TV after dinner to unwind. Sometimes it's something being broadcast, but mostly it's a series on DVD. And if there's a good marathon or track meet being streamed from somewhere in the world, we'll find time for that!

Runner's World Magazine: Alex Hutchinson's "What I Read" essay

Others from the Media Diet: What I Read Series

Matt Hart
Endurance Coach, Athlete and Writer

Dr. Ben Lewis
UltraRunner, Doctor and Banjo Player

A Master in the Art of Living

2012-12-18T09:16:00.000-08:00

"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both."

~ Francois Auguste Rene Chateaubriand (French writer, politician, diplomat and historian)

Running in Southern Utah

2012-12-14T09:55:00.003-08:00

Some great last minute advice from a friend made these photos, and an amazing few days in the desert even better. Two days and about 40 miles of amazing trail.

Druid Arch

photo by Evan Honeyfield

Confluence Overlook

photo by Evan Honeyfield

"Fast" Evan Honeyfield put together this video, which happens to cover two weekends of running with Sarah and I, check it out.

Dude, You Fucked Me Up a Little Bit

2012-12-12T06:21:00.000-08:00

This clip from Joe Rogan's podcast spoke to me so much I had to share it. It's a conversation between two stand-up comedians, but it's infinitely applicable. I can't distill it any better than it is already presented here. I could have said this word for word to friends Jared Campbell (after last years Barkley) and years ago to Steve Copson (at the beginning stages of my [former-life] software career). Thank you both.

You must surround yourself with these people.

"Dude, I gotta be honest with you. You fucked me up a little bit."

"My friend is doing something really special here. I know I have something in me, and I'm not living up to it. And being around him reminds me of the fact that I'm not living my fuckin life."

"100% of all haters in the world are unrealized potential."

"There is no scarcity."

... thanks to Bobbie Hackenbruck for sharing this video.

What I Read: Dr. Ben Lewis

2012-12-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

When my polymath friend and running partner Matt Hart asked me to write an entry for his series I quickly agreed to contribute to what sounded like a neat project. Some quick accounting in the following minutes however led to some bleak conclusions: that after eight fairly intense years of medical education and now two years of fatherhood my consumption of the written word is not particularly broad nor — discounting the specific reading I do to stay current in my medical field — deep. I spend a good amount of time these days with Goodnight Moon[1]. More incriminating, I spend more than my fair share of time in bed in the evening watching Netflix on my laptop, perusing YouTube clips of Zach Galifianakis, or scanning inane running blogs while my wife is wholly immersed in some imposing looking work of modern fiction[2]. If nothing else, writing this piece (and reading other entries on Matt’s blog) will jar loose some of the rust and nourish my now atrophied and stilted brain.

This state of affairs is not without precedent. I would estimate that until the age of 18 my predominant sources of the written word were Calvin and Hobbes, cereal boxes, and my well-worn and yellowed copy of Once a Runner[3]. An unusual preamble to becoming a literature and philosophy major but there you have it.

I’m now an inpatient psychiatrist at the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute so a good portion of my reading these days centers around staying current by reading major journals in the field and papers relevant to patient care — the details of which are likely uninteresting for a wider audience. I co-teach several courses for resident physicians including a psychopathology course and a psychodynamics course and so end up doing some reading in these domains so as to have at least one or two intelligent things to say. My research interests are in the philosophy of psychiatry and I do a fair bit of reading and writing in this area — as of late focusing mainly on the application of Daniel Dennett’s work in philosophy of mind to certain questions of classification and methodology in psychiatry and in how issues of social construction come to bear on conceptualizations of mental illness (relevant books here include Consciousness Explained, The Intentional Stance, Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness, Brainchildren: Essays on Designing Minds, Freedom Evolves by Dennett or The Social Construction of What? and Mad Travelers by Ian Hacking). My default interests are in philosophy so I’m generally not very far from some book or set of papers in this domain. Currently I’m reading Free Will by Sam Harris#.

I should read more fiction. Favorite authors include Don DeLillo, David Foster Wallace, Milan Kundera, Virginia Woolf, Wallace Stegner, Vladimir Nabokov.

All things considered I’m a pretty skeptical dude and this carries over even into my professional life. Over the last several months I’ve been on a kick of reading several recent popular press books largely critical of psychiatry and psychopharmacology as a whole: Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker, The Loss of Sadness by Jerome Wakefield, The Emperor’s New Drugs by Irving Kirsch, and Unhinged by Daniel Carlat. While I can’t fully ascribe to all of the critical arguments put forth in these books, I find — and always have found — it important to expose oneself to a variety of positions and to be ready to throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water if needs be, however threatening that prospect is.

We also subscribe to a number of magazines — the enumeration of which is likely not dissimilar to scores of other white, liberal folks with college degrees who enjoy indie rock, farmers markets, and NPR: The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Review of Books, Scientific American, and The Economist.[5]

Regular online reading I do includes the NY Times, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Huffington Post, www.thelastpsychiatrist.com, Pitchforkmedia.com, The Onion, Alex Hutchinson’s blog at RunnersWorld, RunningTimes, iRunFar, Letsrun.com, The Science of Sport, Twitter-pated nuggets from Matt Hart, Trailrunner magazine, www.scienceofrunning (Steve Magness’ blog), a number of familiar running blogs, VeloNews, Beer Advocate, and various and sundry Facebook status updates from estranged and unfamiliar high school classmates about what they ate for breakfast.

[1] Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
[2] We haven’t had television in over 10 years now. When confronted with discussions on pop culture TV I’ll mention this fact in an off-hand, if supercilious tone, not once acknowledging that I watched 3 back-to-back episodes of Louie on Netflix the night prior (which is hilarious and fantastic BTW).
[3] Which remains the best book on running ever written.
[4] One of my many heroes.
[5] Arranged in hierarchical order as to the proportion of the magazine read: I read The New Yorker cover to cover whereas I generally make it several sentences deep in any piece in The Economist before I am in at least Stage 3 sleep.

Others from the Media Diet: What I Read Series

Matt Hart
Writer, Athlete, Coach

Alex Hutchinson
Runner's World Sweat Science, National Magazine Award recipient for Science Journalism

Health Benefits of Running by Craig Lewis, MD

2012-11-26T21:27:00.000-08:00

My friend, and ultrarunner Dr. Ben Lewis forwarded this article to a few of his friends last week. His father wrote this originally for Central Maine Striders Newsletter, and has given me permission to post here.

Health Benefits of Running by Craig Lewis, MD

I have been collecting health-benefits-of-exercise articles for five decades. But 2012 has been the Holy Grail.

Things had become embarrassing. In recent years the health-benefits information has become so good that no reasonably skeptical person would believe it. It is almost as if God herself must be a runner and therefore wants to reward her special friends, fellow runners. Why would Nature care so much whether or not we exercise?

But I no longer need to resort to metaphysical explanations. I now, finally, understand why Nature demands that we exercise aerobically. The explanation depends on our prehistory. In fact, it dates back 500 million years.

In this country during this era we do not experience hunger or famine. In the US even if a new Dust Bowl occurs, we will merely import our food from Brazil. Perhaps we would not be so lucky if we lived in Somalia or Mozambique. But through all of Earth’s history there has been periodic bounty and cornucopia of food choices at times, and blight, drought, or just bad hunting at other times. All species, and all multicellular organisms, not just humans, and not just animals, must have a strategy for dealing with an environment that is alternately generous and sparse.

Mediating over this fickle and often cruel world is an enzyme complex called TOR (Target of Rapamycin). Just as the hormones insulin and insulin-derived growth factor regulate extracellular body resources, TOR controls intracellular resources. Yeast TOR and human TOR are nearly identical. When genes do not mutate much over half a billion years, then those genes necessarily serve some essential function.

Telomeres cap the ends of chromosomes

When the rains are good and the food gathering goes well, enzymic TOR activates. When food supplies are abundant, organisms must stock up in anticipation of the next, say, poor hunt. It is TOR that performs this service. When TOR turns on, cells multiply (expending telomere length, unfortunately), organs regenerate and grow, fat cells plump up. And it makes sense that during these good times, cell housekeeping functions are postponed.

When the DNA of cells is heavily mutated from a variety of sources, such as cosmic rays, PCBs, muon showers, or X-rays, or when cells expire their telomeres, those cells become nonfunctional. We call them “senescent cells” or “zombie cells.” Mutated cells present a potential existential threat because they are especially prone to malignant transformation. These damaged and useless cells must be cleared away and there are simple systems available to allow them to undergo self-suicide, hari-kari, if you will, for the sake of the whole organism. But if the body is anticipating the next famine, TOR instructs these cells to delay their self-immolation. After all, in a period of hunger, these useless cells make good eating. In times of hunger it is preferable to consume senescent cells rather than functional vital organ cells. Recent human history is the only time in the history of our planet that organisms can traverse an entire lifetime and never once perform this essential housecleaning function.

When TOR is activated for long periods, senescent cells accumulate in all organs. They sit there and release inflammatory mediators. They sap the strength of muscles and make them sore. If you’ve ever wondered why your pitiful nonrunning friends complain bitterly during a 200 yard jog, this is the explanation--their muscles are laden with senescent cells. It is as if they all have fibromyalgia.

It is not just senescent cells that demand cleaning up. Mitochondria, the cell powerhouses, gradually undergo oxidative damage. Their cristae become ratty. Activated TOR blocks the disposal of damaged mitochondria.

When the protein beta-amyloid misfolds in brain neurons, this protein and tau protein gum up neurons, which undergo degeneration and eventually die. Eventually, Alzheimer Disease or other neurodegenerative syndromes ensue. By the time most Americans are 25, tau and beta-amyloid are starting to accumulate. By the time most Americans are 40, sulci, the spaces between their brain folds, are starting to widen. These neurodegenerative diseases are a horrible waste. As long as TOR is switched on, the body postpones clearing away beta-amyloid and tau protein. Thus, the brains of your nonrunning friends, who don’t experience this cellular cleaning, are a veritable nightmare.

When starvation intervenes, TOR is switched off and these saved up resources start to be used. It is as if a vacuum cleaner has been switched on. Senescent cells, deformed proteins, and decrepit mitochondria are swept away. And when TOR is off, then cell multiplication is kept to a minimum, preserving precious telomere length, thereby improving longevity of the individual. You will recall that distance runners have 1/3 the telomere velocity of nonrunners. Older runners have much longer telomeres than others do and this accounts in part for 16 years of greater longevity, their relatively youthful appearance as they age, the minimization of the period of disability during extreme age, and because of preservation of the immune system, some 20-fold decrease in infectious disease death rate.

Presumably, we could reap the benefits of a low-TOR state by perpetual near-starvation. But this is nearly impossible to do and is extremely unpleasant. What good would it do to live longer if you’re miserable? Have you ever seen a person with anorexia nervosa smile? And a just-released primate study showed that extremely low calorie diets did not improve longevity. Perhaps the stress of daily hunger counteracted any potential longevity gain. Whether periodic fasting would work remains to be shown--I suspect it might. But if fasting does work, then how often and how long?

Running and aerobic exercise trick the body into thinking that it is resource deficient. Running switches TOR off. But unlike starvation, running makes us feel good, not bad. And folks on extremely low calorie diets cannot run--they have no energy.

Minimizing cell division and preserving telomere length may be a good overall strategy, but this might not work in all organs. Especially in the brain it is important to maintain new neuronal growth throughout our lives. Because low-TOR blocks cell division, brains must have separate mechanisms to allow cell division even if TOR is low. This is why the brain releases neuronal growth mediators during aerobic exercise. There is actually an overcompensation. I am a runner: My hippocampi (responsible for short term memory) are the size of walnuts, shell on. My nonrunning friends have hippocampi the size of pistachio nuts, shell off. My neuronal mitotic index throughout my neocortex, but especially in my frontal lobes, is 3 times higher than for my friends. Because cell division in brains is so much less than in other organs, telomere exhaustion is not an issue for brains as we age.

An enormous percentage of our population suffer depression. Many of these folks are treated with SSRI’s--serotonin reuptake inhibitors-- such as Prozac. It has been believed for a long time that their mechanism of action is that they boost the concentration of serotonin in some synapses. The inconvenient truth here, however, is that naturally there is a down regulation of post-synaptic serotonin receptors. But there is now reason to believe that SSRI’s actually do their work by promoting neuronal growth, especially in the hippocampi. It has always been true that a far more effective method of treating depression than medication has been daily aerobic exercise.

Until now our explanation for the necessity of exercise for the maintenance of health has been a hand waving one that addresses human history back 1.7 million years, during which time our ancestors were not just runners, but universally ultra distance runners. Now we know that systems that determine our mortality and morbidity long predate humans.

TOR research is in its infancy. It gives us an enormously powerful tool to answer our most important health questions. Until now to answer a question like, “Which type of exercise is most healthful?” was impossible--you would need to follow 20000 people over 90 years. For purposes of health, does the intensity of exercise matter, or is long slow distance just fine? Could you obtain the full health benefit working out 3 days a week? And how much is enough? Is there an optimal mileage per week? How does diet interact with exercise? If you run, does it matter what you eat? To answer these questions now you no longer need many test subjects--all you need is one person and a reliable TOR activity assay. There are now hundreds of articles per year on TOR worldwide. Within a few years there will be tens of thousands of research papers each year. This new information will revolutionize exercise physiology and will profoundly affect all of medicine.

What I Read: Matt Hart

2012-11-23T08:02:00.000-08:00

Someone who doesn't read gets about the same education as someone who can't. Where you get your information seems of vital importance to how you see the world. We are bombarded with information, and misinformation all day long. I'm fascinated by how people wade through the deluge, when and where they consume, and how they structure their work life around it. TheAtlanticWire has this wonderful series called Media Diet, that I read religiously. They focus on the reading habits of "prominent figures in media, entertainment, politics, the arts, and the literary world". I'm going to steal this idea from them, however my focus will be on prominent figures in athletics, nutrition, and health.

I thought it would only be fair to post my own "What I Read" essay before I ask others to open up. I realize I'm decidedly not prominent, but it's my blog so I figured I had to go first.

I appreciate routine. I don't mind breaking it however, because that can often lead to the very best of days. Generally though, I wake up and do the same things, often in the same order; wash up, open the curtains, start the water for tea, turn on NPR's Hourly News. I then sit at my MacBook Air, facing my back yard, usually in time to see the neighbor's dog have his first bowel movement of the day. It's good to know he's regular, since he is never walked, shown affection, or taken care of.

While my liberal updates play, I sip on yerba mate — the devil bean f's me up — and settle into the computer. Before even looking at email I cast a wide net for my news consumption because I want as many perspectives as I can get. This way I can arm myself with both sides of the arguments, and make my own thoughtful decisions. This means I visit FoxNews's video site, and I've recently added Al Jazeera; not comprehensive, but it's a start.
I'll use Hootsuite to scroll my twitter feed. This is where I get an idea of treading news stories based on my hand selected community. I end up reading some of the links, and saving others for when I have more time (Batching: Tim Ferris would be proud).

Which brings me to my own twitter. What the hell am I doing? I don't always know. When I see news of an Afghani girl having acid thrown in her face for the offense of trying to get an education, I'm awash with anger. Which leads to me typing out a tweet like, "Faith is not a virtue, it's a liability" then deleting it, then typing it out slightly different, and deleting it. I repeat that process a few more times until the feeling passes. Although politics and religion are often on my mind, I try to keep them off my twitter — this is hard for an opinionated asshole. I attempt to stick to nutrition, training, and sport in general. With writing taking up more of my time and thoughts recently, the topic has snuck into my tweets lately; I'll tweet my favorite long form pieces, and comments on books I've read. If it looks like I'm on twitter 24-7, it's an illusion created by the fact that I'll schedule tweets to post while I'm asleep or not at the computer.

Twitter acts as a tension release for me, if I'm fired up or researching something I'll tweet about it. I'm certain that some of my sponsors would rather I keep my mouth shut. However, this is exactly why most athletes suck at twitter, they are so generic and politically correct it's nauseating (and not worth following); check out Ryan Hall's twitter to see what I mean. Then check out Hall's antithesis, Jenn Shelton — she's hilarious.

I am on Facebook but don't have a personal page any more. I used a request by a sponsor to create an "athlete page", as a chance to deactivate my personal page. My attention is just too easily diverted by pictures of your baby, or your CrossFit hands — I apparently have the attention span of a squirrel.

I have a subscription to The New York Times so I'm not limited to the 10 articles a month. I love words, but I have limits to how much reading I can do in one day. To get some visual stim, I often use YouTube to research topics. Mostly I watch Christopher Hitchens HitchSlap Theocrats, or John and Hank Green drop knowledge bombs. Since I coach athletes online YouTube is invaluable to be able to link to videos of exercise movements, either my own or others.

When I'm driving or doing errands I'll listen to podcasts. I never do it at my desk, instead I use the iPhone's ability to listen to them at 1.5-2x speed. This is a great way to consume more in shorter period of time. Long hours in the mountains training lends itself to listening to books on tape or podcasts at hyperspeed. My favorites: WNYC's Radiolab, This American Life, Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution Podcast.

Since writing is a stationary pursuit, and we know sitting for extended periods of time isn't good for us, I get up a lot and run through some simple exercises; Ben Greenfield calls this "greasing the grove". I do simple movements — jumping jacks, burpees, etc — at low reps multiple times.

Reading is not an indulgence, it's a requirement. I love being exposed to new ideas, or even just good writing. If I stop to think about what I just read, or stop to laugh out loud, or stop to consider how lovely that turn of phrase was, the author has done their job well.

Weather permitting I like to walk and read. I literally just roam a five square mile radius around my house in Salt Lake City, book in hand. The only problem with this, aside from tripping, is the odd phenomenon of testosterone filled high schoolers who scream obscenities from their cars as they speed by. In my experience Utah's youth are far more likely to do this than anywhere else I've lived.

I think it's important to place the proper weight on the source of your information. Yes, you can find anything on the internet, but is it really worth all those hours reading meaningless blogs, when there is so much great content being born every day to publications? I've recently backed off to recalibrate my reading matter, and the internet is certainly getting less of my attention these days. I now give published material far more time than the internet's deluge of mediocre — yes, I realize I am complicit here.

I've read Genesis, it's contradictory and confusing story seems like a childish, dated, best-guess. I therefore prescribe to the fact that we've evolved[1]. If you can believe that, there is a lot of good science that shows we evolved eating vegetables, meat, fruit and nuts, and we're well adapted to pre-agricultural foods. I therefore follow some of the top guns in ancestral health; most notably Robb Wolf (with Amy Kubal writing a lot of great content for him) and Mark Sisson (an ex-marathon trials runner). Dallas and Melissa at Whole9Life are fantastic as well. All three of these folks have written great books that I highly recommend. With all that said, I always try to read the counterarguments, and enjoyed Brendan Brazier's book Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide for Athletes.

If you need to dive into verbose, in-depth, discussion on a health topic I think Chris Kresser is doing the best job of this. If you are avoiding eggs because of the cholesterol, you are under a misapprehension — grab some tea and dive in.

As for fitness experts, I like Ben Greenfield despite how cheesy and shirtless he tends to be. I will read anything Mark Twight writes. He owns Gym Jones, and is an awesome, abrasive, mad genius, as well as a talented writer. His content has recently retreated behind a pay-wall, which is understandable. I've also been a long time fan of Endurance Corner's Gordo Byrn. My favorite sport scientist is Dr. Tim Noakes (author of Lore of Running), but Alex Hutchinson (who now writes for Runner's World) is a close second. Ross and Jonathan at The Science of Sport are fantastic as well.

For my own writing I use the library, the above authors, Pubmed, Dr. Google, and I have a subscription to the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

I love The Atlantic and will try to read as many long-form pieces as I can. The AtlanticWire.com will aggregate things for me with columns likes "Five Best Friday Columns" and their daily must called "Trimming the Times", which is basically that days New York Times filtered through someone smart at the TheAtlanticWire. Being an old tech geek I have an affinity for CNET as a daily look at the latest tech news, and Scientific American for the latest in science news.

As for other magazines, I write for Trail Runner Magazine so I usually sit down when that comes and read the whole thing. The only other subscription I get is Free Inquiry, but I managed to get my hands on Wired Magazine every month; I've been reading it for the last 15 years. As a sometime-metrosexual (do people still use that term for guys who shave?) I have convinced myself that there is good writing in GQ and Esquire magazines, which I'll read both online and via a hard copy. On that note at least once a month I'll sit down in front of the magazine rack at B&N and just pick things that interest me. I feel like it's homework for a freelance writer.

At some point mid-morning I'll head out into the Wasatch mountains, or to the gym to train — sometimes both. After cleaning up I'll then head to the library for a few hours. I need the change of scenery. I always leave with something I don't have time to read — I'm working on it.

I was made to feel extremely stupid as a kid for my lack of historical knowledge, this is my excuse for almost exclusively reading non-fiction books. My favorite author is Christopher Hitchens (although he was an even better orator), my favorite book is Animal Farm by George Orwell. I love and appreciate anything and everything written by Sam Harris or Richard Dawkins. They have changed my perspective and nourished my mind in so many ways.

I don't have a TV, well not one that gets any signals from outside sources. I have an actual TV, but it only works with DVDs, which I get from the Library. I do watch some TV shows online when I have time and or feel like lounging, or need to horizontally recover from training. I try to stay up-to-date with the "Daily Show" and the "Colbert Report", their writing staffs are brilliant.

My seemingly impossible daily goal is to be closing the computer by 8pm, and in bed reading until 10 or 11pm, so I can rise at an early hour on the morrow. One of these days I'll finish with enough time to make it over to my neighbors house and walk that poor fucking dog.

[1] "Nothing in science makes sense except in the light of evolution." - Theodosius Dobzhansky

Top Secret Trail Running

2012-11-20T19:42:00.003-08:00

Sunday's Run: 30 miles down into a hole in the Earth, bout 9,200 or so feet back out with a great big group of awesome people: Life Elevated.

Roch explaining the route to Emily B.

Catherine showing Sarah where the dinosaurs probably looked down into the GC 70mil years ago

Photo by Evan Honeyfield

Media Diet - What I Read Series

2012-11-16T06:10:00.000-08:00

Someone who doesn't read gets about the same education as someone who can't. Where you get your information seems of vital importance to how you see the world. We are bombarded with information, and misinformation all day long. I'm fascinated by how people wade through the deluge, when and where they consume, and how they structure their work life around it. TheAtlanticWire has this wonderful series called Media Diet, that I read religiously. They focus on the reading habits of "prominent figures in media, entertainment, politics, the arts, and the literary world". I'm going to steal this idea from them, however my focus will be on prominent figures in athletics, nutrition, and health.

My first contributor will be sports nutritionist Amy Kubal (she's almost done with her essay). Although decidedly not prominent, I suppose it's only fair to start with myself.

My biggest issue will be getting these famous people to respond to my emails, so if you have any pull with the powerful, please help a brotha out. Also, if you have some favorites you'd love to read about, please let me know.

Others from the Media Diet: What I Read Series

Alex Hutchinson
Runner's World Sweat Science, National Magazine Award recipient for Science Journalism

Matt Hart
Endurance Coach, Athlete and Writer

Dr. Ben Lewis
UltraRunner, Doctor and Banjo Player

Limits and the Central Governor

2012-11-14T11:05:00.001-08:00

There are few things as dangerous as an intelligent skeptic. I've worked with Dr. Tim Noakes a few times for my Trail Running Magazine coaching column. He stands out in my mind as the preeminent skeptical sports scientist.

It's pretty clear to me that the more we know about how the body works — or just about anything for that matter — the more we realize how little we actually know.

Why is it that at the end of an ultra-marathon a runner can run 7min/miles for the last five miles, when, at mile 70 in the race they were void of this energy and walking? Nobel Prize winning physiologist Archibald Hill was the first to propose, in 1924, the idea that the heart was protected by a "governor". This went largely ignored until Dr. Noakes's research¹ in 2001 caused the idea to reemerge.

When we race, our body have no idea we are doing a competitive event. They perceives the stress of the race as a threat to it's existence. In an effort to save ourselves from death, our brains cause us to feel pain, and/or fatigue; which will slow or stop us, and save our lives. I find this topic fascinating, and I think it becomes even more applicable to ultra-runners. The longer an endurance event goes, the more it shifts from a physiological challenge to a mental one. How much are you being slowed by your central governor? Are there ways to overcome this, or is that what we already call determination?

Radiolab podcast on limits:

Has anyone out there have any good central governor stories? If so please post in the comments.

I'll leave you with Julie Moss in 1982, during just the 4th ever Ironman Triathlon, crawling the last 10 feet of the race. "I felt my life changing."

Also check out Dr. Noakes's recent book debunking the nonsense rhetoric we've been fed by the sports drink companies. It's called Waterlogged.

Suunto AMBIT Review

2012-10-28T10:52:00.001-07:00

by Chad Brackelsberg

I have been a huge fan of GPS running watches since I purchased a Garmin Forerunner 201 over five years ago. Since then, I have upgraded to the Garmin Forerunner 205 and eventually a Garmin Forerunner 310XT. I was never happy with the Garmin heart rate monitors so ever since I started using a GPS watch, I also wore a Polar hear rate monitor (C210 and RS400 models). I felt that Polar had a superior heart rate monitor with several functions that I liked (OwnZone, pretty accurate calorie counting, max heart rate, average heart rate, etc.). I always found it a pain to wear 2 separate watches, but I did like the ability to see 7 screens of data at a glance to both wrists. I also wanted a device that I could use while backcountry skiing. I wanted the ability to track my vertical (I have a Suunto Vector and Suunto Core I used for this for this), but I also wanted to be able to set a waypoint for things like snowpits, great lines to ski, etc. or track my route. I didn’t want to carry a handheld GPS while skiing so I never had this opportunity. When the Suunto Ambit was announced last winter, I was excited to try it out. I felt this would be my opportunity to have a single device for all of my activities and to free 1 of my wrists.

I purchased my Ambit in May not sure if it was the right device for me or not.

Setup: I setup the displays for all of the information I might want to see for various activities. Activities I configured it for are: Road Running, Trail Running, Mountain Biking, Road Biking, Backcountry Skiing, Resort Skiing, Nordic Skiing, Indoor Training (treadmills, weight lifting, etc), and Recovery (used to measure my heart rate for a period of time immediately after a workout). For each activity, I tried to create a primary screen with the main information I would want to see (for example for trail running, time, distance, and pace for a run), then select 2-4 more pieces of information I might want to quickly look at (for trail running, this is heart rate, calories, and average pace). I then created additional views that I may want (I have specific views for heart rate information, lap information, vertical gain/loss, altitude graph, and heart rate graph). Initial setup of the device takes some time and I found that as I used the device I had to modify these views to get them perfected. Being able to configure the device from the MovesCount.com website is a huge benefit (and time saver) over the Garmin watches I have used.

Satellite Acquisition: I had read on several reviews that satellite acquisition can take some time. On my first use, I was happy that the unit acquired satellites very quickly. I have found that when I move to a new location (more than 100 or so miles from my last use), the device can take 3-5 minutes to acquire satellites. I have also found that on random occasions the device will take 3-5 minutes to acquire satellites even though I am using it at the same location as the previous usage. I expect that as new firmware updates are released by Suunto that this is an area that will be improved upon.

Using the Watch: My first few uses of the watch, I used both my Garmin Forerunner 310XT and the Ambit. On these side by side comparisons, I have found that there can be up to 10% variation in the distance readings of the Ambit and 310XT. On several known distance trails, it appeared that the Ambit was off compared to the 310XT. Here is a comparison of the 310XT and Ambit on a recent hike on Mt Mansfield, Vt. The Anbit ready 0.48 miles less than the 310XT, a difference of around 5%.

I immediately liked the look and feel of the watch. I did find that with my small wrists, I needed a wrist band to take up some extra space as I couldn’t get the watch to fit correctly so that it wouldn’t rotate on my wrist. I also found that I missed having 4 screens of data. I had grown very accustomed to being able to see my time, distance, pace, and average pace all at a single glance at my 310XT. Even after close to 6 months of use, I miss this feature.

The calorie counting also appeared to be low. On a 10K trail run of 48 minutes with around 1,000’ of climbing, it would read only around 400 calories. This seems low for my perceived exertion and average heart rate. On the long hike on Mt Mansfield, the device registered 1555 calories over the 5:22 of hiking. To me it seems low to only have burned an average of 290 calories/hour while hiking steep terrain.

As expected from Suunto, the vertical gain/loss is very accurate. It is nice to be able to see this information real time and not have to wait to upload the data and go to the Garmin Connect website to get accurate data (the 310XT uses GPS altitude and when the data is uploaded to Garmin Connect an elevation correction is applied). The photo below is an example of the discrepancy between the 310XT and Ambit on vertical gain during the Mt Mansfield hike. When downloaded to Garmin Connect, the Garmin vertical gain was adjusted to 4,696’, which more closely matches the Ambit’s reading.

Navigation: I have not tested the new navigation features included in the latest firmware release. The previous ability to navigate to waypoints or routes was limited and difficult to use. You could get a directional arrow to a waypoint or import a route to follow, but you could not import a route, then try to start following the route mid-way through the route, you had to start at the beginning. With the new advanced navigation, I am hoping this is resolved. Regardless, with the small screen your navigation abilities are limited and if you need to navigate, I am much more likely to rely on a map and compass or handheld GPS unit.

Battery Life: The Ambit has been praised for the 15 hour battery life. As an ultra-runner, I find this is a little bit low. I had grown accustomed to the 20+ hours of battery life from the 310XT. It was nice to be able to finish almost a complete 100 mile race with the 310XT. There are settings in the Ambit to decrease the recording interval in order to increase the battery life, but this setting comes at the cost of accuracy for distance, pace, and average pace while running.

Summary: I am very happy with all aspects of the watch. As summarized below in pros and cons, there are things from the Polar and 310XT that I miss, but so far, the pros out-weigh the cons. While the cost of the Ambit is high, this is a highly functional, highly customizable device that meets 95% of my requirements and would likely meet 100% of most people’s requirements.

Pros

Up to 10 sports specific, highly customizable displays

8 different screens per display

5 options for bottoms view on each display

Accurate altimeter based on barometric pressure
Accurate elevation gain/loss tracking
Can be worn as a regular watch
Watch can be fully configured from MovesCount.com website.
Suunto has released 2 firmware updates since I purchased the watch each adding additional functionality. I expect this to continue which will likely increase my satisfaction with the watch.

Cons

Only has the ability to view 3 display fields at a time
Routes are limited to 100 waypoints
Only 15 hours of battery life (as opposed to Garmin 310XT which is 20 hours)
Heart rate monitor lacks some of the features of Polar heart rate monitors I have previously used.
Device does not wirelessly transmit data (Garmin Forerunner 310XT uses wireless ANT technology to sync data so as soon as I walk into my house the watch syncs).
Can’t create custom workouts and upload to device. This is a great feature of the Garmin watches as you can create custom workouts for intervals, Tabata sprints, and other workouts that I frequently use.
Cost: the Ambit is twice the cost of many of the other GPS units.

Nolan's 14 Success - Photos

2012-08-22T07:46:00.002-07:00

“Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain.” ~ William Faulkner

Well we did it. Jared Campbell and I managed to cover the Nolan's 14 route in 58 hours and 58 minutes. In that time we climbed 14 peaks over fourteen thousand feet in elevation. Our route, which ended up being over 105 miles, climbed 45,331 feet. Leaving the Leadville Fish Hatchery just after 9am on Friday, August 17th, we climbed up and ran down Mount Massive, Mount Elbert, La Plata, Huron, Missouri, Belford, Oxford, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Princeton, Antero, Tabeguache, and Shavano. Look for my piece in the upcoming issue #85 of Trail Runner Magazine, adventure section. For now enjoy Jared's write up, Dakota's write up or what my iPhone captured below...

My Gear:
Montrail Bajada and the discontinued Montrail Rockridge
Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer Wind Jacket
UltrAspire Surge Race Vest
Black Diamond ReVolt Headlamp and Z-poles
DryMax Trail Socks

Thank you Mindy Campbell, Jared's wife, you were amazing crew.. and without you this would not have happened. Pro photog Fred Marmsater was also on hand to shoot photos and remind us that he thinks we're "bad asses". In my experience, that never hurts - thanks Fred. Last but not least, thanks to Fred Vance and Jim Nolan who came up with the route, and the four men that pioneered it, legends all ~ Blake Wood, Mike Tilden, Jim Nelson and John Robinson.

Jared Campbell approaching Bull Hill off Mount Elbert (14,440 ft)

Deep in self-hate dialog in my head.

Beautiful bushwhacking on the way up to Mount Yale (14,199 ft)

Princeton ridge descent

Mere minutes after puking up a gel Jared charges summit #13 - Tabeguache Peak (14,163 ft)

Jared making his way over the 15+ false summits on the last peak of our adventure.

Mount Shavano (14,229 ft) the last of our 14 summits. We arrived hear in 57 hours 30 minutes.

Suunto says 45,331 feet of uphill climb - Not a bad day in the mountains

Nolan's 14

2012-08-16T08:35:00.002-07:00

UPDATE: Well, I'm elated to report that we did it. Jared Campbell and I became the fifth and sixth people to complete the Nolan's 14 route. More to come, for now check out the photos I tweeted: from the top of the most intimidating climb, Mount Harvard (peak #8), Jared throwing up on our way up Yale, and from the last of the 14 fourteeners - Mount Shavano

The summit of Mount Elbert. 14,440 feet above sea level.

The next adventure starts in less than 23 hours! Tomorrow, Friday at 9am Jared Campbell and I are going to start Nolan's 14. The route bags 14x "fourteeners" - peaks that top out higher than 14,000 feet in elevation - in one shot. With no real "set course" there are quite a few available route options. Jared has had his eye on this one for a while and what he's planned ended up being about ~90 miles with 45,000 feet of vert. We're starting at the Leadville Fish Hatchery and going South.

For a couple years Nolan's was run as a race, before the Forest Service shut it down. To be considered a finisher, you have to complete the route in under 60 hours. The fastest it's been completed 56 hours. In it's 13 year existence only four people can claim to be Nolan's 14 finishers: Mike Tilden, Blake Wood, Jim Nelson and John Robinson - legends all.

Considering that we will spend most of our time above 13,000 ft it's an intimidating proposition, but one I'm very very excited about. This adventure will more akin to my Adventure Racing days than my UltraRunning days. This means a fair bit of wrestling with sleep monsters and other unmentionables. We've got Jared's wife Mindy and pro photog Fred Marmsater as crew, so we won't likely have much in the way of excuses on that end.

If you wanna follow along, Jared setup a sweet Tracker Page Here - http://trackleaders.com/nolans14

Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Miler Race Report 2012

2012-08-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

The coolest belt buckle I've earned thus far

The short version: I finally won a 100 miler.

The long version: When a monkey climbs down off your back he leaves a mark.

In learning about the race it was obvious the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Miler is a race with top notch organization behind it. The only gripe I have is trying to figure out how much vertical gain there was before-hand. Most people in the know landed on 20,000 - 24,000 feet of uphill. I haven't run a 100 miler with this little vertical gain yet, and all accounts of the trail was that it was buttery smooth single-track. To be completely honest - this scared me. I don't see myself as much of a leg speed guy and the proposition of actually running 100 miles was daunting.

Although I really tried not to, I did peruse the start list. I figured one time Montrail Ultra Cup winner Victor Ballesteros was the likely favorite, having obvious talent and having run the race before. Canadian, and 2009 Chuckanut 50km Champ Aaron Heidt - who has short distance speed I can only dream about - also made my short list. The week before the race my buddy Justin txt's me to "Watch out for my buddy Jon Robinson. I've been running with him lately and he's strong. He'll be in the mix for sure". And it's always good measure to add a random four or five mental spots for California runners you've never heard.

The Start Line at Spooner Lake - Photo: Travis Liles

Saturday, July 21st we lined up in the dark at Sooner lake and were off. The course is a beautiful 50 mile route, that you run twice. It has three lollipop loops from the stem, which is the Tahoe Rim Trail. Although I had no idea who it was at the time, Seattle's Jon Robinson shot off the front and quickly disappeared. I mean gone. I have learned a few things in my days of endurance racing, and one of them is to simply run your own race. I just put him out of my mind and figured if he has that kind of day, more power to him - I'd heartily congratulate him at the finish.

The front pack was a quick one, we introduced ourselves, chatted and moved at a good sustainable pace. I was surprised Aaron was missing from our numbers. I figured he was really trying to play it smart. Through the first aid station at mile six, Hobart, I was in 3rd having pulled a bit ahead of the pack on the climb up to it. At this point everything felt easy, I was climbing well, and my torn labrum was behaving. I had agravated this long standing hip injury on my last big week of training (120 miles of Wasatch-awesome). It was my biggest concern going into the race.

My last two 100 milers have been disasters, with cratering lows of epic proportions. So this race I was game to try a few new tactics. Chief among them was LESS caffeine.. yes, less. Can you believe it? I am genetically very sensitive to caffeine, and it's something I just have to respect. It was a key factor in my suffering adrenal fatigue through the fall and winter. It's taken a lot of research and working with some very smart people to figure it all out. I won't lie, it's been a long and disappointing road, but this race shows I've made some marked improvement.

Aaron caught up to me on the first climb out of the Red House loop. He said, "I couldn't have run any slower." I could have. We then ran out to the Diamond Peak loop together. Chatting like school girls made the 10 mile loop fly by, it felt so effortless and easy. To finish the loop the course goes straight up some sandy, loose black diamond slopes. Aaron pulled ahead as I stopped to take care of some business. As I caught him near the top of the steep 1,800 foot climb we could see Jon. I didn't feel over taxed so this was all very promising.

Aaron Heidt and I running into Diamond Peak the 1st time. Photo Travis Liles

On our way back to the start/finish from Diamond Peak we passed back through the Tunnel Creek aid station for our third time of the race. With the time of day change and entering the aid station fast and from a new direction I was so confused as to where I was. I just completely didn't recognize the aid station until I was a few miles out. Leaving that aid station I yelled, "let's go Aaron!". I wanted company for this climb, but he didn't respond. I figured he might have already left, so I picked up the pace a bit to catch him. I was feeling very good and climbing well. I soon caught Seattle's best, Jon Robinson. We ran together for a few minutes then he dropped back to run his own pace and let his stomach settle. This was probably mile 37 or so. I caught a glimpse of Aaron behind me in the switch backs and realized I was in first place.

Now I had to run with a bit of concern that I might get caught. I played head games to prepare for this. I just figured at some point it would happen, and I didn't want it to mentally deflate me when it did. But, I was up for the challenge of seeing if I could stay in front for the next 63 miles. I finished the first 50 mile loop in 8hours 38 minutes. The winner of the 50 mile race came up to me and told me that I had run just two minutes slower than his winning time.

It was nice to see Ellen and her boyfriend Matt had come out to cheer and help crew. There was just so much good energy oozing out of that place I didn't want to leave. I sat for a couple minutes and made sure I had everything I needed before departure.

The one disadvantage to this course being run twice, with 50km and 50 milers on course as well, is the dust factor. I have a bit of asthma, and as I headed out on loop two I started to notice the wheeze. I think I'll spare you the blow by blow and say I ran paranoid the rest of the race. I was able to avoid the depths of an energy crash, but my pace and motivation waned a bit more than I should have allowed. For the last 20 miles from Diamond Peak I employed 2004 Hardrock Champion Paul Sweeney to "safety run" me home. Paul's perspective was great as I closed in on my first 100 mile victory. It was basically "soak it in, and enjoy it". The unspoken understanding that winning a 100 miler is special, and they don't come easy, or often (for most of us).

I was on course record pace through 50 miles, but with my lead growing I let off the gas a bit here and there. Something I'll try to fix for my next 100. We are lucky to get to run these races. I mean, seriously - we run 100 miles in one shot. So my attitude from here on out has to be - leave the best damn time you can, every time.

Thank you Miriam, Darryl, Paul, Ellen and Matt for all your amazing support out there. I couldn't have done it without you.

Getting the coolest belt buckle ever. Photo: Travis Liles

My Gear:
Montrail Rogue Fly Shoes
Mountain Hardwear Way2Cool Tshirt
UltrAspire Isomeric Race Handheld
Black Diamond Sprinter Headlamp

Speedgoat 50km 2012 Video

2012-07-31T11:32:00.001-07:00

... as promised the video I took on course this Saturday at the Speedgoat 50km.

Speedgoat 50km 2012 Photos

2012-07-28T21:54:00.000-07:00

My buddy Karl Meltzer puts on one hell of a race. This year he managed to get this 12,000+ foot of gain, 50km race added to the SkyRunning series and he upped the cash prizes to $10,000. This brought in a few of the fastest mountain runners in the world to charge up and down the slopes of Snowbird. After volunteering this morning I was free to roam. Brett Gosney and I ran around the course taking pictures and video... enjoy.

What everyone is racing for - the 2012 Speedgoat Awards (the Cankle Awards)

Fellow Montrail Runner Max King - Bend, OR (In 3rd on this climb, in 3rd at the finish)

Anton Kripicka - Boulder, CO (he finished 4th)

Anna Frost - New Zealand (1st Woman)

Two of my favorites Montrail Athlete Gary Robbins - Vacncouver, BC (dropped) & Eric Storheim - Salt Lake, UT (20th)

Jason Loutitt - Squamish, BC (9th)

Emily Sullivan - Salt Lake, UT (4th woman)

Sean Miessner - Durango, CO (22nd)

Silverton Concentrated

2012-07-02T07:06:00.001-07:00

Silverton, CO with Kendall Mountain as the backdrop

Last year I had the amazing opportunity to spend a significant amount of time in Silverton, Colorado. I was racing the Hardrock 100 Mile Endurance Run, which begins and ends in Silverton at 9,300 above sea level. My buddy Dakota and I spent a month before the race in town to acclimate, train and become familiar with the race course. We rented pink house.

Although I finished, for me the race didn't go very well, but the Silverton experience was amazing and one I'll always look back on fondly.

I'm eager to redeem myself at the HardWalk 100, but it will have to wait. I didn't get into the race this year. I didn't even get on the wait list! "How is that even possible Brett Gosney?!" Dakota did however, and he's the likely pick for the win, having finished 2nd last year and showing amazing form in the early part of 2012. I spent a week visiting with him, running, bbq'ing, reading at the library, acclimating, running the Hardrock course, and simply enjoying the San Juan Mountains. They are in top form (as is Dakota by the way).

Hardrock 100 Course: the trail up to Grant Swamp Pass from KT going clockwise

The view from Grant Swamp Pass - Clockwise mile 15, Counter-Clockwise mile 75 on Hardrock 100 Course

The Hardrock course is amazingly dry right now due to the low snow year. At this point last season we were spending most of our runs post-holing. This year, both sides of Grant Swamp Pass are free of snow and playfully loose (as you can see in the video below). If you are racing this year you might wanna practice your scree-surfing.

At some point last year I had heard Roger (who owns the Wyman Hotel) would often run to Molas Pass from Silverton along the Colorado Trail. I have a thing for the Colorado Trail so I managed to sneak this gem into my week as well. Getting a ride to Molas Pass from Justin "Vegan Guns" Lutick, I ran back to his camp in Cunningham Gultch. This run includes some flat miles on the Continental Divide Trail at around 12,700 feet. It was fun to try and turn over some fast miles at such a high altitude.

Colorado Trail looking back towards Molas Pass

Looking back down what I ran up: Elk Creek from the Continental Divide & Colorado Trail at 12,700 feet.

Another day I got out early with Pearl Izumi ultrarunner Scott Jaime to hit the high point of the Hardrock course, Handies Peak (14,048 ft). I was worried about keeping up with him so I left both cameras at home.

I then took a couple days off to plan the SoftRock, which is running the entire Hardrock 100 course in multiple days. We did it in three and it was amazing... blog with some shiny video on that coming up next - stay tuned! In all it was a concentrated experience with lots of good people, good trail miles, good vert, and good laughs, but a week and a half is just not enough time.